(WGTD)---The City of Racine has won a 'Smart Cities' competition.
Racine is one of five cities to be accepted into the latest class of municipal participants of the Smart Cities Council, a philanthropic-funded program that affords access to resources, expertise and collaborations that are designed to propel communities deep into the smart cities age.
A delegation of representatives from various organizations that worked on the city's application traveled to San Diego this week to pick up the award.
"I couldn't be more excited about being designated Wisconsin's first Smart City," said Racine Mayor Cory Mason in a news release. "Winning the Smart Cities Readiness Challenge is the culmination of more than a year's worth of work in which the city has brought together amazing community partners around the idea that we can use technology to deliver better services to our residents while at the same time creating a more inclusive and equitable city," he said.
The city's chances of winning the award received a boost recently when it signed an agreement with Foxconn to partner on various smart cities-styled projects. The initiatives will be headquartered in a downtown building that Foxconn recently bought.
According to the release, the city and its partners over the coming months will plan a public outreach campaign to engage multiple sectors of the community.
Racine is the smallest city to become a Smart Cities Readiness participant in the competition's three-year history.
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