Long Beach’s Smart City Initiative, which the City Council set in motion in October 2019, centers on leveraging data and technology “to solve challenges and overcome problems” while letting residents define the future city. The city, which was first a part of STiR in 2018, is looking help from technology companies on more than a half-dozen projects. Budgets for the RFPs, released April 20-21, have not yet been set. Initiatives include:
- Identity Management and Digital Services Streamlining pilot. In an RFP, the city’s Technology and Innovation Department is seeking a “simple, secure and accessible solution to provide identity management and digital access to city services” for residents, businesses and visitors. Specifically, the city wants a pilot solution that would create a single sign-on and integrate “several online services into one program,” as well as providing a “user-friendly” web portal, accessible via QR code on multiple devices, for resident-facing apps. The goal, the city said on its website, is to “cut the need to provide duplicate login information.” This could include such services as municipal billing and service payment; parking lot and meter access and payment; a way to fast-track public comment queueing at City Council meetings; and the city’s Go Long Beach app, on which it partners with Salesforce. Questions are due by 6 p.m. Friday. Applications are due by 6 p.m. May 7.
- Pilot on moving police officers from paper-based to digital. In an RFP, the Long Beach Police Department seeks a “mobile-based” solution to “digitize the forms that officers use to track incident numbers and police reports as well as the field interview process.” These processes are currently on paper, and if members of the public lose an incident ticket, they have to visit the Long Beach Police Department to look it up. Current processes also require field interview data to by typed in by administrative staff. Among the requirements and outcomes, the solution must be able to be used on officers’ cellphones be and capable of emailing incident report numbers to the public. Questions are due by 6 p.m. Friday. Applications are due by 6 p.m. May 7.
- Mobility Data Collection pilot. In an RFP, the city’s Public Works Department seeks a “mobility data collection and analysis solution to better understand pedestrian counts, bike counts, scooter counts, vehicle speed, transportation user stories and safety perception,” to better inform decisions on policy, programs and infrastructure. Public Works’ Mobility Programs Division currently counts pedestrians and bicyclists using volunteers “and has no real way of understanding why or how people are moving throughout the city.” The department seeks “more quantitative and qualitative data” on “perceptions of safety, comfort and convenience”, mode of transportation and route of choice. It also seeks “accurate count data paired with qualitative data.” Solution requirements include clear reporting, data privacy and the ability for “storytelling around mobility.” Questions are due by 6 p.m. Friday. Applications are due by 6 p.m. May 7.
- Economic Development Developer Engagement. In an RFP, the city’s Economic Development Department seeks a “comprehensive, interactive solution to engage with developers and encourage them to invest in the city for our economic recovery." To further that recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, the department wants to “build an interactive toolkit to attract investors and developers”; and, in the interest of “promoting financial equity” for business owners, it would like to “populate current information and news as well as interactive applications” to better inform business owners of available programs. Solution requirements and outcomes include integrating with planning review and building permits in plan check as well as with lease-tracking software; and a mapping tool that shows investment zones in the city including opportunity zones and planning overlays. Questions are due by 6 p.m. Friday. Applications are due by 6 p.m. May 7.
- Air Quality Monitoring and Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. In an RFP, the city Development Services Department seeks assistance developing an “air quality monitoring program solution to better understand local pollution levels for our environmental justice communities.” This project appears to be independent of STiR. Air quality is “especially relevant as a secondary climate stressor to extreme heat in Long Beach,” which has several sources impacting air quality including the port, refineries and two major freeways. The city “seeks to pilot an air quality monitoring program to inform efforts toward access to clean air for all.” Requirements and outcomes include collecting and reporting “reliable air quality data” and making it available via a publicly accessible, “community-friendly” platform. Questions are due by 6 p.m. Friday. Applications are due by 6 p.m. May 7.
