The Mayors Office of the City of New Orleans announced that the city had published an RFP (request for proposal) to deliver advanced broadband and the creation of a smart city.
In simplest terms, this means that the city is soliciting bids from potential suppliers in order to provide advanced broadband for all to the city of New Orleans. According to Jonathan Rhodes, the Director of the Mayors Office of Utilities, this is needed because, We know that 1 in 4 students does not have access to Internet at home, and there are places in our community where 30%-50% of residents do not have Internet at home. But Mayor Cantrell believes that everyone should have access to high-speed Internet in order to deliver digital equity and opportunity to all communities.
According to the Mayor’s Office, This RFP is a major step toward securing highspeed Internet for all.
As far as the smart city aspect of the Cantrell administration is concerned, it is s a plan to improve city services and increase public safety. Such features will include, options such as smart lighting, intelligent traffic management, smart water detection, and smart kiosks to deliver public information and City services.
The full press release can be found here.