We know Chattanooga is special, but if you needed more evidence — our city is one of only 36 worldwide chosen to help “pioneer a smart technology policy roadmap.”
The World Economic Forum — an independent international organization aimed at improving life across the globe — just announced that 36 global cities will create this new smart tech roadmap as part of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance.
The news in a nutshell
- Chattanooga and San Jose, California are the only two cities in the United States picked to participate.
- Chattanooga is known as the Gig City for its pioneering, high-speed, fiber optics internet from EPB. San José is home to California’s Silicon Valley.
- The smart cities alliance brings together cities to explore issues from environmental sustainability to financial transparency.
- Members of the alliance share ideas + address challenges to create universal policies and standards that all cities can use and benefit from.
Chattanooga’s smart city initiative
This international effort builds on work Chattanooga leaders started a couple of years ago with its smart community collaborative.
Chattanooga institutions and organizations, EPB, UTC, and CARTA, have worked on smart tech projects in recent years.
- CARTA — the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority — worked with the U.S. Department of Energy and Vanderbilt University to make the local fleet more energy efficient while maximizing the service area.
- UTC also partnered to help the city of Chattanooga deploy an advanced traffic signal system.
- EPB is working with Oak Ridge National Lab researchers on smart grid network projects, such as smart building energy mandates and solar field development.
Why should I care?
Beyond knowing what’s going on in this fantastic city we live in, there are benefits to this smart city work. 👇
According to a recent study from research firm Frost & Sullivan, smart cities:
- will develop infrastructure for post-pandemic health facilities + public security services
- will create business opportunities to the tune of $2.46 trillion by 2025
- are the future — there will likely be more than 26 smart cities in the U.S. by 2025
