IBM Smarter Cities Challenge Grant Kickoff

[Noone]

Downtown Revitalization.
Anybody going?
10:45 Main Library

[fsujax]

Wish I could. Have to work. Maybe someone can go and report back to us?

[thelakelander]

I was planning to but I'm working out of Central Florida today.

[Steve_Lovett]

I'll bite....

Today was basically an introductory meeting. Wally Lee introduced the Mayor who said a few words about downtown's priority and IBM's focus on downtown. He then introduced Emily Santos of IBM who introduced the team. The IBM team consists of:

Bisi Adedokun - an enterprise architect, heavy tech-design/IT expertise
Carrie Bendzsa - from Ottowa, Canada - leads external communication & social media for IBM Canada
Betsy Greytok - legal counsel for IBM Systems & Technology Group
Yukari Kobayaskhi - director of strategy & market development - emphasis on marketing/sales strategy
Dr. Ofer Shir - research scientist from Haifa, Israel - heavy research & applied analytics on "Multi-critereon decision making"

Renee Findley (Mayor's Executive On-Loan for Public-Private Partnerships) wrapped up the formal presentation.

Members of the IBM Team gathered with participants/stakeholders in informal, introductory round table discussions. Individual interviews with participants/stakeholders will be occurring over the next week or so (mine is Friday afternoon).

The study area was described as the Northbank - from the Convention Center through the Stadium District. According to today's program everything from the Waterfront to homelessness, to transportation, to parks/open space, to entertainment, to jobs/business, etc. is on the table for study and discussion.

The program lasted perhaps 30-40 minutes - with the round table discussions following.

They will be working for 3-weeks --- and will be presenting a final report August 24th.

[JaxArchitect]

It's great that the mayor is prioritizing downtown and that this panel has been convened to help us study our challenges.  I'm excited to see what recommendations / outcomes result from this.  I have to say I'm a little skeptical about the qualifications of the individuals on the panel and their ability to assist in downtown planning studies.  None of them has any experience in policy, development, planning, design, economics, demographics, transportation, etc.  Who knows, maybe that's a good thing??   Have these individuals been involved in similar efforts in the other cities in which IBM has done this?  Is the goal simply for them to be data collectors and help us simply articulate our challenges?
For now, I'll try to be open minded and optimistic.

[Steve_Lovett]

It's great that the mayor is prioritizing downtown and that this panel has been convened to help us study our challenges.  I'm excited to see what recommendations / outcomes result from this.  I have to say I'm a little skeptical about the qualifications of the individuals on the panel and their ability to assist in downtown planning studies.  None of them has any experience in policy, development, planning, design, economics, demographics, transportation, etc.  Who knows, maybe that's a good thing??   Have these individuals been involved in similar efforts in the other cities in which IBM has done this?  Is the goal simply for them to be data collectors and help us simply articulate our challenges?
For now, I'll try to be open minded and optimistic.

The Mayor is talking a lot about downtown, yes.

Based upon the IBM team bios distributed today none of them have any urban design/planning/revitilization experience. They all look to be technology people - or people grounded in the technology industry.

It wasn't clear whether this team had experience in other cities. If they did, it wasn't presented. It was mentioned that 9 other cities were awarded this IBM Grant this year, Atlanta & Houston among them. Apparently Houston's study kicked off today too.

According to today's presentation this is intended to create SOLUTIONS, not to identify/articulate challenges (although you would think that would be part of this assignment).

[JFman00]

It's great that the mayor is prioritizing downtown and that this panel has been convened to help us study our challenges.  I'm excited to see what recommendations / outcomes result from this.  I have to say I'm a little skeptical about the qualifications of the individuals on the panel and their ability to assist in downtown planning studies.  None of them has any experience in policy, development, planning, design, economics, demographics, transportation, etc.  Who knows, maybe that's a good thing??   Have these individuals been involved in similar efforts in the other cities in which IBM has done this?  Is the goal simply for them to be data collectors and help us simply articulate our challenges?
For now, I'll try to be open minded and optimistic.

The Mayor is talking a lot about downtown, yes.

Based upon the IBM team bios distributed today none of them have any urban design/planning/revitilization experience. They all look to be technology people - or people grounded in the technology industry.

It wasn't clear whether this team had experience in other cities. If they did, it wasn't presented. It was mentioned that 9 other cities were awarded this IBM Grant this year, Atlanta & Houston among them. Apparently Houston's study kicked off today too.

According to today's presentation this is intended to create SOLUTIONS, not to identify/articulate challenges (although you would think that would be part of this assignment).

