In 2010, IBM Citizenship created the Smarter Cities Challenge to help 100 cities over a three year period to address some of the critical challanges facing cities. IBM has found common themes in cities most often struggling to do more with less, bridge silos in information and operations, use civic engagement to drive results, and invest in infrastructure for better management.
The City of Providence applied and was selected in 2011 to spend several weeks with the IBM team assessing the unique needs and opportunities in Providence. Seizing the opportunity to revitalize the City and attract new investment, Mayor Taveras challenged the IBM Smarter Cities team to create actionable recommendations for a new data-driven land-use management system. The aim was to create a system that would efficiently and effectively promote the robust development of the City within and beyond the Knowledge District. To this end, the IBM team set about identifying some of the potential barriers to progress, to enable the City of Providence to plan for transformational change and fully exploit its new potential.
Click here to view IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge Providence Report.