[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3810-3811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00501]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Smart Cities and Communities Federal Strategic Plan: Exploring 
Innovation Together

AGENCY: The National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and 
Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD), National 
Science Foundation.

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ernest Lucier at (703) 292-4873 or 
[email protected]. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through 
Friday.

DATES: January 9, 2017.

SUMMARY: With this notice, the National Coordination Office for 
Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) 
requests comments from the public regarding the draft Smart Cities and 
Communities Federal Strategic Plan: Exploring Innovation Together. The 
draft Strategic Plan is posted at: https://www.nitrd.gov/drafts/SCC_StrategicPlan_Draft.pdf.

ADDRESS AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION: You may submit comments by any of 
the following methods:
     Email: [email protected], comments submitted by email should 
be machine-readable and should not be copy-protected;
     Fax: (703) 292-9097, Attn: Smart Cities and Communities; 
or
     Mail: Attn: Smart Cities and Communities, NCO, Suite II-
405, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22230.
    The deadline for submission under this RFC is February 28, 2017. 
Submissions must not exceed 3 pages in 12 point or larger font, with a 
page number provided on each page. Responders should include the name 
of the person(s) or organization(s) filing the comment.
    Responses to this RFC may be posted online at http://www.nitrd.gov. 
Therefore, the Smart Cities and Communities Task Force requests that no 
business proprietary information or copyrighted information be 
submitted in response to this RFC.
    In accordance with FAR 15.202(3), responses to this notice are not 
offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding 
contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated 
with responding to this RFC.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summary of Draft Strategy

    Motivated by a vision of ubiquitous, smart infrastructure, systems, 
and services, many cities and communities view advances in networking 
and information technology as a way to increase efficiency, reduce 
costs, and improve quality of life for their residents. They seek to 
become ``smart cities'' and ``smart communities'' by embedding new 
digital technologies into their infrastructure, systems, and services 
to enhance existing, and develop new, city/community resources. Smart 
city/community solutions are intended to enable new capabilities and 
opportunities--all in the face of limited budgets. The possible 
applications are numerous: Citizen services, smart grids, intelligent 
transportation systems, and remote healthcare, to name a few.
    Although information technology promises enormous public benefits, 
it also introduces new challenges. These challenges range from 
technical to ethical, legal, and social, including cybersecurity, data 
sharing and analysis, privacy, public health and well-being, workforce 
and education needs, and cultural and socioeconomic considerations. 
Addressing these challenges requires new forms of cross-sector and 
cross-government collaboration, experimentation, knowledge sharing, and 
alignment.
    This strategic plan offers a high-level framework to guide and 
coordinate smart city/community-related Federal initiatives, with an 
emphasis on local government and stakeholder engagement. Coordinating 
efforts across Federal agencies should help accelerate the development 
of smart city/community solutions that maximize the value of 
investments and optimize benefits to residents.
    The Central Goals that motivate this strategy are to:
     Understand local needs and local goals;
     Accelerate smart city/community innovation and 
infrastructure development;
     Facilitate cross-sector collaboration and bridge existing 
silos;
     Boost exports and promote U.S. global leadership; and
     Focus on people-centered solutions that support job growth 
and economic competitiveness.
    A key objective of this plan is to identify priorities for 
federally funded research and development (R&D) as well as capacity-
building to help transform our cities and communities and improve our 
standards of living. To do so, the Strategic Priorities identified 
herein are to:
     Accelerate fundamental R&D for smart cities/communities;
     Facilitate secure and resilient infrastructure, systems, 
and services for smart cities/communities;
     Foster smart cities/communities through data and knowledge 
sharing, best practices, and collaboration; and
     Enable evaluation of progress and long-term growth of 
smart cities/communities.
    This plan envisions Federal agencies working together and engaging 
with local leaders, academia, industry, civil society, and other key 
stakeholders. The aim is to accelerate the development and 
implementation of new discoveries and innovations that in turn enable 
cities and communities to achieve local goals and address their most 
important challenges. Therefore, the Next Steps recommended in this 
strategic plan include, through the Smart Cities and Communities Task 
Force, promoting interagency coordination and collaboration; engaging 
cities/communities to collect feedback on and enable continued 
refinement of this strategic plan and future efforts; and developing a 
roadmap for specific Federal actions to execute the Strategic 
Priorities presented here.

Questions for Commenters

    The Smart Cities and Communities Task Force invites comments on the 
draft strategic plan. In particular, commenters should consider the 
following questions as they develop their responses:
     Are the central goals appropriate and/or are there other 
goals that should be considered?
     Are the strategic priorities appropriate and/or are there 
other priorities that should be considered?
     Are the next steps identified in the draft plan 
appropriate and/or are there others that should be considered?
    Submitted by the National Science Foundation for the National 
Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information

[[Page 3811]]

Technology Research and Development (NITRD) on January 9, 2017.

Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2017-00501 Filed 1-11-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7555-01-P