Next Century Cities Monthly Newsletter
October 2019
Welcome to our newest members, Haines City, Fla. and St. James Township, Mich. !

In September, Next Century Cities Executive Director Francella Ochillo attended WashingTech’s Pop-up Breakfast to discuss the relevance and implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for cities. Specifically, she emphasized the importance of using AI to identify populations in need. 

Francella participated in a roundtable discussion at the Smart City Expo Atlanta that focused on the challenges and opportunities associated with small cell deployment. Later in the day, Mayor Kirk Caldwell of Honolulu, Hawaii , and Mayor Andy Berke of Chattanooga, Tenn. , spoke about the importance of digital equity and economic opportunity in their communities. 

Francella also attended the Michigan Broadband summit, where she offered keynote remarks , and a town hall hosted by Color of Change and Facebook in Atlanta, Ga., where she moderated a discussion on platform accountability. 
Senior Program Manager Cat Blake participated in a public forum hosted by Breckenridge, Colo. that discussed the future of connectivity in the region. After the town’s event, Next Century Cities hosted a happy hour for attendees. 

At a 5G workshop organized by the Government Accountability Office, Cat advocated for empowering – not preempting – local governments’ authority around 5G network deployment. She cited the potential for 5G to exacerbate the digital divide and the critical role local governments play in ensuring equitable deployments in the public interest.  
Community engagement can enhance the success of connectivity projects. We released a new resource on engaging community members in the broadband planning process. Find the fact sheet here . 

Next Century Cities filed comments on the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed updates to broadband data collection. Our comments emphasize that collecting information on latency and pricing, as well as adopting more nuanced methods to determine service availability and validate data submitted by providers, would help further improve the accuracy and efficacy of federal broadband maps. We also suggest that policymakers solicit insights from local governments that have had to develop their own broadband data collection methods. 
NCC Connection Opportunities
Will we see you this fall? Click here if you would like to connect at these upcoming events.  

Smart Cities Summit in Atlanta : Oct 31-Nov 1. This Smart Cities Summit is designed for government and technology decision-makers mapping America’s future smart cities. Through two days of dedicated content, networking and break-out sessions, the event will unite the entire ecosystem to help foster investment that will transform infrastructure and focus on designing resilient cities for all. Next Century Cities newsletter subscribers get 20% off with VIP code NEXTCENTURY. Learn more & register here.
Member Highlight
Sandy, Ore.'s municipally owned Fiber-to-the-Home network connects residents to affordable gigabit internet service .  

Member News
Raleigh, N.C. is hosting the third annual Triangle Smart Cities Summit on Oct. 16th. Representatives of local government, industry, and higher education will discuss the future of smart cities in the region. Read more and register here .   

Lakeland, Fla. held a public forum on October 1st to solicit feedback on the proposed broadband utility business plan developed by Magellan Advisors. Read more in Government Technology here . 

San Francisco, Calif. made a $2.5 billion offer to acquire all of PG&E’s power distribution assets that serve the city, a move that could open the door to a city-wide fiber network, according to Preston Rhea of Monkeybrains . Read more in the San Francisco Examiner here . 

Congratulations are in order for Fairlawn, Ohio’s municipal fiber network, FairlawnGig. It has achieved over a 50 percent take rate, and is helping attract new businesses and home buyers in the community. Read more in Broadband Communities Magazine here .

Clarksville, Tenn.’s CDE Lightband is helping local businesses thrive, thanks to cut costs and increased revenue. Listen to an interview with Christy Batts, CDE Lightband’s Broadband Division Director, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here .        

Chattanooga, Tenn.’s fiber network helps power the MLK Smart Corridor, a 1.25 mile downtown strip acting as a testbed for smart city research. Read more in Government Technology here . 

David Keyes, Digital Equity Manager for Seattle, Wash. , and Bruce Clark, Digital Inclusion Project Manager for Charlotte, N.C.’s Digital Charlotte, discussed the effects of affordable broadband on a panel at NATOA’s annual conference. Read more on Twitter here .
Request for Proposals (RFPs)
Sign up at our website to receive an alert whenever a new RFP from one of our member communities is announced. You can also visit this page to read current and past RFPs from other communities. 

The Town of New Shoreham (Block Island, R.I.) is seeking a qualified vendor(s) to provide services in support of the Town’s Island Wide Broadband Project. The Town is soliciting proposals for the design, construction and/or operation of a robust broadband network on Block Island, and provision of services over the network, and will entertain proposals from individual vendors or vendor teams in response to any or all of the components of this solicitation. Responses are due October 18th. Find more information here . 

Palo Alto, Calif. is seeking proposals from qualified firms to develop a business case to begin a multi-phase fiber optic network expansion plan. Proposals are due on October 21st at 3pm PT. 

Please note that in order to submit a proposal to the city you must register with PlanetBids following these instructions . Please register under commodity code “91500 Communications And Media Related Services” or “91800 Consulting Services.”
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 Lukas Pietrzak for more information.

Have a great broadband-themed joke?  Send one to us and you might win some Next Century Cities swag!
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Next Century Cities, 1342 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009