San Antonio steps up to the tech plate – the city's Smarter Together Initiative has landed a finalist spot in the prestigious Smart Cities North America Awards (SCNAA). The City of San Antonio is grabbing headlines once again, this time for its smart city savvy. The Administration category nod is a testament to the city's commitment to innovation and technology.

Citizens are now called to action to cast their vote for their favorite smart city project through Survey Monkey. Open until March 8, public voting is a crucial part of the awards process. San Antonio is to hopefully celebrate on March 27th, when winners will be announced and later honored at the Smart Cities Connect conference this May in Raleigh, NC.

According to the official announcement, the Smarter Together Initiative boasts a number of smart city projects that caught the judges' eyes. A “Smart Cities Roadmap”, a “Smarter Together Testbed”, and a governance model – these elements comprise San Antonio's strategic approach to embracing a tech-driven future.

The city's Office of Innovation has been hard to work, rolling out prototype projects like “Talkin’ Broadway” and “Magical Parks” since June last year. These pioneering initiatives aim to not just dazzle technophiles but also to make real-world improvements in the city's livability and governance – and they’ve garnered a lot of press, being featured in over 20 articles and publications to date.

For those looking to get a deeper dive into what smart city evolution looks like, San Antonio's cases studies and best practices will be on full display at the Smart Cities Connect event. Interested parties can visit the event's website for more information on what to expect come May 7-10, when urban innovation takes center stage in Raleigh.