IBM, in cooperation with the City Hall of Katowice, starts an IBM Executive Service Corps (ESC) project. The aim of this strategic initiative is to create a Smart City. Within the framework of the project, the company’s top talented managers will work in Katowice to help the City and the Silesia Metropolis with a crucial problems identification and advise in a field of strategic growth. The project will take over three months. In July, a second team of IBM will arrive in Katowice to continue the works.
The Executive Service Corps is an exceptional volunteer project of IBM, where the company sends its top talented managers for monthly missions to visit chosen emerging markets across the world, work for free and share theirs knowledge to help for a cities better development. During their stay, the IBM representatives work on projects that intersect economic development and social matters. Katowice is the first city of Poland which takes part in the ESC.
The first group of five IBM volunteers from the United States and Brazil, which will help Katowice to become “smarter”, arrives in Katowice at the beginning of May to prepare a strategy for future growth. The team will define City’s key factors in the area of economy, environment and social issues. The IBM’s managers will cooperate with authorities, businessmen, representatives of science and non-public organizations from Katowice and the Upper Silesian agglomeration.
At last, a report concerning an economic strength of the City and recommendations how to achieve sustainability goals will finish a first stage of the programme. The second team of specialists will go on with the works in July.
„A key attitude to solve present-day problems of cities is to understand its complex nature. We have to stop focusing on single matters like building a new bridge, road or traffic monitoring. Instead of that, we should analyze a city as a pattern of interconnections with a health care, water balance, transport and energy systems. Then we would be able to say what we need to live better.” – said Anna Sieńko, Chief Executive Officer of IBM Poland.
Among cities which already carry the Smarter Cities solutions into effect are: San Francisco, Dallas, Washington, Chicago, Oslo, London, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Stockholm and twin cities of Katowice – Shenyang (China) and Mobile (the U.S.).
“I am convinced the IBM Executive Service Corps project is an exceptional initiative. Katowice transforms and currently is facing with new challenges as the key city of the Silesia Metropolis. I hope the advices and ideas of ESC specialists will help us to come up the challenges and will build up our activity in developing both Katowice and the agglomeration.” – says Piotr Uszok, Mayor of Katowice and Chairman of the Board of the Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia.
IBM commercial: Smarter Cities