On September 16th the White House announced that it plans to spend $160 Million investing in a new program called the Smart Cities Initiative. San Diego and Chula Vista are set to join more than 20 other cities in undergoing a new program designed to help tackle 21st century problems.
“If we can re-conceive of our government so that the interactions and the interplay between private sector, nonprofits and government are opened up, and we use technology, data, social media in order to join forces around problems, then there’s no problem that we face in this country that is not soluble,” President Barack Obama said in a statement.
The Smart Cities Initiative “will invest over $160 million in Federal research and create more than 25 new technology collaborations” as stated on the WhiteHouse.gov website. “By harnessing the growing data revolution and things like low-cost sensors and research collaborations, this Initiative is designed to support community efforts to come up with solutions to everyday problems.”
Outlined below are the main initiatives of the program
1. More than $35 million in new grants and over $10 million in proposed investments to build a research infrastructure for Smart Cities by the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Standards and Technology.
2. Nearly $70 million in new spending and over $45 million in proposed investments to unlock new solutions in safety, energy, climate preparedness, transportation, health and more, by the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, Department of Commerce, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
3. More than 20 cities participating in major new multi-city collaborations that will help city leaders effectively collaborate with universities and industry.
The program will deploy millions in dollars to several institutions and agencies to help create new cities that will use new technology to help transition cities into becoming more beneficial for the environment and for those living within the cities. They will be tackling problems such as energy waste through carbon emissions and more, water waste through public and private systems, helping to identify ways to create cleaner air, new transportation methods to help create smarter and safer public transportation, advance smart building technologies that optimize operational performance and maximize energy savings etc. The list goes on and on with all the possibilities and advancements that the Administration is hoping will become the cities of the future and San Diego is set to be one of the first to pioneer the way.
If you would like to read more about the program you can see the plans here The Smart Cities Initiative