The Georgia Smart Communities Challenge (“Georgia Smart”) is a funding and technical assistance program for local governments within the State of Georgia. Georgia Smart is organized by the Georgia Institute of Technology in partnership with Georgia Power, Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), Association County Commissioners of Georgia, Georgia Centers for Innovation, Georgia Chamber, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Georgia Municipal Association, Metro Atlanta Chamber, and Technology Association of Georgia, Georgia Planning Association, and the Global City Teams Challenge
Georgia Smart supports local governments of any size within the State of Georgia — cities, counties, and consolidated city-county governments — to explore the use, deployment, and/or integration of smart community technologies into their jurisdictions and operations. These technologies include intelligent infrastructures, information and communication technologies (ICTs), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and other computational or digital technologies, such as data centers and portals, web and smartphone applications, and automated digital services. Georgia Smart projects are year-long planning studies that articulate the needs and challenges of communities while looking to improve the lives of all citizens in inclusive and equitable ways by addressing local challenges as well as building the capacity to address challenges in the future.
Pilot projects supported by Georgia Smart are year long projects (September - September), and conclude with presentations of process, evaluation, and next steps during a public event.
Georgia Smart provides support for selected local governments in a few ways:
- $50,000 grant to be used to develop the pilot
- Technical assistance from a Georgia Tech researcher
- Access to a network of peer governments to share best practices and learnings
- Access to local, national, and international network of experts to advise pilot smart communities
Check out the impact GA Smart has made so far in Georiga | Impact Statement
Interested In Applying?
The Georgia Smart Communities Challenge is closed for 2019. Winners have been chosen. Please check back in early 2020 for infromation regarding the application process for the 2020 challenge.
For archived challenge information from 2019, please access the 2019 Georgia Smart Communities Challenge page.
Questions will be answered from our Q & A page.