Through the Smart City Accelerator, each city will receive technical support from Honeywell and Accelerator to develop a Smart City Strategic Plan. Each strategic plan will align key stakeholders, define priorities, and identify high-impact and inclusive initiatives that advance residents' quality of life in areas such as climate resiliency, public safety, operational efficiency and improved service delivery. Each city will also receive support in applying for federal grants to support the implementation of identified projects.

Accelerator for America is a non-profit organisation led by an Advisory Council of mayors, labour and business leaders, and urban and economic development experts that finds and develops solutions to economic insecurity and shares them with cities to create national change from the ground up.

"We are proud to work with Accelerator for America to support cities of all sizes advance their smart city journeys and drive meaningful outcomes such as advancing sustainability efforts, creating equity, digitalising systems and helping to improve safety," said Matthew Britt, general manager, Smart Cities and Communities, Honeywell. "A smart city eliminates silos, identifies integration opportunities and uses data to institute change. Honeywell's ready now smart city solutions leverage data to help create safer, more resilient and sustainable cities and communities that improve quality of life."

"Identifying and creating local initiatives to grow community wealth and increase economic security is how we advance our mission to create national change from the ground up, and that's exactly what the Honeywell Smart City Accelerator Program does," said Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, CEO of Accelerator for America. "Honeywell's expertise in smart city technology will benefit the people in each of the cities we work with, and together, we will create models for other cities to follow."

The five cities were chosen via an application process that looked at the cities' leadership visions and data strategies and reviewed each city's strategic plan, sustainability plan, climate plan, and operating and capital budgets. Working closely with city stakeholders, Honeywell will create a four-track Smart City Strategic Plan for each city.