South Bend labeled 2019 Smart City Award finalist

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – South Bend is a finalist for the International Data Corporation’s 2019 Smart City North America Awards.

The Smart City North America Awards acknowledge North American municipalities that have embraced new technology to make life better for residents.

The finalist status is due to the city’s Smart Sewers project lead by EmNet.

Before the project was implemented, South Bend’s sewer system would overflow polluted water into the St. Joseph River.

But now, officials say the Combined Sewer Overflow Real-Time Decision Support System has reduced overflow volume by more than 70 percent each year, or around one billion gallons of water. E.coli concentrations are down by more than 50 percent as a result of the project.

Out of over 65 submissions, South Bend is a finalist under the sustainable infrastructure category.

Chief Innovation Officer of the City of South Bend Denise Linn Riedl says the partnership between South Bend and EmNet is significant to the nomination. “That project highlighted a great University partnership in Notre Dame and entrepreneurial spirit of EmNet, the South Bend born and home grown company here -- how partnered with the city is a platform for innovation  we can really incubate a new product, a new idea that can save tax payer dollars,” she said.

Awards are reliant on public voting, which ends at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

You can cast your vote here.

Winners will be recognized at the Smart Cities NYC event on May 14, 2019.