Smart 81
Maryanna Vernia
In December 2015, we launched our Smart City Challenge, asking mid-sized cities across America to develop ideas for an integrated, first-of-its-kind smart transportation system that would use data, applications, and technology to help people and goods move more quickly, cheaply, and efficiently. The Challenge generated an overwhelming response: 78 applicant cities shared the challenges they face and ideas for how to tackle them. Then, our seven finalists worked with DOT to further develop their ideas.
With the publication of our report, "Smart City Challenge: Lessons for Building Cities of the Future," we are making good on our promise to share the lessons we learned about the transportation challenges America's cities face and about the innovative solutions that could help us meet those those challenges.
By challenging American cities to use emerging transportation technologies to address their most pressing problems, the Smart City Challenge aimed to spread innovation through a mixture of competition, collaboration, and experimentation. But the Smart City Challenge was about more than just technology. We called on mayors to define their most pressing transportation problems and envision bold new solutions that could change the face of transportation in our cities by meeting the needs of residents of all ages and abilities; and bridging the digital divide so that everyone, not just the tech-savvy, can be connected to everything their city has to offer.
Dangerous by Design 2024 finds that 7,522 people were struck and killed while walking in 2022, an average of more than 20 per day. We found that not everyone lives and walks with the same risk. Black and Indigenous Americans, older adults, and people walking in low-income communities die at higher rates and face higher levels of risk compared to all Americans.
Smart Growth America empowers communities through technical assistance, advocacy and thought leadership to create livable places, healthy people, and shared prosperity. We work with elected officials at all levels, real estate developers, chambers of commerce, transportation and urban planning professionals, and residents to improve everyday life for people across the country through better development. Read more about our work >>
Land use and transportation are inherently intertwined. For example, even a strong network of bike lanes or sidewalks will not be used if people have to travel long distances to get from one destination to another. Although land use and transportation should be considered an inseparable pair, we often find that many people have difficulty connecting them.
We envision a country where no matter where you live, or who you are, you can enjoy living in a place that is healthy, prosperous, and resilient. Sound like your kind of thing? Add your name to the Smart Growth America email list to receive news, updates, and alerts about smart growth work on both the national and local levels.
USDA first announced details of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities opportunity in February 2022. The design of this opportunity was informed by over 400 comments received in the Request for Information published in September 2021. Through this new opportunity, USDA will finance partnerships to support the production and marketing of climate-smart commodities via a set of pilot projects lasting one to five years.
Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities pilot projects must focus on the on-farm, on-ranch, or forest production of climate-smart commodities and associated reductions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and/or carbon sequestration.
Highly competitive projects will include agricultural and forestry practices or combinations of practices, and/or practice enhancements that provide GHG benefits and/or carbon sequestration, including but not limited to:
Funding for Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities was provided in two funding pools. On March 11, USDA extended the deadlines to apply after requests from many stakeholders. USDA is committed to equity in delivery and will ensure that all projects in both funding pools benefit small and/or underserved producers. Projects were also encouraged to include early adopters.
Applicants must have submitted project proposals on Grants.gov by the appropriate funding pool deadline, as outlined under Funding Pools and Proposal Deadlines. Potential applicants were directed to the Grants.gov Organization Registration webpage for a complete set of instructions and initial steps.
Greenhouse gas and/or carbon sequestration benefits and equity are key among project evaluation criteria. Projects must center around benefits to producers, and the meaningful inclusion of small and underserved producers is included in evaluation. Incentives to encourage producer participation are critical to project success. The Notice of Funding Opportunity includes a complete set of project proposal requirements, evaluation criteria, and submission guidelines.
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Today, the Administration is also hosting a White House Smart Cities Forum, coinciding with Smart Cities Week hosted by the Smart Cities Council, to highlight new steps and brainstorm additional ways that science and technology can support municipal efforts.
The Department of Energy (DOE) will invest almost $10 million to expand efforts to support the emergence of smart, energy-efficient and low-emission cities that are leveraging Smart Cities technologies. These new steps include:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing new steps to unlock Smart Cities approaches to environmental monitoring and analysis. These new steps are designed to help communities undertake innovative sensor-based approaches to improve data collection and analysis of environmental condition and risk, including:
The U.S. Census Bureau (Census) is announcing new steps to expand the open-source CitySDK project, making valuable data available to communities and civic innovators. To help incubate new apps that are based on open data, including Smart Cities apps with broad civic benefits, Census is launching the following:
More than 20 city-university collaborations are launching the MetroLab Network, with more than 60 Smart City projects in the next year. Supported by a newly announced grant of $1 million from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the MetroLab Network will leverage university expertise to address challenges facing cities and regions across the country. The Network will provide a platform upon which established and emerging city-university relationships can share successful projects, coordinate multi-city, multi-university research efforts, and compete for research and project funding. The founding members have collectively committed to undertaking more than 60 projects over the next year, which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure and services in our cities and communities and increase the productivity and competitiveness of our regional economies. Communities and their university counterparts signing onto the network with a joint letter to the President include:
IBM is deploying a Smarter Cities Challenge team in Detroit to help the city and the Detroit Land Bank Authority (DLBA) remove blight and build smarter Detroit neighborhoods. Through this initiative, a team of top IBM experts will spend three weeks helping Mayor Mike Duggan and the DLBA design a strategy for cost-efficient, sustainable removal, recycling and re-use of debris from abandoned and neglected properties, thereby allowing the DLBA to redirect its limited resources to making strategic investments in neighborhoods. The project will also receive a special grant of Twitter data, which will provide analysis of historical and current social media data to help tackle the issue.
Become a Smart Traveler Now! STEP is an easy first step to being a smart traveler. You should also always research your destination, and consider additional ways to get safety and security information from the U.S. Department of State, like on social media.
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