Schenectady was one of four cities to receive the Horizon Award, after city officials presented their 2017 Schenectady Smart City Report at the gala. The gala was planned to highlight smart cities initiatives around the world.
The Horizon Award is given to cities that demonstrate “foundational and inspiring groundwork for future smart cities projects,” according to a prepared statement from the city.
The awards were handed out on March 26 by Smart Cities Connect, Smart Cities Connect Foundation and US Ignite.
In addition to two cities in California -- Yucaipa and Chula Vista -- as well as Annapolis, Maryland, received the Horizon Award, according to the Smart Cities Connect website.
Schenectady’s proposed Smart Cities initiative will focus on converting all streetlights in the city to LED fixtures. Mayor Gary McCarthy has said it could reduce the city’s electrical costs by 50 percent, or $400,000. He also is looking to install sensor-based technology into the light poles so that they could boost Wi-Fi signals, have a dimming function to reduce electrical costs even further, and also produce traffic and pedestrian analytics.
The city said it is working with National Grid on the project. The city previously said it budgeted $1 million this year for the project.
“The Schenectady Smart City Report is an important tool to guide our understanding and momentum of Smart City initiatives, and to create a platform that will help share data and associated trends to ultimately open up dialogue for potential solutions and improvements,” McCarthy said in the press release. “These initiatives represent the utilization of data and technology to improve the effectiveness of the delivery of municipal services to our residents.”
The city sent Eric Shannon, the innovation and performance specialist for the city, to accept the award on Monday.
“This report not only helps city employees coordinate with other departments, but also helps residents, businesses and community organizations understand details of our initiatives, enabling them to provide direct feedback," Shannon said.
The Daily Gazette’s publisher, John DeAugustine, is a member of the Smart City’s Advisory Commission. He said he was happy to see the city get “global recognition” for its work on the initiative.
©2018 The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, N.Y. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
