ASU Launches Hub for Smart City Innovation

Arizona State University is partnering with Amazon Web Services to create the ASU Smart City Cloud Innovation Center to build smarter communities in the Phoenix area.

  • By Sara Friedman
  • 11/28/18
smart city

A new effort at Arizona State University is designed to help build smart communities in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The ASU Smart City Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) will leverage the power of the Amazon Web Services to solve community and regional challenges through improving digital experiences for smart city designers, expanding technology alternatives to minimize costs, spurring economic and workforce development, and facilitating sharing of public sector solutions within the region.

"The ASU Smart City CIC has the opportunity to bring tremendous value to the local community and its citizens," said John Rome, deputy chief information officer at ASU. "We've been approached by city planners, healthcare administrators and ASU faculty members to work on challenges around autonomous vehicle governance, healthcare management, urban resilience and a host of education-related challenges. The possibilities for the CIC are endless."

The ASU Smart City CIC will serve as a training ground for university students while also providing resources for large-scale ASU initiatives such as TenAcross, which looks to solve societal and environmental issues across the Interstate 10 Corridor. The center will also support visiting scholars, faculty, student researchers, industry experts and community members who are looking to build solutions for smart city challenges. The center is expected to open early in 2019.

AWS has also partnered with the California Polytechnic University and Dongseo University in South Korea to develop AWS CIC programs. More information about the ASU collaboration can be found here.

About the Author

Sara Friedman is a reporter/producer for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe covering education policy and a wide range of other public-sector IT topics.

Friedman is a graduate of Ithaca College, where she studied journalism, politics and international communications.

Friedman can be contacted at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @SaraEFriedman.

Click here for previous articles by Friedman.


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