Jacksonville receives $400,000 IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant

[Ajax]

Anybody have any insight on this? 

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2012/03/15/jacksonville-receives-400000-ibm.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2012-03-15

IBM is bringing some of its top experts to analyze Jacksonville and recommend ways the city can become a better place to live.

Mayor Alvin Brown said IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge was highly competitive, with more than 150 applicants from 40 countries, but Jacksonville’s selection makes it the first city in Florida to receive the grant.

“When I say Jacksonville is a city on the move, this proves it,” Brown said at a press conference today.

IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge is a competitive grant program in which IBM is awarding a total of $50 million worth of technology and services to 100 municipalities worldwide through 2013. Steve Swaim, IBM Jacksonville senior location executive, said this challenge is IBM’s largest philanthropic endeavor.

Brown said Jacksonville’s grant has an estimated value of $400,000, and comes at no cost to tax payers.

He said that IBM’s consultant team will be “pointing a laser at Downtown Jacksonville” with the intent of improving quality of life and making Downtown a destination to live and play. Swaim said that IBM chose Jacksonville because of the mayor’s Downtown initiative.

While no specifics were revealed as to what IBM would be doing in Jacksonville, some of the issues it will examine include health care, education, public safety, social services, transportation, sustainability, budget management and energy.

The following cities earned IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grants in 2012:

Accra, Ghana
Ahmedabad, India
Atlanta
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Boston
Cheongju, Korea
Chonburi, Thailand
Curibita, Brazil
Da Nang, Vietnam
Dortmund, Germany
Durham, N.C.
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Geraldton, Australia
Houston
Ishinomaki, Japan
Jurong Lake District, Singapore
Louisville, Ky.
Malaga, Spain
Medellin, Colombia
New Taipei City, Taiwan
Nanjing, China
Nairobi, Kenya
Omaha, Neb.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Pittsburgh
Pune, India
Rabat, Morocco
Rosario, Argentina
Siracusa, Italy
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Tshwane, South Africa
Toluca, Mexico

[Ocklawaha]

The following cities earned IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grants in 2012:

Accra, Ghana
Ahmedabad, India
Atlanta
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Boston
Cheongju, Korea
Chonburi, Thailand
Curibita, Brazil
Da Nang, Vietnam
Dortmund, Germany
Durham, N.C.
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Geraldton, Australia
Houston
Ishinomaki, Japan
Jurong Lake District, Singapore
Louisville, Ky.
Malaga, Spain
Medellin, Colombia!  As I have pointed out many times, anyone expecting the '3rd world' is going to be stunned in COLOMBIA!
New Taipei City, Taiwan
Nanjing, China
Nairobi, Kenya
Omaha, Neb.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Pittsburgh
Pune, India
Rabat, Morocco
Rosario, Argentina
Siracusa, Italy
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Tshwane, South Africa
Toluca, Mexico

[duvaldude08]

This is definately good news. Lets get to work!

[tufsu1]

here's your insight

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-03-15/story/jacksonville-participate-ibm-smarter-cities-grant-focus-downtown

now my thought is this...if they want to help build a better database management system (as they've done in other cities) I'm cool with it...but I don't see the need of having IBM folks planning our downtown.

[ChriswUfGator]

here's your insight

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-03-15/story/jacksonville-participate-ibm-smarter-cities-grant-focus-downtown

now my thought is this...if they want to help build a better database management system (as they've done in other cities) I'm cool with it...but I don't see the need of having IBM folks planning our downtown.

Why not give them a crack at it? They couldn't possibly do any worse than our local planning cartel has done. And our own local booster agencies are delusional, as you pointed out yesterday, DVI is claiming there are almost 1mm visitors to the library and 4mm visitors to the landing every year. By all means, turn it over to people who don't include migrating pigeons and jail inmates in visitor counts, and let's see what happens.

[tufsu1]

^ because while it is "free" work, they're going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on out-of-town consultants....that's been tried before...many of us know what needs to be done...the issue is political will.

as to your issues with attendance figures, let's break it down...

I'm willing to bet the library has a pretty good idea on how many people visit their building....they are open 300+ days a year, so 1 million visitors equates about 3,000 per day....which seems reasonable considering the number of meetings and events that are hosted there.

As for the Landing, they're claiming 4 million, so about 11,000 per day...that does seem high and likely includes people walking by on the riverwalk...but keep in mind they get some huge crowds on big days like FL/GA, New Years,  etc.

[vicupstate]

^^ If one office worker in say, the Wells Fargo building, eats lunch every working day at the Landing, I assume he counts as 250 visitors.   

As far as IBM goes, I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.  That said, all the best ideas in the world don't amount to anything if the political will and vision isn't there to implement them. 

[thelakelander]

Hmmm.....

I assume the public will be involved in this planning process? 

You want real transit?......participate!

You want a logically designed JRTC?......participate!

You want to be able to sit down and play chess in Hemming?......participate!

You want restrictive public regulations modified?.......participate!

You're tired of expensive gimmicks being promoted as the key to revitalization?.......participate!

You want to be able to fish on the river in downtown?......participate!

You believe in historic preservation?......participate!

You want better connectivity between downtown and adjacent urban neighborhoods?.....participate!

Whatever your issue is, I'd encourage everyone to participate.  Then when whatever is completed, hold the Mayor's Office and Council publicly accountable for immediately implementing it.

[Dapperdan]

Why do I sense at the end of the consult, they will want the city to buy something from IBM to 'best" implement their recommendation. Is three weeks long enough to get an accurate picture?

[Dog Walker]

IBM has become as much a think tank in the past decade as it is a computer company.

[tufsu1]

IBM has become as much a think tank in the past decade as it is a computer company.

agreed...they've done some great things....and there's much Jax. can learn from them....guess I'm just curious what the real scope of their downtown effort will be

[tufsu1]

^^ If one office worker in say, the Wells Fargo building, eats lunch every working day at the Landing, I assume he counts as 250 visitors.   

correct....just like transit ridership, highway counts, and total season attanedance at sporting/cultural events.

[Dashing Dan]

The project described in this article might give some ideas about what we can expect from IBM here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/business/ibm-takes-smarter-cities-concept-to-rio-de-janeiro.html?scp=1&sq=IBM%20Brazil&st=cse

All in all I think this will be a good thing for Jacksonville. 

There are a lot of things that planners do - like public outreach - that could be done much better with the right technologies.  Traditional planners need to figure out a way to get out in front of outfits like IBM.

[Ajax]

I wish I had time to go through this website today, it looks like they've already worked with several cities last year.  There's a Harvard Business Review article, and they're spotlighting work that they did with Milwaukee and Edmonton. 

http://smartercitieschallenge.org/

[Dashing Dan]

Thanks Ajax.  I will look this over.