From statescoop.com
The Smart Cities Council has opened the application period for its 2020 Smart Cities Readiness Challenge, which will award five cities in North America that demonstrate a plan to use technology to improve sustainability and resiliency with a year’s worth of assistance and advising from the council’s network of urban technology experts.
This edition of the challenge will grant all applicants free access to the Smart City Activator, an online portal that city officials can use to crowdsource best practices and collaborate in real time. Previously, free access to the Smart City Activator was only available to challenge winners. Another new wrinkle added this year is that the Smart Cities Council will hold competitions in both spring and fall, giving more cities opportunity to apply.