Minutes:
The Chief Executive reminded the Members that they had been advised previously that the Council had been requested by IBM to submit a bid to participate in the IBM sponsored Smarter Cities Challenge. In 2010, IBM had announced its intention to partner with 100 cities around the world to solve complex urban challenges, awarding $50 million worth of services in technology over three years through the Smarter Cities Challenge. Through those grants, teams of top IBM experts would sit side-by-side with the city leaders for three weeks to investigate issues ranging from workforce readiness to safety and security, economic development, strategies and sustainability and deliver solutions. By the end of 2012, IBM would have completed 64 of the grants to cities around the world. Each project had developed new insights into challenges facing cities and what was possible and had built an exciting Global Network of city leaders solving critical problems.
The Chief Executive reported that, pursuant of that invitation, the Council had submitted a Smarter Cities application, a copy of which was circulated for the information of the Members. He stated that IBM had now advised the Council that Belfast had been shortlisted as one of the potential challenge cities for 2013/14. In that regard, representatives from IBM London and Dublin had visited Belfast the previous Wednesday to conduct interviews with key City stakeholders to determine whether the City was committed to working with the Council on the back of the bid. A telephone conference call had been arranged with the IBM Vice-President in New York and the Council’s team which had been led by Councillor Hargey, Chairman of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee and the Lord Mayor, Alderman Robinson, Council officers and representatives from the Department for Social Development, the Department of the Environment, the University of Ulster and NICVA had also attended.
Following that meeting, IBM had contacted the Council the previous day to invite Belfast to attend its Smarter Cities Challenge Conference in New York between 14th and 16th November. IBM had also offered the City a speaking slot at one of the plenary sessions. There would be four panels with distinguished city leaders from around the world examining insights on economic development, smarter transportation and open data. At that meeting, the recipients of the Smarter Cities Challenge Support for 2013/14 would be announced. The invitation to attend would be extended to the Lord Mayor, Alderman Gavin Robinson, the Chairman of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee (Councillor Deirdre Hargey) and the Chief Executive. IBM had extended also an invitation to Dr. Duncan Morrow who had attended the City’s stakeholder briefing with IBM. The costs of all the Council’s delegates whilst in New York would be covered by IBM and the only cost to the Council would be return flights to New York, which would be unlikely to exceed the sum of £6,000.
The Committee authorised the attendance of the Lord Mayor, the Chairman of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, the Chief Executive and one other key City stakeholder at the conference and approved the necessary transportation and ancillary costs associated therewith.