The City of Myrtle Beach, SC will act as a living lab in its new smart cities initiative which has the aim of supporting the development of emerging tech. The initiative is a public-private partnership involving more than 25 companies from across the US, Canada, and the UK. The program is expected to lead to business expansion, help launch new technologies, contribute to the economy, and create more local jobs.
Participants in the program will have the options of working remotely or utilizing the HTC Aspire Hub as a workspace. The city is currently in the process of building a living lab facility within the Arts & Innovation District, which will serve as a hub for the program in future.
The first program participants in the project launch phase include:
- Cocoflo Innovations – will provide cloud-based city services such as: business licensing; emergency alerts; payments; development planning; parks and recreation; and citizen communications. The goal is to help communities achieve an effective, collective communication flow that will enhance engagement and build a closer relationship with the community;
- Rep’d and Polco – will work as a joint pilot in the program as they are two complementary platforms designed to collect resident input, share key city updates, and address frequently asked questions. Rep’d enables city leaders to instantly share short video updates with residents to clarify any concerns. Polco is an all-in-one community engagement platform that allows government leaders to collect and analyze resident feedback to make data-driven decisions; and
- Dependbuild – is a risk and knowledge management software that helps city infrastructure projects stay on time and on budget through increased risk mitigation, data accessibility and operational efficiency.
“The mission has always been to enable better conversations, more transparency, and more accurate information between government leaders and the residents who they serve,” Myrtle Beach’s Chief Operating Officer Mark Friese said.