When IBM announced last January that it planned on locating an IT services center that would eventually employ 1,300 people in Dubuque, Iowa, it was great news for city leaders. Every additional job is a check mark in the win column for a place that has seen its traditional industry of farm equipment manufacturing decline over the past few decades. But the relationship between this city of 60,000 on the banks of the Mississippi and the global corporation with 400,000 employees has blossomed since the announcement. On Sept. 17 the two announced a joint effort to turn Dubuque into an international model for environmental sustainability.
Dubuque city government and business leaders have made green a priority since 2006. Now, with IBM as its partner, the city plans on using federal government stimulus money and other funds to make its electricity, water, and transportation systems operate more efficiently and to attract business investment. “We’re developing processes where people can make good decisions that will save them money and that will be sustainable beyond their generation,” says Dubuque Mayor Roy D. Buol. “We call it making sustainability sustainable.”
For IBM, this marks its first so-called “smart city” arrangement in the U.S. Also on Sept. 17 the company announced an arrangement with the Chinese city of Shenyang to collaborate with government agencies and China’s Northeastern University to turn that city into a model for environmental protection and sustainable development. IBM already has many engagements underway with cities around the world focusing on small slices of the sustainability puzzle, such as transportation or energy management. These two projects are the first that take a holistic view on improving the basic functions of urban centers.
Dubuque as a Template
IBM hopes to use the technology it develops and the lessons it learns in Dubuque to create a template that…