KC’s Smart City push stars at San Diego event

The tech world descended on San Diego Monday for a lesson on Kansas City’s push into the Internet of Everything.

Mayor Sly James headed a hometown cast touting the area’s effort to build a “smart city” of interconnected sensors, cameras, Wi-Fi service, digital kiosks and other technology during a panel at the Cisco Live 2015 conference.

Cisco Systems Inc. is helping build the Kansas City Smart+Connected City network along the 2.2-mile streetcar line downtown.

“We know it’s the start of an infrastructure that’s as important to Kansas City in the 21st century as concrete, roads and steel were to the 19th century,” James said to the San Diego audience.

Early next year, “when the switch is thrown,” James said, residents will enjoy a more responsive and efficient city in the way it provides lighting, manages traffic flow, offers parking and maintains roads.

More important, data from the network will be available to entrepreneurs and businesses, enticing them to come to and interact with Kansas City. Think Big Partners in Kansas City is delivering the data to entrepreneurs through the Living Lab.

“What’s going to happen with Think Big and the Living Lab is really what this is all about,” James said.

James spoke to the crowd remotely from Think Big Partners’ home in Kansas City where he was joined by Stephen Bye, Sprint Corp.’s chief technology officer. Sprint is building and will operate the Wi-Fi network as part of its $7 million investment in the effort.

Bye said the network, which will provide open access to the Internet, gives Kansas City a tool to “help close the digital divide, to basically ensure social inclusion and economic opportunity for all.”

On stage in San Diego were Ashley Hand, the city’s chief innovation officer, Herb Sih, co-founder of Think Big Partners, and Fred Ellermeier, vice president of Black & Veatch.

Kansas City signed agreements with Cisco and Sprint last week allowing work on the network to begin. The two companies plan to spend $12 million between them on top of the city’s $3.7 million budget.

“Nobody can do this alone,” Cisco’s chief globalization officer, Wim Elfrink, said during the San Diego session. “Public/private partnerships are going to be key.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2015 at 2:53 PM with the headline "KC’s Smart City push stars at San Diego event."