Overview

June 14

Smart Cities: A Gateway to Economic Development

Localities know the transformative power of smart city initiatives to drive government efficiency and improve constituents’ quality of life. With the right digital infrastructure and data analytics solutions, smart city technologies can help create communities that are safer, more equitable, more enjoyable places to live.

But smart city advancements don’t just improve efficiency. They can be valuable economic development tools for cities and towns looking to attract and retain new businesses – and draw new residents who are free to work from anywhere.

On June 14 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific/2:00 p.m. Eastern, join Government Technology and Fujitsu for a virtual discussion on developing and sustaining a smart city strategy for your community. Our panel of public sector leaders and industry experts will discuss topics including:

How technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and video analytics capabilities can create more livable communities – and how to build the right IT foundation to support them
How digital equity and connected community goals can empower innovation in the private sector and attract new businesses
How a comprehensive smart city strategy helps ease traffic congestion, reduce energy waste, provide cleaner drinking water and much more

Speakers

Andrew Buss

Deputy CIO / Innovation Management, Office of Innovation & Technology, City of Philadelphia

Andrew is a Deputy Chief Information Officer within Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation and Technology. His ten-person Innovation team focuses on a diverse portfolio, including building creative capacity within government, digital equity, smart cities, creative and digital services, and communications. After directing Philadelphia’s implementation of the KEYSPOT program, a citywide network of 77 community technology centers, he established the City’s first formal team focused on increasing government’s capacity for innovation. Andrew also founded the Digital Literacy Alliance, a cross-institutional grantmaking group in the digital equity space, and collaboratively produced the City’s first comprehensive Digital Equity Plan. He earned a graduate degree in geography from Temple University in Philadelphia and teaches about the public sector in Temple’s MPP program.

Joyce Jinde Edson

Executive Officer, Deputy CIO / Information Technology Agency, City of Los Angeles

Joyce Edson has been a leader and technologist for the City of Los Angeles for the past 30+ years. She is an accomplished and experienced manager with extensive experience in application, infrastructure and new/emerging technology project management – Agile and Lean Six Sigma. Superior strategic-planning, creative leadership, and focused staff management skills. Ability to deliver innovative solutions for the successful completion, of the most challenged and challenging projects. Joyce is currently the Executive Officer and Deputy CIO with the City of L.A.’s Information Technology Agency (ITA). She provides City Departments with Application development and consultation for digital solutions.

Matthew Hon

Chief Technology Officer- Public Sector, Fujitsu

Matthew has a background in Cloud and Data Center Technologies. He is EMC, VMware, and Microsoft Certified. He was part of a startup group in his previous company bringing new cloud products to market and served as the global practice lead for shared cloud products. Before joining Fujitsu he designed and sold the digital platform for Government. Throughout his career, he has engaged with CIOs, CTO, VP of Operations at large enterprise customers and governments agencies. He was also part of the Gold for Experts program held at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He has expertise in Cloud IaaS, Hybrid Cloud, Architecture, Storage, Big Data, Orchestration, and Account Management.

Anthony Bednarczyk

Broadband Practice Leader, Fujitsu

As the Broadband Practice Leader at Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc., Anthony works with customers and manages teams to identify and solve client business challenges with technology. Anthony’s experience in business strategy, network design, systems integration, and operations has given him insights that help maximize the value of networks, deliver key strategic direction on innovation, and ensure strong growth for clients. Anthony has worked with global technology companies in a variety of roles including mergers and acquisitions, data analytics and software development, and business development. He holds a MBA from University of Texas at Austin, as well as a bachelors of business administration in finance and a bachelors of science in economics from Southern Methodist University.

Bob Bennett — Moderator

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

Bob Bennett is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Digital Government and the founder of B Squared Civic Solutions, an international smart cities consultancy firm based in Parkville, Mo. From 2016 to 2019 he served in Mayor Sly James’ administration as the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Kansas City, Mo. During his tenure, he oversaw the city’s smart city initiatives including a 54-block total digitalization pilot, strategy development for the city and P3-based expansion plans. Kansas City’s initiatives earned the city an Edison Award (Gold) for “Collective Disruption” and civic innovation in 2017, and Bob was named one of GovTech’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers in 2018. Before his role with the city, Bob completed a 25-year career in the U.S. Army which included service as a Strategist, a Battalion Commander and multiple combat tours.