Arizona State University President Michael Crow has created a unconstitutional consortium of organizations to impose smart city technology across 20 cities and 4.4 million people in central Arizona.

This is a global first, and other regionalists around the world are watching like hawks to see if they can pull it off. If they do, it will instantly become the global template to create Smart Cities without public intervention. ? TN Editor

Cox Communications and Arizona State University (ASU) announced at the 2019 ASU Smart Region Summit flagship event their partnership to create the Cox Connected Environments Collaboratory at ASU. This collaboration will drive the development of Arizona's smart region infrastructure, delivering on the promise of ASU's Smart City Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) to build smarter communities in the greater Phoenix metropolitan region by solving pressing community challenges.

The Cox Connected Environments Collaboratory at ASU will aim to solve real challenges within the Greater Phoenix community and beyond in ways that are innovative and not readily available in the marketplace today.  As an incubation center and convening space, the Collaboratory aims to engage ASU students, staff, and faculty to design the next wave of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions that could, for example, optimize buildings for sustainability, provide new learning experiences in virtual and augmented reality, overhaul transportation infrastructure and more.

To power the Collaboratory, Cox will deploy a comprehensive wired and wireless network on campus as part of ASU's NextGen Network. The Collaboratory is another step forward for these efforts, engaging city leaders and citizens, non-profits, faculty, student researchers, industry experts, and visiting scholars to build the metropolis and regional infrastructure of the future.

"Cox is a trusted partner, and we are eager to see the Cox Connected Environments Collaboratory at ASU drive smart region applications that combine people, connected devices, data and processes to improve community operations and the citizen experience," said Lev Gonick, chief information officer, Arizona State University.

"Cox currently powers several smart city initiatives and communities today as the preferred data network of residents and business owners," said Steve Rowley, executive vice president, Cox Business. "Cox Business, combined with Cox2M, will bring new experiential capabilities to the campus and provide a space for all to innovate."

"Through our Cox2M business line, we will bring ASU students, staff and faculty the tools and capabilities to develop end-to-end solutions that can really make a difference," said Sujata Gosalia, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, Cox Communications. "We are excited to build the future together in this new collaborative environment."

As a founding partner of The Connective – Greater Phoenix Smart Region Consortium, Cox will also work with ASU to utilize the power of Cox's existing gigabit network and continue to extend its fiber infrastructure through aggressive investment to create a more connected region.

The Cox Connected Environments Collaboratory will reside in an Innovation Zone at ASU, spaces located across the Valley and ASU campuses that are dedicated to creating innovative solutions to global challenges. These Zones include SkySong, ASU Research Park, Novus Innovation Corridor and more, actively engaging schools, faculty, students, programs and initiatives.