Smart Cities Council and Joint Venture Silicon Valley Join Forces to Advance Smart Communities

The Smart Cities Council and Joint Venture Silicon Valley announced today that the two organizations will partner on the upcoming State of the Valley conference February 17 in San Jose, California and Smart Cities Week Silicon Valley May 8-10 in Santa Clara, California.

Both events will focus on developing a better future for the Silicon Valley region by providing access to the latest trends to create smart, sustainable cities with high-quality living and high-quality jobs.

The State of the Valley Conference will focus on the Valley’s challenges and opportunities and convene key stakeholders from the region including concerned citizens, urban thought leaders, elected representatives, media, academia, business executives, and labor and workforce leaders. In addition to other topics, the conference will feature two sessions on civic technology:

• Keynote by Professor Stephen Goldsmith (Harvard University, former Mayor of Indianapolis, and former Deputy Mayor of New York City
• "Making Silicon Valley America's Smartest Region: Strategies and Tactics" panel moderated by Shireen Santosham (City of San Jose) and featuring Kip Harkness (City of San Jose), Dan'l Lewin (Microsoft) and Jan Whittington (University of Washington)

Smart Cities Week Silicon Valley will bring together city leaders and technology innovators to explore incoming trends and disruptive technologies for smart cities. The conference kicks off on Monday, May 8 with in-depth pre-conference workshops on crucial topics such as resilience and readiness. It then continues for the next two days exploring topics such as:

• Next-generation transportation for cities (including how to prepare for autonomous cars)
• Applying machine learning and artificial intelligence to city problems
• Digital payments and citizen services
• Compassionate cities (how technology can help reach underserved populations)