Squire, Sanders & Dempsey

COUNSEL TODAY

"Smart Cities" Cooperate Globally

Assisting ANCARA
Technologically Advanced Cities and Regions Cooperate Globally

As civilization approaches the threshold of its next millenium, sophisticated scientific and technological advances are occurring on countless fronts, multiple technologies are converging at breakneck speed, and calls are coming from many sides to exercise adequate coordination and deliberation in the process. The callers’ concerns are in the interest of achieving optimal results while avoiding redundancy, interacting to maximize efficiency while not impeding competition — in a sense, rolling forward without having to reinvent the wheel. The key: communication.

The world’s first formal association of cities and regions exploring advanced uses of information technology came into being on May 31 in the Netherlands’ Eindhoven region. Designated as the "Advanced Networked Cities and Regions Association" ("ANCARA"), the body was founded by six entities recognized as being among the world leaders in implementing information technology. These include: Japan’s "Kansai Project"; USA’s "Orlando Project" (Time Warner Full Service Network) and Smart Valley "Bay Area Multimedia Partnership Projects"; The Netherlands’

Singapore

"Eindhoven Digital Region Project"; Singapore’s "Singapore 2000 Project"; and Sweden’s "City of Stockholm Project".

Recruiting