Mayor Walsh Announces Syracuse is Finalist for Smart Cities Award
Published on March 24, 2023
Mayor urges community to vote online for Syracuse in the Next-Generation Emergency Services category
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced the City of Syracuse has been named a finalist for the second year in-a-row in a North American award competition that recognizes progress by municipalities in smart cities projects. The IDC Government Insights Smart Cities North America Award selected Syracuse as a finalist in the Next-Generation Emergency Services category for its forward-thinking snow response and resources for winter weather operations.
The winners in each of the 14 award categories will be selected by an online public voting process. Members of the public can vote for Syracuse at goto.syr.gov/smartcitiesvote. Voting runs until March 31.
“This nomination is a great honor and demonstrates our forward-thinking winter weather operations in Syracuse are among the very best in the nation. By using technology and innovation to optimize our services, we can build a better, smarter city that is responsive and resilient in all seasons,” said Mayor Walsh. “I urge people across Syracuse and Central New York to go online and vote for our next-generation snow response platform.”
The City of Syracuse Department of Public Works (DPW) uses an integrated, cloud-based platform to streamline its snow operations, helping to maximize productivity and improve public communication. It offers DPW live visibility into the location and status of snowplows, enabling them to track coverage and optimize routes. Live images and on-demand video provide remote visibility into road conditions and on-road incidents, helping DPW investigate citizen concerns faster and more accurately.
Seamless integration with mapping technology makes it possible for the DPW to share a publicly accessible map of plow coverage with residents, increasing transparency and leading to a 30% decrease in citizen calls about snow plow service.
The City of Syracuse claimed top honors in the 2022 Smart Cities North America Awards in the Sustainable Infrastructure category for its work converting its street light network to energy efficient LED lights. The City saves an estimated $3 million annually in energy and maintenance costs and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 8,500 tons a year—the equivalent of taking more than 1,660 cars off the road.
In all, 42 entities in the United States and Canada are up for awards across 14 categories. The City of Syracuse and Columbia University are the only honorees from New York State. Also recognized in the Next-Generation Emergency Services division are the City of Irving, TX and the County of San Bernardino, CA.