Smart Cities Connect Spring 2025: Driving Innovation in Urban Transformation
The Smart Cities Connect Spring 2025 Conference & Expo was held in San Antonio, TX, from April 14–16, 2025 and convened with over 200 city leaders, technologists, and innovators to explore the future of urban development. ​

Key Themes and Sessions:

• Digital Transformation: Sessions delved into the integration of networks, data, AI, 5G, sensors, IoT, and cybersecurity, emphasizing their role in enhancing urban infrastructure and services. ​
• Urban Operations: Discussions focused on optimizing lighting, water management, waste disposal, urban planning, and emergency response systems through advanced technologies. ​
• Smart Mobility: Explorations into transportation innovations, including autonomous vehicles, public transit enhancements, and ride-share integrations, highlighted the push towards more efficient urban mobility solutions. ​
• Urban Infrastructure: Panels addressed the modernization of buildings, energy grids, utilities, and resilience strategies to build more sustainable and adaptable cities.​
• Community Engagement: Emphasis was placed on policy development, funding mechanisms, commerce, inclusion, and governance to ensure that smart city initiatives are equitable and community-focused. ​
• Next Generation Tech to Advance City Experiences: Automation and digital transformation of city infrastructure, city services, and city operations was front and center at this year's SCC

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As part of my personal view and attending sessions, here is my highlight! One of the first sessions I attended was listending to how Skydio uses UAS drones for high mass light tower inspection and is working with Texas Department of Transportation saving time from what took 95 minutes that is now whittled down to only 16 minutes. Skydio also mentioned we have moved to a 1:1 relationship for managing drones in cities to a 1 to many relationship where UAS docking and preprogramming is advancing drone operations within cities. Additional use cases are event driven including those for public safety, rail inspection, bridge inspection, and building management.

Another session I enjoyed was listening to University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA, and my MBA alma mater) and the team share more about their digital twin research project for City of San Antonio. The digital twin was built using geospatial, AI, machine vision, large language models (ChatGPT), 3D visualization, and NVIDIA Omniverse. The team also mentioned using the electric utility network for distribution to showcase CPS Energy data and information. Some of the primary use cases for the city included heat island identification, flood monitoring, and in the future planning for EV charging infrastructure build out and predicting the overall impact to enterprise fleets.

A highlight of the event for me was the workshop, "Immersive Experiences Driven by Intelligent Data for the Modern Urban Environment. Here is my summary of that workshop.

How Smart City Leaders Are Powering the Future with Real-Time Data and Integrated Solutions
This workshop event held at Smart Cities Connect focused on advancing smart city innovation,  with a panel of industry leaders  from NVIDIA, AMSYS Innovation Solutions, True North Software Solutions, and Ipsotek shared insights on how technology is reshaping urban infrastructure, public safety, and city services, and in the end citizen or patron experiences.

Laying the Foundation for Smarter Cities
Bill Pugh of True North Software Solutions kicked things off by outlining the key steps cities should take to begin their smart city journey. He emphasized the importance of leveraging operational dashboards and digital twins—not just to analyze historical data, but to harness real-time information. By doing so, cities can make critical, data-driven decisions that directly impact public safety, transportation, and municipal services. True North’s approach goes beyond the typical “reactive” data model. Their operational dashboards integrate live data streams, enabling secure dynamic decision-making that supports a range of city department and agency services in real time.

Frisco, Texas: Scaling Innovation Across Departments
Wade Medlock from the City of Frisco, Texas, shared how their SAFER initiative has grown far beyond its original scope. What began as a modest goal has evolved into a wide-reaching program supporting multiple city departments and agencies. Today, Frisco has roughly 85 applications running across its network—each playing a role in making the city more efficient, secure, and responsive to residents’ needs. Wade discussed how it is working with AMSYS and the rest of the partner team to elevate SAFER to the next level for the city.

Smarter Surveillance with Intelligent Cameras
Sean Grimm of Ipsotek brought attention to the capabilities of smart cameras—many of which are already deployed on city streets. Far from being limited to traffic monitoring, these cameras can now provide advanced insights into public safety and city operations. This tech represents a massive opportunity to extract more value from existing infrastructure.

NVIDIA Blueprints in Action
Jumbi Edulbehram of NVIDIA helped define AI for the audience and gave a great example (You had to be there!). In addition he shared how NVIDIA is working collaboratively with AMSYS and their partners to provide the blueprints so execution of these services for applications such as intelligent traffic management and public safety response become a reality and scale efficiently.

