Texas Border Business
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – The City of Brownsville announced it has been named a winner in IDC Government Insights’ fifth annual Smart Cities North America Awards (SCNAA). Brownsville was recognized for their efforts on the Connect Brownsville project in Digital Equity and Accessibility. The awards were designed to recognize the progress North American municipalities have made in executing Smart Cities projects, as well as providing a forum for sharing best practices to help accelerate Smart City development in the region. Winners will be honored at Smart Cities Connect being held April 4-7, 2022, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio where Deputy City Manager, Helen Ramirez, will be participating on a panel on Urban Infrastructure and accepting the award on behalf of the city. To learn more about the event, please visit https://spring.smartcitiesconnect.org/.
“It is an honor for the city to be named the winner in the category of Digital Equity and Accessibility. For the past couple of years, we have worked hard to bridge the digital divide in the City of Brownsville and address problems in the city via digital solutions. The hard work is starting to pay off and we have the attention of the rest of the County. I’m happy to be a part of it,” said Mayor Trey Mendez on the award.
Winners in the SCNAA illustrate best practice examples of how forward-thinking municipalities are effectively leveraging technology and innovation to offer new services and economic opportunities to meet the needs and expectations of citizens and residents.
Connect Brownsville is the City’s comprehensive plan for a fiber-optic network owned by both the public and private partners, including last mile fiber to the premise. Currently, the city is embarking on a 24-month effort to develop its own 93-mile middle mile backbone network utilizing $19.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding, allowing for further opportunities to work with private partners such as BTX Fiber to deploy last mile services
in priority areas of the community. Additionally, the City’s proposed network will connect 32 anchor institutions including city facilities, Police, Fire, EMS, and public parks.
“Now in its fifth year, our annual SCNAA have become a benchmark for how Smart Cities can successfully catalyze the digital transformation of urban ecosystems to produce systemic environmental, financial, and social outcomes,” said Ruthbea Yesner, Vice President, IDC Government Insights and Smart Cities and Communities Strategies. “Winners represent those forward-thinking municipalities that have implemented emerging technologies in collaboration with the public and ecosystem partners to make cities more livable and offer new services and economic opportunities. We are thrilled to acknowledge this significant achievement.”
