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Hello Innovator!
Welcome to the December 2025 Smart City Initiative Newsletter, your central hub for the latest updates on emerging tech, digital learning workshops and opportunities, cybersecurity best practices, innovative solutions being implemented in Long Beach, and more!
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Introducing our NEW Edutainment Series!
Ever curious about how tech devices work in the city? This new Edutainment series is officially LIVE for Long Beach residents to learn through fun and engaging videos on the Digital Rights Platform. Meet Nora and Hermes, your guides on a fun, fast-paced journey through Long Beach’s civic tech! In this intro episode, we’re kicking off a community-first video series that unpacks the City’s technology, explores how they work, and what data they collect.
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LB Community Cast Their Votes for Innovative Solutions
In collaboration with the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), the Technology and Innovation Department hosted, “LB Co-Lab Demo Day” where Long Beach community members came together to explore new, exciting tech and innovative solutions to solve prevalent civic challenges. The event gave registrants the opportunity to connect with City Officials, resident innovators, vendors, and other Long Beach residents. Special thanks to LBPD Explorer Post #295 and Youth Service Officers Perez and Kelly for coming out and supporting the Demo Day event!
Check out LBTV’s recap of the event!
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High-Demand for AI and Data Privacy Workshops
We recently hosted a series of AI and Data Privacy community workshops which garnered over 200 registrants for our five workshops offered at five different locations held all throughout Long Beach. The Long Beach Senior Center was a particularly popular venue where we presented to a full-house. These workshops have been in high-demand, and we look forward to continuing them with new topics in 2026. Thank you to everyone who attended and supported our workshop series!
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Cyber Security Awareness Month
October was Cyber Security Awareness Month! During this month, we shared tips on how to safeguard your data and #SpotThePattern when hackers are trying to obtain your information.
Learn more about our cyber security strategies!
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Long Beach Awarded Top Digital City of 2025 for the 5th Consecutive Year
For the fifth consecutive year, Long Beach has been named the first city to receive the national title of Top Digital City! Based on Long Beach’s population size in the Center for Digital Government’s (CDG) 2025 Digital Cities Survey, the City was recognized for its commitment towards utilizing technology to advance city goals, tackle social challenges, explore Artificial Intelligence (AI), strengthen cyber security, and many more initiatives.
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Smart Restrooms Are a Success in Long Beach!
Initially launched as a pilot project in April 2025, Throne Labs’ high-tech portable restroom has proven a success, extending its services in Long Beach until September 2026. The Pitch Long Beach Program adopted the smart restrooms and have gotten a strong, positive reception as the restrooms had approximately 31,000 visits within the first four months of implementation in areas that lacked access to a public restroom.
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National Science Foundation Award Accepted!
Long Beach is excited to share that we’ve secured a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to advance a new app designed to give residents greater control over their CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) privacy rights. With this support, we’ll work with residents to test early designs, understand how our communities interact with privacy tools, and identify improvements in usability and experience.
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Love Your Block
The Love Your Block Mini-Grant Program Awardees have been selected! This community grant program, established by Bloomberg Philanthropies, strives to strengthen community ties and increase civic participation amongst the nation's many cities that work to revitalize their neighborhoods. The Love Your Block program awarded five grants to the following projects to reshape and enhance West Long Beach. The program will provide up to $2,500 to individual resident-led projects that address air quality and transportation efficiency for residents, especially youth and older adults, in the 90810 zip code.
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Digital Inclusion Initiative
The Cambodia Town Digital Skills Learn and Earn Program launched this year, and has officially graduated two cohorts! During the program, participants were required to complete at least eight hours of basic digital skills learning to graduate and receive their free laptop and certificate of achievement. Stay tuned for more workshops to come in 2026!
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In the first cohort of our Long Beach Collaboratory (LB Co-Lab) civic tech initiative, we launched four pilot projects in 2024:
- Houghton Park – Smart Lighting & Air Quality Sensors
- Ramona Park – Public Wi-Fi Network
- Westside (Silverado Park) – People-Counting Sensors
- Willmore Neighborhood – Mobility Safety Sensors
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