Bringing It All Together with “The Collective”
John Rohrer and Jacque Istok of AMSYS Innovative Solutions described their role as a master systems integrator, highlighting their collaboration with a network of trusted partners known as “The Collective.” Their mission: combine best-in-breed solutions to transform how cities function. They discussed how getting started with AMSYS is a conversation and mutual relationship in learning, collaborating, and bringing the right solutions to the table. From elevating campus experiences and improving patient care in hospitals to streamlining city services, their integrated approach is delivering powerful results. They shared examples of projects across a variety of industries and use cases.

Final Thoughts - Smart Cities Should Work For You, Not To You: 
Traffic management has long been the flagship use case for smart city technology. But as IoT, artificial intelligence, and intelligent data systems evolve, the potential use cases are expanding rapidly. These technologies are now enabling new services and experiences that go far beyond simply managing congestion. The message from these industry leaders is clear: smart city solutions should empower communities, not overwhelm them. As cities continue to adopt cutting-edge technology, the focus must remain on practical, people-centered outcomes—solutions that work for the city, its workers, and its residents.

At Embedded World in Austin, TX in October 2024, Stephanie Atkinson sits down with Nakul Duggal of Qualcomm to discuss the age of industrial intelligence.

​This ExecChat is joined with Nakul Duggal of Qualcomm interviewed by Stephanie Atkinson of Compass Intelligence. As we enter into the age of industrial intelligence, we are not only connecting supply chains, assets, industrial equipment, and autonomous systems, we are also bringing intelligence to the edge. Qualcomm announces 2 big announcements at Embedded World 24 held in Austin. Explore some of the latest announcements and Nakul's take on the future of the industrial workplace.

IoT is NOT dead, but the game is changing. When the term "IoT" took off, some experts and analyst firms categorized it as an industry. Some of us, especially the crew at IoT Coffee Talk, would get so aggravated at the blanket term of IoT when used to describe a narrowed market or a myopic description of the technology. IoT remains a blanket term used to describe things (i.e. assets, structures, tangible objects, mobile vehicles, items, etc.) being connected to the Internet. In 2010, Ericsson first shared there would be a projected 50 billion connected devices by 2020. That later was cut to 25 billion, and in the end was not the important factor. All of that, in my opinion missed the mark. Connections are connections are connections...Are the tech firms making money and are the businesses (clients) adopting and rolling out "IoT" seeing value?

While being connected is important...assets, for example, being connected really gain value when there are actionable insights, viable analytics, and the data can be used for business value. In addition, the tech companies providing IoT services and solutions (hardware, software, services, etc.) need to make money. So many businesses have come for the hype and left in debt, as they were never able to scale or offered no business value that made them margin.

Now, let's get back to business value. Business value may include reducing costs, preventing failure or disruption, improving operations, bringing new revenue, offering asset visibility, meeting compliance requirements, and much more. The other important business aspect, is when we connect these "things," the business value becomes important only if it contributes financially to the business, presents a trackable ROI, and/or provides relevant business incentives.

Many in the industry believe the hype of IoT is over, and it really is. Why though do I say that IoT is NOT dead. The industry is now transitioning away from using the terms IoT and IoT as a marketing term is fading, especially among other hype tech areas. IoT has always been about a particular industry and automating that industry. Technologists are realizing they must dive deeper and apply the technology to the specific industry, and apply context to how the tech will:

• Reduce Cost
• Optimize Operations
• Amplify Customer Experiences
• Streamline Communications
• Create New Revenue Streams
• Meet Compliance and Industry Mandates
• Simulate Processes or Operations
• And MORE

Automation can be defined as many things depending on who you talk to and what industry you are discussing, and "IoT" is just a tool in the tech tool belt at this point to support digital transformation, automation, and elevate the future of work. Yes, we can connect things but businesses and government organizations have reached a point of "so what."

• A hospital wants to know how they can improve the quality of care or improving patient outcomes or supporting chronic illness care.
• A sports venue wants to know how they can improve the fan experience or improve safety or provide new interactive services.
• A city wants to know how they can provide visibility of their public safety or waste management fleet for example or improve surveillance and safety or provide real-time city service information.
• A retailer wants to know how they can streamline the checkout and transaction process or enhance online shopping experiences or automate goods delivery and logistics services.
• A manufacturer wants to know how they can eliminate or reduce downtime, predict and prevent equipment or assembly line failure, or how to improve robotic processes.
• A car rental facility wants to know how they can track their rental fleet or improve driver experiences from car rental pickup to drop-off, or automate maintenance operations.

