Officials in San Antonio, Texas, have seen systemic change in support of innovation in the three years since they approved the SmartSA Interlocal Data Sharing Agreement, which makes it easier for partner organizations to leverage data and technology for shared projects…

The data-sharing agreement facilitated sharing streetlight location and inventory data with the city, Royall said. “You might think would be really straightforward, but actually in the United States, it’s a pretty complex environment. Some of them are privately owned, some of them are owned by utilities, some of them are owned by the city,” she said. “It’s really important for us to be able to correlate that information.”

In 2021, the agreement was ratified across eight public agency partners – CPS Energy, VIA Metropolitan Transit, San Antonio River Authority, Edwards Aquifer Authority, San Antonio Housing Authority, San Antonio Water System, Bexar County Appraisal District and the University of Texas at San Antonio. The Office of Innovation’s Smart Cities team manages the agreement.