Senators introduce legislation to advance smart cities

Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in conjunction with Sens. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) introduced legislation this week designed to promote the advancement of smart cities.

The bill was created in collaboration with various cities, telecommunications companies, and information technology companies. It authorizes $220 million for each year over five years.

“We can’t afford to replace aging infrastructure with anything but smart infrastructure, and our bill does just that,” Cantwell said. “The bill makes this technology accessible to local governments so they can make smart investments that attract businesses, create jobs, and improve critical infrastructure while boosting services, livability and the health of residents.”

The bill would improve federal coordination of smart city programs, provide resources and assistance to local governments, help develop a workforce with the skills to support smart cities, improve the quality of smart city technologies, assess cybersecurity and privacy issues, and support international collaboration and trade related to smart city technologies.

According to the Smart America Challenge, city governments will spend $41 trillion over the next 20 years on smart tech. Another study found that every $1 the government invests in tech saves nearly $4. The number of connected devices reached 6.6 million in 2016 and is expected to grow to 22.5 billion in 2021.

“In this era of global competition, the smart cities movement is not just a trend, it is a race,” Smart Cities Council Chair Jesse Berst said. “A race for jobs and talent. A race for cleaner, safer, more livable cities. A race for financial and environmental sustainability. As other parts of the world move rapidly towards smart infrastructure and smart cities, we urgently need the federal leadership, guidance and coordination this bill provides.”