City Of San Antonio: City Of San Antonio & SmartSA Nationally Recognized For Data Informed Practices

Press release from the City of San Antonio:

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

CONTACT: Giovanna Berrocal, (210) 207-2098
Giovanna.Berrocal@sanantonio.gov

SAN ANTONIO (March 2, 2022) — The City of San Antonio’s Office of Innovation, Information Technology Services Department and SmartSA Partners were nationally recognized by Smart Cities Connect as one of the most transformative smart city projects in the country. Their work on a smart data sharing agreement between local entities was commended for harnessing data to inform policy decisions to improve the lives of residents.

The SmartSA Interlocal Data Sharing Agreement unlocks data sharing for partner organizations that seek to leverage data and technology to improve quality of life for San Antonio residents.
Guided by San Antonio’s Chief Data Officer, Information Technology Services Department and the Smart Cities team in the Office of Innovation, the SmartSA Interlocal Data Sharing Agreement provides a structure and protocol for secure and privacy-preserving data sharing across eight local public agency partners, including CPS-Energy, VIA, SARA, EAA, SAHA, SAWS, BCAD and UTSA.

SmartSA partners will use the agreement to coordinate and implement smart city projects, such as the SmartSA Smart Streetlight Pilot, and identify use cases that improve business operations, streamline services, reduce costs and power high quality research and innovation.

“One of my goals since being appointed City Manager is to be smarter about the way we use data. Data helps public agencies better understand the needs of our residents and improve service delivery,” said City Manager Erik Walsh, “This award highlights what we’ve known all along – San Antonio is a strategic hub for innovation and data science. Thanks to the City staff and partners who made San Antonio a national model for collaboration and data-informed decision making.”

“Data is key for the City of San Antonio and our partners to make informed decisions that impact our community,” said Chief Innovation Officer Brian Dillard, “By unlocking the ability to share data more efficiently with this agreement, we look forward to improving our collaboration with our partners and citizens to make San Antonio a more connected, inclusive, and resilient community.”

The SmartSA Interlocal Data Sharing Agreement was approved by the San Antonio City Council in 2019 and ratified across all participating partners in 2021.

The Smart50 Award recognizes the top 50 most transformative smart city projects nationally. Awards are given by Smart Cities Connect, a national smart city think tank in partnership with USignite.

What is SmartSA?
SmartSA is San Antonio’s smart city partnership including eight public agency partners, focusing on leveraging open innovation, data and technology to improve public services and residents’ quality of life. In 2017, the San Antonio City Council established three “Innovation Zones” where new technologies and solutions to community challenges can be tested. The SmartSA partnership is managed by the Smart Cities team in the Office of Innovation. You can learn more about the SmartSA partnership at https://www.sanantonio.gov/smartsa.

This press release was produced by the City of San Antonio. The views expressed here are the author’s own.