Next Century Cities Monthly Newsletter
May 2019
Jacksonville, Ill., one of our newest member communities (via Wikimedia Commons )
Hello all,

This month we announced an important upcoming change for Next Century Cities. Our Executive Director, Deb Socia, has accepted a new position with The Enterprise Center in Chattanooga, Tenn. that will begin in July. We will greatly miss working with her, but wish her all the best in her new role! We are working to make the transition process as smooth as possible, and have begun the search for her replacement. You can view the job posting for the Executive Director position here , and feel free to reach out to Cat Blake with any questions.

Last week, we travelled to Georgia to participate in Smart Cities Dialogue: Building Inclusive Communities and Partnerships. Deb Socia joined a panel discussion focused on prioritizing people and ensuring equitable distribution of resources when deploying smart city technologies. Read more about the event here and find Next Century Cities’ 5 Lessons for Tech Powered Civic Engagement toolkit here .

At a recent Council of State Governments event in Delaware, Next Century Cities gave a presentation on actions states can take to support broadband deployment. A new blog post on our website outlines the key actions we discussed, including: preserving and promoting local choice, providing funding through state grant programs, and implementing One Touch Make Ready policies. Read the full piece here .

On Friday, May 17, Next Century Cities is co-sponsoring and co-organizing a broadband conference hosted by the West Central Mountains Economic Development Council in Idaho. The goal of the event is to discuss challenges in the region and steps forward on improving local broadband options. Read more details here .
Member News
Boulder, Colo. is considering the proactive inclusion of laterals in the fiber backbone of the city-wide network, which would be more efficient and would reduce disruption and costs. Read more in Government Technology here .

Louisville, Ky.; San Jose, Calif.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Albany, N.Y.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Boston, Mass.; and Raleigh, N.C. were announced as winners of the 2019 IDC Smart Cities North America Awards. Read more from IDC here , and find more details about Chattanooga’s win in the Times Free Press here .

Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; Hartford, Conn.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; San Jose, Calif.; Boston, Mass.; San Francisco, Calif.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Louisville, Ky . are featured in “The Future of U.S. Cities,” a new handbook intended to be a guide for community leaders that are seeking to “innovate with intention” in order to improve the lives of residents. Read more here and find the full handbook here .

Westminster, Md.’s Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory (MAGIC) is the recipient of the Cybersecurity Association of Maryland’s Cybersecurity Industry Resource Award and recently hosted its seventh Capture the Flag (CTF), an ethical hacking cybersecurity competition. Read more from MAGIC here .

Boston, Ma.; San Francisco, Calif.; and Los Angeles, Calif. have been named among the five leading “hotbed” cities globally for innovation and transformation. Hartford, Conn. was also recognized as an innovation leader. Read more from SmartCitiesWorld here .

Wilson, N.C. is celebrating municipal network Greenlight’s 10,000th customer and ten years of service by throwing a community event with free concerts, face painting, and tie-dye. Read more in the Wilson Times here .

Officials from Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, Calif. discussed how the conversation around smart cities is shifting and becoming more nuanced at the Smart Cities Connect conference last week. Read more in Smart Cities Dive here .

A new report details how San Francisco, Calif. and local wireless ISP Monkeybrains worked together to connect public housing residents to high speed internet access at no cost to the end user. Read more from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here , and find the full report here .

Portland, Ore. is the focus of a story from Susan Crawford about the drive for better broadband in the region. Grassroots organizers having painstakingly arranged for a feasibility study in Multnomah County, where Portland is located. Read more in Wired here .

Pittsburgh, Pa. is considering building a fiber network. Due to state laws that restrict municipally owned broadband networks, the city would be likely pursuing a public-private partnership. Read more in NextPittsburgh here .  
Want to know more about our work? Follow Next Century Cities on Twitter , like us on Facebook , and watch our videos on YouTube . And be sure to visit NextCenturyCities.org for news, blog posts, RFP alerts, toolkits, and information on new members!

Joining Next Century Cities is simple and free ! If you know a community that would benefit from membership, please contact Cat Blake for more information.


Best,
Deb
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