​IoT is NOT dead, the game is just changing. It is changing because we are moving to a point where we no longer call it "IoT." Those delivering solutions will just do what they should have been doing in the first place, and that is talking about the client's needs and applying the conversation to the value proposition to the industry, sub-industry, etc. In addition, AI has taken over as the new shiny thing. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning (models) essentially enable an IoT solution or further provide actionable insights, automation, and real-time intelligence.

For those "IoT" companies that are still around, you have survived but you also will need to adapt. My advice is to not jump on the next shiny thing (many have been utilizing AI long before the hype entered), but to continue to provide context of your products and services and how it applies to your customer. If your customer is in the hospitality industry, then dive deep into that industry (travel, hotel experiences, occupancy optimization) and understand the traveler needs, apply your business development delivery in an intentional manner. Immerse yourself, do your research, train your teams, hire the experts, and be intentional. Find ISVs, VARs, and other partners to help your go-to-market, especially those that specialize in specific industries as they may "own" the customer. Collaboration will be essential. Just as in the rap industry, you have to collaborate to stay relevant!

STAY TUNED, the IoT Innovator Awards by CompassIntel will open for nominations this fall!

Hope on over to our AWARDS page to get your nominations in for the 11th annual CompassIntel awards. Let us know if you have any questions, just simply email us directly at [email protected].

On October 20th, a large group of industry analysts joined 5G Americas staff and members to discuss the state of 5G. Neville Ray of T-Mobile, Chair of 5G Americas, kicked off the event after a warm welcome and a setting of the stage by Chris Pearson (President of 5G Americas). Ray stated we are “In the next phase of 5G networks,” and “5G is finally starting to gain real traction.” A wide range of stats were shared along with some important factoids showing we are moving the needle in the Americas. Participating companies included Airspan, Cisco, Qualcomm, Samsung, T-Mobile, AT&T, Ciena, Mavenir, Nokia, Ericsson,Crown Castle, VMware, and Intel.

While the foundational layer in 5G is located in the low band spectrum, mid-band 5G in the United States is now real…..but as all of us know, we need more mid-band spectrum to reach full potential of 5G use cases and applications. Currently, more than 66% of the geographic land mass is covered by 5G, while this same percentage of the population has access to 5G. Having a 5G enabled device is a bit underwhelming, with less than half of the U.S. population having access to a device with a 5G radio. With an investment of more than $100 billion over the last few years, 5G phones and subscriptions reached a total of 140 million, which remains less than half of the North American population. The most significant finding is that 5G is about increased data consumption, as Neville shared we are about 2.5 to 3 times higher data consumption with 5G compared to LTE.

When thinking about the networks and advancements being made, we must remember we will rely on 4G/LTE for quite some time even though 5G networks are continuing to be deployed and improved. There are currently 14 total 5G networks running that enable streaming, gaming, social media and communications, and other business or enterprise-based applications. Outside of all of these data-intensive categories, Neville Ray mentioned for the industry to NOT forget about voice….yes, voice is still important for 5G and the advancements are really all around Voice over NR or New Radio (pronounced Vonar, aka Vo5G/Voice over 5G) (Related News: https://techblog.comsoc.org/2022/06/04/t-mobile-launches-voice-over-5g-nr-using-5g-sa-core-network/).

5G Americas noteworthy trends revolve around the following highlighted areas:

• Fixed Wireless  
• C-V2X
• Network Slicing
• Edge Computing (Check out BusinessEdgeReport.com for more on this topic!)

Fixed wireless access or FWA is being seen as an alternative to wired broadband and Wi-Fi (See Wi-Fi6) connectivity for a number of reasons. In many cases, the WISPs leveraged unlicensed spectrum to reach rural communities who lacked quality broadband, but over the past year the conversation has shifted to enterprise interest. Some believe it to be a complement or to augment existing connectivity options (especially cable). While FWA is creating capacity and new capabilities, especially for business use, additional and new spectrum is coming. FWA will continue to remain an available option for businesses in the US and internationally, but will continue to be squeezed by fiber and funding that may benefit fiber build out (Further Reading: WISPs embrace fiber as they face do or die moment).  