I'm optimistic. My understanding is that IBM's interest in cities is in collecting, amalgamating, analyzing and visualizing data to recognize and solve problems. It's a quantitative, RAND-esque approach which can serve as a data-driven counterpoint to the feel-goodery of New Urbanism. If you can't measure a problem, you can't fix it.

[Noone]

I'm optimistic as well. But remain very concerned.

It's like here we go again. A visit by outsiders to tell us what we need to do. We can't do it ourselves because we are so lost.

Mayor Brown said EVERYTHING is on the table.

How about the SCAD contest looking at our Downtown? For me I'll always remember the JCCI study River Dance-Putting the River in River city and the Chan Krieger report.

It's no secret but I'll be interested in what is said and recommended about SHIPYARDS III. Shipyards the total destruction of the Public Trust. 

The boundaries and scope of the new zones are on the table as well. Two council members were there. Jim Love and Don Redman. Councilman Love asked about the boundary and it's extension into Riverside. That makes sense.

Don didn't ask a question. As I recall with redistricting this area will no longer be part of Dist. 4 so it makes the Case that this is lame duck representation. We are now identifying a new Authority Zone. Mayor Brown did make an appeal to the two council members to help with 2012-364.

After the program I had the opportunity to speak with Renee Findley and asked her if she wanted to kayak Downtown. Mentioned going under the TU. Saw Dave Roman and had a nice conversation about the super positive gains that Mayor Brown is making with his kayaking Innitiative. We spoke about the Shipyards Pier.

Had an opportunity to speak with some of the study partners and invited them to go kayaking Downtown. I hope it happens. Saw Doug Skiles and look forward to his insight on this process.

The highlight for me was seeing and asking Lisa Rinaman the St. Johns Riverkeeper (Administration) about a letter of support about the pier that can be taken to the city council. Time is running out.
If it doesn't happen then we as a community should be very concerned.

I'm All In.

[sheclown]

IBM Smarter Cities Challenge Team Gets to Work Downtown

August 07, 2012

Three-week project focuses on revitalization at no cost to taxpayers

A team of IBM experts, funded by a grant from the major technology services company IBM, has started a three-week project to determine realistic solutions to revitalize Downtown Jacksonville.

The project is part of the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant program, a worldwide initiative to provide a total of $50 million worth of services and technical assistance to the most progressive 100 cities around the world through 2013. The project carries an approximate value of $400,000 and requires no tax dollars.

Jacksonville was selected earlier this year among eight cities nationally and 33 globally after Mayor Alvin Brown and a number of stakeholders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors met with IBM representatives at City Hall to make the case for Downtown.
“This isn’t just an opportunity for our city. It’s a game-changer,” said Mayor Brown. “The IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant empowers our city to invest in our Downtown at a time when City Hall must cut back on spending to protect taxpayer assets and restore economic security. Through the talent and enthusiasm of the IBM team, my hope is to chart a path to make Downtown Jacksonville more vibrant and competitive than it has ever been.”

Mayor Brown also said the project is a shining example of how public-private partnerships are valuable in the City of Jacksonville. The mayor created the office of Public-Private Partnerships to leverage government resources and private sector participation more effectively.

With a target date of Aug. 24 to unveil an initial Downtown report, the consulting team plans to become immersed in all of the issues surrounding Downtown from branding and marketing to transportation, safety, housing and business opportunity.

“Jacksonville is a city that is rich with promise and accomplishment, and it is a distinct honor for our team to become honorary citizens, at least for three weeks,” said Emily Santos, Corporate Affairs Manager, IBM. “As members of our IBM Smarter Cities Challenge team settle in to begin their project, they look forward to meeting stakeholders who have so much to be proud of and so much to look forward to.”

IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge grant, the company’s single-largest philanthropic effort, provides the expertise of top IBM employees to cities and counties. Issues addressed include health, transportation, economic development, education, finance, sustainability, public safety, and e-government. A number of cities have improved citizens’ quality of life because of IBM’s recommendations. For more information, please visit www.smartercitieschallenge.org.

[Debbie Thompson]

I hope when they say Northbank between the Convention Center and the Stadium, they intend to come further north than Bay Street with their solutions.

[Steve_Lovett]

I hope when they say Northbank between the Convention Center and the Stadium, they intend to come further north than Bay Street with their solutions.

In the presentation and/or question and answer they discussed connections to nearby neighborhoods (Springfield, Southbank, San Marco, Riverside/Avondale) - and that ALL issues are on the table. I suspect they will get a bigger earful than they might have come to town expecting to hear.