SAN ANTONIO – City leaders say it’s inevitable that San Antonio will become a smart city. As new technology emerges and evolves, citizens will need the tools a 21st Century world requires.
A smart city is defined as one that uses data and technology to improve the lives of the people in its communities.
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EXPLORE: San Antonio 2017 budget proposal
San Antonio city leaders are considering backing projects that total $13 million to start turning the city into a so-called smart city. The question becomes: After asking the city council to approve a newly negotiated San Antonio police officers contract, as well as funding for the new World Heritage Mission site and the Tricentennial celebration, is spending $13 million in a tight budget year a wise decision?
Another question is: What’s the real-world impact on the people of San Antonio as city leaders push for benches to be installed with solar panels so that citizens can charge their cell phones? Is that technology -- and the multitudes of other examples that define smart cities -- really necessary?
The city’s chief technology officer, Hugh Miller, and chief innovation officer, Jose De La Cruz, say it’s absolutely essential. They explained the projects and why they're asking for $13 million during a budget workshop with the city council Wednesday.
“The concept is how can you do smarter government?” Miller asked. “Sooner or later, the expectation of the citizen is to interact with the government in a more efficient way, and I think our approach is when we look at any project we’re doing or any service that we supply, how can we do that in a way to where a citizen wants to consume city services, versus the fact that they have to consume them?
The pilot projects for the city’s first-ever consolidated effort to make San Antonio ‘smarter’ include:
- Adding LED streetlights in District 5
- Putting up community kiosks that will allow citizens to interact with city services, and collect data to measure traffic patterns and act as WiFi hotspots
- Adding enhancements to the city’s 311 service request intake system, plus create an app
- Installing cameras to monitor illegal dumping sites
- Creating an app for public parks so that people can navigate the linear creek ways and the 10 largest parks
- Expanding WiFi at city parks
- Installing solar benches so people can charge their cell phones or tablets
Mayor Ivy Taylor lauded the ideas and said the term smart city is a fancy name, but it’ll soon become the expectation of residents.
“I think we're in a good position to start thinking about ways we can improve the quality of life for our citizens,” Taylor said. “What's key is for us to develop what works for us in San Antonio and not just adopt what's cute and sexy from somewhere else.”
There are no other officially-designated “smart cities” anywhere else in the world. Efforts are underway in a number of major metropolitans, including Chicago and across the globe in places like Madrid.
So is the $13 million price tag worth it?
Again, Miller said it most definitely is.
Check out this Prezi to learn more about San Antonio as a smart city.
When looking at the whole scope of the project, Miller said there is more than half of the smart cities budget would be dedicated to updating old technology infrastructure like WiFi hubs and other smart systems such as parking meters.
“It’s a strategy on how you approach the services that you’re supplying to the citizens, so I think that’s a better way of looking at it than sort of this investment in stuff in a tight budget,” Miller said. “The intention is… leveraging technology to where you can either save money or you’re enhancing that service at a higher level and that’s really our approach with everything we do.”
Many city council members said they like the ideas put forward in the smart cities presentation, especially the addition of cameras at well-known illegal dumping sites.
The council will have the chance to amend the outlined budget forecast for smart cities, or adopt it as-is, when the budget goes up for an official vote Sept. 15.