I attended IBM’s Smarter Cities conference in New York City last week and served on a panel, moderated by Tom Brokaw, that tackled how state government can help cities run more effectively.
Although we heard a lot about what’s not working in state and local budgets, we also talked about the possibilities that a downturn presents. We tend to assume that when times are bad it’s not the time to make changes; in fact, it may be the best time to reinvent.
An example presented at the conference of an emerging “smarter” city: Dubuque, Iowa.
A city of 60,000 on the Mississippi River, Dubuque has turned a manufacturing economy that struggled with high unemployment into a diversified economy that now has one of the highest job growth rates in the Midwest. Their mayor, Roy Buol, ran on a sustainability platform in 2006, and the city is now considered a national leader in forward-thinking sustainability policies.
At the conference, leaders from health care, law enforcement, education, energy, transportation and the arts talked about transformations in their fields. Collaboration was a recurring theme, and the common refrain throughout the conference was that what we do in the next five years will determine the next 50. I believe that’s true.
There were many stories, including Dubuque’s, of cities that are embracing change and becoming "smarter"—providing inspiration as we look for ways to rebuild our state.
Video of my panel with Tom Brokaw (scroll down to Brokaw)