Kansas City seeks leaders for Smart City board
May 28, 2015 | Bobby Burch
The City of Kansas City, Mo., is now seeking nominations to lead the city’s smart city efforts.
City leaders hope to attract citizens with experience in smart city technologies to help advise the City of Fountain’s coming Cisco Smart City project, in addition to its other smart city efforts.
The newly authorized “Smart City Advisory Board” will help the city establish best-practice policies for smart city applications, which combine a communications and data network to make the city more efficient. To nominate a citizen for the smart city board, click here.
Cisco and Kansas City announced in May of 2014 that the two would partner to create North America’s largest smart city project. The public-private initiative will turn Kansas City’s downtown into a “living lab” of connectivity that will gain insights on the city’s traffic, public safety, coming streetcar line and more. The project in total will cost about $15 million, according to the Kansas City Business Journal.
Business incubator and coworking space Think Big Partners plans to act as a “development portal” manager for the project, allowing area entrepreneurs to access Smart City data. Kansas City Mayor Sly James previously challenged startups and entrepreneurs in the area to develop solutions to improve the city, including its water system.
Featured Business

2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Development leaders laud HQ expansion for organization that opens workforce to Kansas Citians with autism
A new multimillion-dollar, 80,000-square-foot headquarters along Kansas City’s Brush Creek marks a major milestone for Behavioral Health Allies, strengthening the organization’s workforce training efforts and its belief in the potential for individuals with developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorders, officials said Wednesday. “This expansion is exactly the kind of investment Kansas City needs,” said Tracey…
LaunchKC opens grants competition with nationwide search; eying companies to call KC home
A popular grants competition that offers early stage tech companies the opportunity to win $60,000 in non-dilutive grants, downtown Kansas City office space, and access to scaling resources is back for 2025 — emphasizing startups with high-growth potential and equitable business practices. LaunchKC’s signature Liftoff grants competition opened applications Thursday, kicking off a nationwide search…
MOSourceLink adds startup founder as new ‘Network Convener’ to rally ESOs, entrepreneurs
A newly-created role is expected to help strengthen connections between entrepreneur support organizations across the state and promote the wealth of resources available to Missouri’s entrepreneurs. Adam Larson — founder of Decimal Projects, CEO of Catnip Budz Gourmet Catnip, and former program coordinator at Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UMKC — moves to…
Mental reps and truth bombs: How this AI ‘coach-in-your-pocket’ strength trains minds before life’s hardest workouts
Building mental resilience should feel as natural as going to the gym, said Craig Mason, noting his new venture flexes a “performance psychologist, coach in your pocket, 24/7.” The emphasis: training the mind before crises hit. “Myndset is really designed to be a mental strength training platform,” said Mason, founder of the Kansas City-based startup.…
