Smart City Symposium Aims to Put Colorado on the Map for Innovation and Leadership

The state's tech community gathered Tuesday, September 18 for the inaugural Colorado Smart Cities Symposium hosted by the Colorado Technology Association, in partnership with Arrow Electronics and the Colorado Smart Cities Alliance at McNichols Civic Center Building in Denver. Public and private sector leaders shared their expertise and insights on topics ranging from mobility to public health, safety and the environment. 

"Colorado is leading the way and the inaugural Colorado Smart Cities Symposium provides an access point for a diverse set of stakeholders to come together and create a dialogue of growth and vitality into 2019 and beyond," said Frannie Matthews, president and CEO of CTA.

Founded in 2018, the Colorado Smart Cities Alliances is a first-of-its-kind coalition of municipalities and enterprise members that seeks to build partnerships, pilot ideas and drive action across the state.

THE MAKINGS OF A SMART CITY

Tuesday's program included a special announcement from Arrow Electronics executives about the Colorado Open Lab – which will bring the world's leading technology companies to Colorado to collaborate with municipalities and the Colorado Department of Transportation to tackle the challenges of future communities. 

The program also featured examples of smart city development across Colorado, from Denver to Aurora and Aspen. 

More than 30 speakers from the public and private sector, research and academia, investment and nonprofit smoke to the challenges and opportunities of smart city development. 

Key speakers featured included:

• Matthew Bailey, Smart Cities Global Practice Leader, Arrow Electronics
• Eulois Cleckley, Executive Director, Department of Public Works, City & County of Denver
• Amy Ford, Chief of Advanced Mobility, CDOT
• Sean Harrington, VP City Solutions, Verizon Wireless
• Zach Huhn, CEO, Venture Smarter; Chairman IEEE Smart Cities Standards Committee
• Ramsay Huntley, Clean Technology & Innovation Philanthropy Program Officer, Wells Fargo
• Aleta Jeffress, Chief Information Officer, City of Aurora
• Dr. Karen Meidlinger, Director, New Business Ventures IoT, machineQ
• Aiden Mitchell, VP & GM of IoT Global Solutions, Arrow Electronics
• Andrew Spurgeon, Director of Operations, BroadbandUSA
• John Tolva, Founder, CityFi; Co-founder, CO Smart Cities Alliance