Welcome to the Smart City Initiative Newsletter, the central hub for news and updates on pilot programs, partnership opportunities, events, and upcoming challenges! 

This image was generated with support from ChatGPT on 10/10/2024. The content was fact-checked by City staff. This information is unmodified.

New Blog Post! Data Privacy Community Workshops in Action.

In September 2024, our Smart Cities team took an exciting step forward in protecting digital rights by hosting a series of data privacy workshops. These workshops gave residents the knowledge and tools to safeguard their personal information in the always-changing digital world.

With over 50 engaged residents, these sessions marked a meaningful move toward a more informed and proactive community. Attendees learned:

• How the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) gives autonomy of personal data and how to exercise these rights effectively.
• How we’re leveraging technology to provide or enhance services while ensuring every piece of data collected is handled with care, transparency, and purpose.
• Practical tips to protect personal information in a digital age.

Additionally, please take some time to read this community brief on the perceptions of data privacy written by our partner Dr. Gwen Shaffer where she highlights key findings of the city Data Walks and Digital Rights Platform.

Pitch Long Beach!, the City's open call for innovative solutions launched in March 2022 and is seeking solutions to address accessibility, the digital divide, climate change, transportation, and improving the delivery of public services in the City.

Pitch Long Beach! allows vendors to submit a pitch to the City. The submissions that offer promising solutions to legitimate City needs will be shared with our subject matter experts, evaluated with transparent criteria, and then may be implemented as pilot projects.

Learn more about our case studies here and submit a proposal to Pitch Long Beach! here.

Los Angeles Times: How much does your city know about you? This Southern California city opens up

August 1, 2024

By: Hannah Fry

"The platform, which is funded through a National Science Foundation grant, consists of data privacy notices for nearly two dozen unique city-deployed technologies that collect personally identifiable information. Each sign features a QR code that takes residents to an online platform where they can learn how the city stores and uses the data. It also details the length of time data is stored and whether it is shared or encrypted. “The whole project is about transparency,” Shaffer said. “When the city is using data for certain purposes, they want to make sure residents understand those uses.”

How well do you know city technology in Long Beach?

Test your knowledge! Below are a few questions to help you better understand how data and technology work in the City.

Last Week, Digital Inclusion Week Delivered!

Thank you for joining our partners from the Office of Digital Equity and Inclusion last week during Digital Inclusion Week. We hope you learned about the resources and programs their team offers to ensure digital equity in the City.

Learn more about digital inclusion in the City of Long Beach, here.

We encourage Long Beach residents to participate in the campaign by learning more about how to stay safe online. The theme for this year is "Be a Cyber Security Reporter," aiming to raise awareness about the importance of cyber security in our community and nationwide. We are all encouraged to become cyber security reporters—active agents equipped with the knowledge and confidence to report suspicious online activity.

To learn more and to find the resources you need to #BeACyberSecurityReporter, visit lbcity.info/CyberSecurity