The carriers have been busy when it comes to FWA, especially in terms of their announcements and overall growth. Of course with that comes a bit of a reverse, as the overhype of FWA is now settling. “Verizon Communications…touted the addition of 234,000 fixed wireless access residential customers in the third quarter and another 108,000 FWA subscribers on the business-services side, upping its total FWA base to over 1 million users,” as seen on NextTV. T-Mobile will have their Q3 earnings call tomorrow but as Forbes shared, “T-Mobile has also made a dent in the broadband space, with its fixed wireless broadband offering adding an industry-leading 560,000 new broadband subscribers (last quarter),” while today they have more than 1.5 million FWA subscribers. Ericsson also shared, “UScellular was the first service provider to offer consumers and enterprise Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services, using 5G extended-range millimeter-wave (mmWave) to target digital divide areas in rural America, reaching coverage of over 5 km.” While the activity for fixed wireless has expanded over the past year, spectrum access and fiber will remain critical factors for continued growth.

Below is a slide that was shared at 5G Americas that highlights some of the overall FWA stats (Source: 5G Americas & Their Members).

Field services and fleet management go hand in hand, while IoT (Internet of Things) continues to provide essential real-time intelligence to improve visibility, safety, and operational efficiencies. Connectivity, tracking, and telematics are at the center of the advancements being made in these industries. When you think about field services, you think many moving parts that need coordination…you think a wide range of logistics synchronization, customer support, delivery operations, and other coordinated activities that are all collectively brought about to make sure products/goods and services are delivered on time, with superior customer service, and with complete accuracy and safety. Field services and operations may include activities such as collecting customer insights, scheduling/dispatching of fleets, bid and estimate calculations, work orders and troubleshooting, and other administrative functions such as billing, accounts receivable, client/customer relations, and more. In addition, some field service teams may also include repair, maintenance, installation, and other services where technicians are required. People, processes, planning, and profit remain the four critical components of field services. The industry continues to move towards a digital transformation journey embracing cloud, software as a service, and IoT.
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On the other side you have fleet operations that may require tracking, safety protocols, management, compliance, and coordination. So many industries rely on fleet operations including public safety, construction, HVAC, energy (oil & gas), shipping/logistics, telecommunications, waste management, public transportation, and just about any industry that has repair/maintenance/technician operations. Once a technician needs to be dispatched or needs to complete a delivery, there are many facets to organizing, coordinating, and tracking assets across the fleet. Tracking may take place around the assets in the vehicle, the fleet vehicles, and the drivers or mobile workforce. The human element remains important as safety and compliance become a top priority for drivers, workers, and technicians.

The innovation taking place across field service and fleet management is driven by technology, and more specifically IoT, smart cameras, GPS tracking, telematics and real-time intelligence garnered through automation (AI, machine learning), sensor systems, edge computing, and software. Moreover, are the platforms and software systems that enable transparency and management, providing visibility across the fleet and field operations. GPS Insight is one such company bringing together field services and fleet management. In January 2022, GPS Insight acquired FieldAware, and CEO Gary Fitzgerald shared,

“Our focus has been on bringing together fleet data and telematics technology with field service management solutions.”

Of course, there are vendors operating in these fields but very few provide a streamlined portfolio of services to serve both field service and fleet operations. GPS Insight continues to have a laser-targeted approach and states,

“Joining forces with FieldAware not only extends our competitive advantage across the field service and fleet management landscape, but also provides new capabilities to transform customer satisfaction into a new standard: customer success.”

Field service and fleet management industries were hampered over the last few years and still grappling with the pandemic impact and supply chain shortages. The U.S. is also facing labor shortages, which further creates constraints for hiring and maintaining worker satisfaction. Profit loss, worker retention, and supply chain issues remain top of mind for many leaders in these sectors. However, labor shortages will push us further into relying on technology, automation, and real-time intelligence to get things done efficiently. Compass Intelligence expects field service and fleet management to remain one of the largest contributors to IoT connections growth, as we increase connectivity and tracking of people, assets, and fleets. IoT is and will continue to be essential to meet these challenges head on and provide real-time intelligence for improved operations and supply chain visibility.

Further Reading:

• GPS Insight & FieldAware Join Forces to Drive Customer Success
• Think Tank Sessions: What Drives Customer Success at Your Organization?
• Four Top Tips to Get the Most out of Your Field Organization
• MESO Case Study