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
Two Kansas companies engineer tool to vaporize hard-to-reach tumors with microwave tech
A Prairie Village product design firm is helping a nearby Kansas startup advance groundbreaking medical technology to treat previously-inoperable cancer tumors with minimally-invasive surgery. “Most of us have been affected by cancer through family, friends or our own experience, and we are delighted to help Precision Microwave create better tools to fight cancer,” said Chris…
They want to create a SXSW-style festival in KC, but City of Entrepreneurs’ plans for Black founders dig even deeper
Activation is just the beginning for organizers of a new, high-profile partnership that aims to boost Black business owners — starting in Kansas City — via programming, resources, major events and a soon-to-be announced accelerator. Entrepreneurs, investors and local politicians gathered Wednesday to celebrate the soft launch of City of Entrepreneurs — a new initiative that…
Westside tortilleria’s from-scratch corn creations earn prestigious James Beard nod
A husband-and-wife tortilla-making duo in Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood are among semifinalists for one of the world’s most-prestigious accolades for restaurants and chefs: a James Beard Award. Marissa and Mark Gencarelli, co-founders of Yoli Tortilleria, were announced Wednesday as semifinalists for the James Beard “Outstanding Baker” honor. Twenty restaurants from across the country are now…
WATCH: Small biz struggles didn’t begin with pandemic pinch, says Rep. Davids; solutions go beyond COVID relief
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exaggerated pain points that small business owners were already facing before the global health crisis, said U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids. “I really think that what the pandemic did was, in some ways, highlighted the things that we should have been focusing on. … I know a lot…
