Arizona State University recently announced the ASU Smart City Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) Powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) – an initiative to address community limitations in the Phoenix area through the use of cloud technologies. The new center is a collaboration between ASU and AWS to improve digital experiences for smart city designers, expand technology alternatives while minimizing costs, spur economic and workforce development, and facilitate sharing public-sector solutions within the region.
“The ASU Smart City CIC has the opportunity to bring tremendous value to the local community and its citizens,” said John Rome, deputy chief information officer at ASU. “We’ve been approached by city planners, health care administrators and ASU faculty members to work on challenges around autonomous vehicle governance, health care management, urban resilience and a host of education-related challenges. The possibilities for the CIC are endless.”
The ASU Smart City CIC will support visiting scholars, faculty, student researchers, industry experts, and community members to identify the best solutions for smart city challenges. The center is scheduled to open in early 2019 and will be staffed with two ASU and three Amazon cloud experts.
“ASU, which is the size of a small city, makes a perfect test bed for smart technologies,” said Wellington “Duke” Reiter, executive director of ASU’s University City Exchange. “The ASU Smart City CIC has many potential applications across the Phoenix metro region. In addition to serving as a training ground for ASU students, it can provide resources for large-scale initiatives like TenAcross, which addresses pressing societal and environmental issues from coast-to-coast along the I-10 Corridor.”