On March 7, CompTIA hosted the first ever hill briefing on smart cities and communities. The briefing was co-hosted by the Congressional Technology Staffer Working Group, which consists of tech-focused staffers from over 80 Congressional offices, committees and subcommittees. CompTIA Senior Director for Public Advocacy David Logsdon led a panel discussion consisting of Steve Crout, vice president, Qualcomm; Phillip Bane, managing director, Smart Cities Council; and Tad McGalliard, director, International City/County Management Association. Crout focused his comments on the soon to be introduced Smart Cities and Communities Act. McGalliard summarized the results of ICCMA’s in depth smart cities study which captured data from 500 different cities that each had a population of 25,000 or more. Finally, Bane addressed the role of the Smart Cities Council in advocating both domestically and globally for smart cities.
On March 16, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection held the first ever hearing on smart cities and communities. Witnesses included representatives from the cities of Pittsburgh, Columbus, Portland, Oregon and Chicago, as well as a professor from Georgia Tech. CompTIA and the Technology Councils of North America (TECNA) sent the subcommittee a letter for the record supporting the draft Smart Cities and Communities Act. CompTIA was also a co-signatory with other trade associations on another letter for the record supporting smart cities and communities. Witness testimony can be found here.
