St Petersburg joins the Smart Gigabit Community

St Petersburg, Florida, has been named as the next Smart Gigabit Community by US Ignite, a non-profit organisation seeking to accelerate the smart city movement.

The St Petersburg Innovation District, backed by a three-year grant from Spectrum, will oversee the delivery of technology advancement and economic development in the international smart city programme.

Smart city collaborations

This announcement marks the beginning of a smart city collaboration between broadband communications company, Spectrum, and St Petersburg, as well as the first joint initiative between Spectrum and US Ignite.

US Ignite introduced the Smart Gigabit Communities programme with the National Science Foundation in 2015, and the project includes 27 member communities.

Each participating community in the programme receives access to a low-latency and ultra-fast network with local cloud computing and storage capabilities that support highly interactive and visually immersive experiences not possible on today’s commercial internet.

“As a Smart Gigabit Community, the Sunshine City will be able to provide the very best tools to entrepreneurs, helping them build great companies and create real solutions for St Petersburg”

“I am particularly grateful to US Ignite as well as Spectrum for choosing the Innovation District as a partner for this incredible venture,” said Rick Kriseman, mayor.

“As a Smart Gigabit Community, the Sunshine City will be able to provide the very best tools to entrepreneurs, helping them build great companies and create real solutions for St Petersburg.”

As the latest addition to the programme, the St Petersburg Innovation District aims to use its newfound resources to develop advanced applications and services that address local needs such as infrastructure, workforce development, public safety, education, and community health.

The resulting efforts will add to a catalogue of more than 150 applications and services developed throughout the Smart Gigabit Communities network over the last three years.

These technology advancements are expected to shape the way that residents of St Petersburg and visitors, live, work and play.

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