Global City Teams Challenge (GCTC) RSVP registration will close on Wed, August 23

Dear Global City Teams Challenge (GCTC) community,

The 2017 GCTC Expo is less than a week away. We are turning a 100,000 SQFT exhibit hall into a spectacular show space with speakers and exhibitors from over 90 teams representing more than 120 cities and 300 companies/universities worldwide.

We have an exciting agenda. The RSVP registration will close on Wed, August 23. It's free, but required. (On-site registration will be available, but expect delays.)

GCTC currently has 5 official SuperClusters and each of them will announce the smart city blueprints/playbooks for any cities in the world.

• Transportation SuperCluster
• Public Safety SuperCluster
• Utility SuperCluster
• City Data Platform SuperCluster
• Public WiFi/Broadband SuperCluster

Two more SuperClusters will launch/previewed at the Expo.

Data Governance/Exchange SuperCluster Launch Panel (Aug 28, 1:00-1:50pm, Room 146C)

Data governance is one of the primary challenges to the deployment of smart cities technologies today. The data governance challenge has two main components. First, the structure and operations of city government as an organization and second, the policies and technologies for the collection, storage, exchange, security and use of public data, particularly public sector IoT data, both internally and externally. Many cities have successfully implemented data management and open data solutions for public data. But, there is not yet developed a comprehensive strategy for handling all of the data from thousands of IoT sensors available now and envisioned for the future. Cities are interested in IoT technology as a way to improve operations and the delivery of services. What is a standard, but flexible and customizable framework that will allow cities to use and exchange IoT data for public value while protecting public privacy and trust? GCTC's Data governance and exchange SuperCluster aims to address the challenge of building a standard governance and exchange model for IoT data and a plan for governments to successfully customize and deploy it. The group will work to produce guidelines for data exchange and governance, as well as deployed proofs to share with other teams and stakeholders. Panelists include: Jason Whittet, Business Development Manager, AT&T, Bob Bennett, CIO, City of Kansas City, MO, Alex Huppenthal, CEO/Founder, Aspenworks, Mark Dowd, Visiting Scholar, University of California, Berkeley. It will be moderated by Dan Correa.

Smart Agriculture and Smart Rural Communities SuperCluster Sneak Preview (Aug 29, 1:40-1:50pm, Room 146A)

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Broadband USA team is facilitating a new SuperCluster: Smart Agriculture and Smart Rural Communities SuperCluster. The kick-off meeting is at the GCTC Expo on Tuesday, August 29th from 1:40-1:50pm in Room 146A. This meeting will focus on a previewing what the SuperCluster could entail and assessing interest. An additional brainstorming session on the rural SuperCluster will be held on Tuesday, August 29th from 4-5 pm in Conference Room 153. The goals of the SuperCluster will be to develop projects, best practices and a blueprint to assist farmers manage their farms and make their land and animals more productive and healthier while making it easier to meet federal and state reporting requirements. For rural communities, the SuperCluster will focus on bridging the digital divide and closing the homework gap, improving healthcare and the ability to age in place and improving economic development and spurring innovation. Panelists include: Jean Rice, Senior Broadband Program Specialist, NTIA /BroadbandUSA, Matt Quinn, Sr. Advisor, Health Technology, Health Resources and Services Administration, Hans Reiner, Council Member, Montgomery County, Maryland

We announce details of two more partner workshops: US-Ignite and European Union (EU) Initiatives.

US-Ignite to announce GCTC Forum at the Partner Workshop (August 28, 1-2pm, Room 147B)

Please join US Ignite for a roundtable discussion regarding effective pathways to at-scale smart city/IoT deployments on Monday, August 28 from 1pm to 2pm. During the afternoon session, US Ignite will present an overview of the organization's efforts to support at-scale smart city deployments. These efforts include working with 50 different local government, non-profit, university and corporate partners to prepare more than 35 grants, totaling over $90 million. US Ignite will also present plans for the GCTC Forum, a next step in the evolution of the GCTC initiative specifically designed to enhance efforts to bring scale to smart city/IoT deployments. Representatives from local governments and their technology partners will kick-off a roundtable discussion by sharing their perspectives on the session's topic. US Ignite's Nick Maynard and Bill Maguire will co-moderate a roundtable discussion designed to provide plenty of opportunity for Q&A.

European Union Initiatives Partner Workshop (August 29, 3-4pm, Room 147B): EU Initiatives on technology innovative solutions and collaboration among cities/communities

Today 78% of European citizens live in cities, and 85% of the EU's GDP is generated in cities. Many European cities are forerunners in the much-needed transition towards a low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy. Cities are central to delivering on key challenges for Europe's society and economy: jobs, growth and investment, innovation, security, energy- efficiency, low-carbon development - to name a few. Linking and upgrading infrastructures, technologies and services in key urban sectors (transport, buildings, water, waste, energy, ICT) in a smart way will improve quality of life, competitiveness and sustainability of cities. Markets are often fragmented, missing out on their full economic potential. Many innovative solutions require new business models and financing solutions for decreasing risk. Since demand for better infrastructures and services is high and still increasing but public budget is under pressure, knowledge needs to be shared effectively and capacities developed. Speakers include: Andrea Glorioso, Counsellor (Digital Economy / Cyber), Delegation of the European Union to the U.S., Simona Costa, Chairman, Action Cluster Integrated Planning, The European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities, Giuliana Torta, Counsellor (Environment, Climate, Maritime), Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America, and Carlota Cenalmor, Deputy Representative of the European Investment Bank (EIB) DC Office. The session will be moderated by Giulio Busulini, Science and Technology Attache, Embassy of Italy and Martijn Nuijten, Science and Technology Attache, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

A preliminary agenda can be downloaded here. Speaker list can be found here.

For those attending the Expo, feel free to use GCTC LinkedIn group to connect and network. Although it has been dormant for a while, it is a good group to network with other fellow GCTC members. Ask around if they are attending the Expo.

See you all in DC soon. Thank you.

Sokwoo

Sokwoo Rhee, Ph.D.
Associate Director | Cyber-Physical Systems Program
National Institute of Standards and Technology

Join us at Global City Teams Expo on Aug 28-29 in DC: https://pages.nist.gov/GCTC/event/gctc-expo-2017/