I recently spoke with Thomas Wright, executive director of the Regional Plan Association, about regional planning, growth management and budgeting for new technology.

Wright said many cities/regions are currently working on urban systems, which means updating urban systems with more effective and efficient technology. Yet, this is a challenge for the city budgets.

"It is a long-term savings for the public sector yet budgets need to be balanced, and there is very little flexibility and freedom to make this technology transition," Wright said.

Wright compared this technology transition to the 1920s where state and local governments financed and built highways and road infrastructure.  Each one had to be built to finance the next one.  It took financial innovation and public and private sectors working together, he said.

The challenge becomes making the investments for this transition, which is something non-government organizations like the RPA are trying to help with.  According to Wright, non-government organizations play a role between civic and the private sector by helping them work together to solve problems.

He said, currently, the cities look for demonstration of new technology implementation, like the Houston energy initiative to set up car charging stations across the city. (Read the interview "Sustainable Transport Plan in Houston Could be Blueprint for More Cities".)

They also look for new ways to finance projects with gap financing and bridge financing through initiatives like the HUD Sustainable Communities grants. This is new innovative approach for the private sector.

How is your city bridging budget gaps to implement new technologies?

Read Thomas Wright's Biography

As part of the Smart+Connected Communities Institute Learning Series, we will offer a webinar at 11:30 a.m. EST March 30, 2011.

The webinar "Driving the Next Generation Learning Experience" will be presented by Vito Amato, Ph.D, Education Manager for Cisco Systems.

What does it take to successfully implement the next generation learning experience?  The next generation learning experience takes many shapes and forms, and most educational institutions employ one method or another. This webinar will provide trends, challenges, best practices, solutions and practical methodologies relevant to driving and implementing the next generation learning experience.  The next generation learning strategy focuses on the implementation of a solution that can enable highly interactive and collaborative teaching and learning experiences, while delivering any content, anytime, anywhere to any device.

Dr. Amato will present flexible and comprehensive approaches to harnessing the power of next generation learning solutions to enhance teaching and learning. The goal of this webinar is to present approaches to implementing the next generation learning experience, which will enable an understanding and confidence when evaluating, analyzing, designing, developing, and implementing next generation learning solutions.  In addition, this webinar aims to assist the community of practitioners and decision makers in education to better understand the components of the next generation learning experience along with the key areas of focus for deploying solutions that effectively meet the needs and requirements of the various stakeholders involved in the implementation process.

WebEx Link

Topic:

Smart+Connected Community Institute- Driving the Next Generation Learning Experience

Date and Time:
March 30, 2011 11:30 am, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00)
March 30, 2011 8:30 am, Pacific Daylight Time (San Francisco, GMT-07:00)
March 30, 2011 12:30 pm, S. America Eastern Standard Time (Brasilia, GMT-03:00)
March 30, 2011 4:30 pm, Western European Summer Time (London, GMT+01:00)

Event number: 203 762 563
Event password: education

Event address for attendees: https://cisco.webex.com/cisco/onstage/g.php?d=203762563&t=a

Audio Information

1. Dial into Cisco WebEx

San Jose, CA: +1.408.525.6800

RTP: +1.919.392.3330
US/Canada: +1.866.432.9903

United Kingdom: +44.20.8824.0117
Germany: +49.619.6773.9002
India: +91.80.4350.1111
Japan: +81.3.5763.9394

China: +86.10.8515.5666

2. Follow the prompts to enter the Meeting Number (listed above) or Access Code followed by the # sign.