Smart City Work Laid the Foundation for COVID Innovations

Source: GovTech Published: October 30th, 2020

Data-sharing, more digitally supported services and increased public meetings participation are some of the unexpected silver linings cities have encountered in the last eight months of the COVID-19 crisis. 

The pandemic upended nearly every aspect of city operations and immediately tasked “smart city” systems — known for their data collection and analysis — with ensuring the city resiliency when faced with unprecedented headwinds. 

In Denver, “priorities shifted, like essentially overnight,” remarked Paul Kresser, chief data officer for the city and county of Denver. The city activated its emergency operations center to lead the pandemic response. Some 80 percent of city workers were sent home to begin working remotely, which presented technology challenges, but went fairly smoothly.

“All that planning led to a very successful transition for our workforce,” said Kresser, speaking during a panel discussion Thursday at the virtual Smart Cities Connect Conference and Expo.

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Photo by Cassie Gallegos on Unsplash