BACKGROUND
The Utility SuperCluster focuses on sustainability challenges related to Energy, Water and Waste Management by bringing cities, counties, and municipalities together with Government, Commercial, Non-Profit, and Academia to celebrate inventiveness, share best practices and demonstrate world-class innovation.

Our world has fast become increasingly dependent on “smart” devices in fundamentally new ways. Subsequently, the “critical” infrastructure, i.e. assets, networks, and systems, underpinning our cities/communities require the security, functionality, and resiliency deemed vital to public safety, prosperity, and well-being.

Incorporating a heterogeneous, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Smart City fabric requires continuous diagnostics and mitigation to reduce cyber-physical risk AND provide visibility.

These technologies will enable cities and communities to improve services, promote economic growth, and enhance the quality of life but also require thoughtful risk mitigation.

ABSTRACT
Public, private, academic, and entrepreneurial domains have served an important role in supporting Research and Development (R&D) efforts across our Nation’s most critical infrastructure sectors, addressing national defense, health, safety, the environment, and energy security.

Making our cities “smarter” means equipping them with the tools to address the pressing problems that their citizens care most about. From self-driving cars to precision medicine and microgrids, focused investment on innovation can achieve transformative impact on national priorities to meet the challenges facing the Nation and the world.

Counterbalancing innovative solutions with cyber-physical risk mitigation is paramount as our country “connects” smart devices and systems—in diverse sectors such as transportation, energy, manufacturing, and healthcare—in fundamentally new ways.

A Smart City is much more than the cyber-physical infrastructure; it is also about participatory, collaborative, and transparent engagement. Given today’s ubiquitously-connected world, it is paramount that we embrace an opportunity to pursue research, development, and deployment of key technologies; share robust datasets; integrate models to inform decision-making; harmonize policies where warranted; and enhance public dialogue.

Please join us on December 21st for a stimulating dialogue with one of our Nation’s foremost change agents, Gregory Bell, whose Company, Corelight, is leading efforts to meet these challenges.