US Election Special Report: What did Harris, Trump do for Smart Cities, Utilities?

We're in the final stretch of the US 2024 presidential election in which voters will have to decide in two months Kamala Harris or Donald Trump? Both candidates have spoken about their vision if they reach the Oval Office. But since we're all about the digital transformation of cities and utilities at Kurrant, let's talk about the smart city industry with each in the White House. You may be thinking: Smart city and utility projects tend to be planned and deployed at local level directly or through public-private partnership. Yes, but federal funding plays a key role by incentivizing cities and utilities, which can apply for grants, accelerating the deployment of smart solutions they might not be able to afford otherwise. Collaborating with federal departments also grants cities access to knowledge and guidance, as well as scaling and replicating opportunities. Another key element will be regulation, which for this election will focus on AI. And because we all know that acts speak louder than words, let's not just focus on their campaigns, but rather on what they've actually done. Their track record. Let's talk about Republican Donald Trump first, as he has already been POTUS before. Trump arrived at the White House in 2016. When voted into office, the billionaire inherited a sort of smart city's golden era in terms of funding. Barack Obama's administration had set up the Smart Cities initiative, investing some $240 million in federal research and technology to help local communities tackle challenges like energy safety, traffic or climate related issues. The Obama administration also put a focus on the electric grid, and in 2009, even allocated $3.4 billion to smart grid projects allowing utilities to deploy solutions like smart meters. When Trump arrived at the Oval Office, he did not ax the initiatives per se. He did propose cuts of 31% in funding to the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, of 21% to the Department of Agriculture, eliminating water and wastewater program loans, -13% for the Department of Transportation, cutting funding to TIGER, Amtrak, and the Federal Transit Administration. These departments oversee funding and help with projects in water, environment, mobility... But, hitting EPA was in line with Trump leaving the Paris Agreement. The Paris climate accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States. I was able to talk to someone from a US city involved in smart city projects, someone who wants to remain anonymous, who told me that when Trump's term started, their smart city projects no longer had federal funding and therefore had to be canceled. However, they also told me that when Trump cut smart city related funding, it was devastating for cities, but it pushed them to look for ways to fund and deploy smart solutions themselves. So when the Biden-Harris administration brought back funding, their projects were accelerated quickly. An important learning lesson for cities who became more independent. Trump's policies also unintentionally benefited some smart cities aspects. In 2018, with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, also known as the Trump tax cuts, the US corporate tax rate went from 35% to 21%. These tax adjustments were positive for business in general, shareholders get more dividends or if dividends aren't distributed, more money is reinvested in the company... So all industry players, including those providing smart solutions for cities and utilities, could invest even more in innovation. The Trump administration also invested heavily in connecting rural areas. They invested some $1.15 billion in ReConnect, a program set to expand broadband infrastructure in rural areas. During his term, what was dubbed as the world's largest dual use 5G testing was launched, with the Department of Defense investing $600 million to accelerate 5G adoption for military purposes. This could in the future benefit cities who could implement those advancements. Regarding artificial intelligence, Trump's administration has acknowledged the importance of AI. In 2019, he signed the Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in AI and established the American AI initiative, a commitment to double investment for AI research, create AI research institutes, setting up guidance for its use, and making international AI alliances like the one established with the UK. This is dome of what he did while in office. As for this latest campaign? He has pledged to cut more taxes for corporations down from 21% to 15% and to lower energy costs. However, this would be done by allowing more drilling and reversing renewable energy and infrastructure projects from Biden's term. He recently said he has changed his stance regarding EVs, which is good news for the EV related smart city and utility companies he said: I'm for electric cars. I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly. In regards to AI, in the podcast The Ben and Mark Show by Andreessen Horowitz founders, the founders said Trump told them, AI is very scary, but we actually have to win because if we don't win, China wins. During this campaign, he has spoken about what he has called Freedom Cities, which would mean building ten new cities on federal land. Not many details are known, but there was mention of flying cars. This would leave behind the real purpose of smart cities it's more of a Futurama idea. Now let's turn to the Democratic candidate. If Harris was elected, it would be her first time as president. But she already knows how things work and has been a key part of the last four years thanks to her role as Vice President. So let's see what her and Biden have done. When talking about the last four years, we have to discuss the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a $1.2 trillion bill passed in 2021 to improve the country's mobility, water and connectivity infrastructure, as well as help tackle the effects of the climate crisis and invest in communities. Inside the bill, $500 million, which isn't much compared to the 1.2 trillion, were allocated for the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation, or SMART, grant program. This program was set to create connected infrastructure, which would in turn allow for EVs and connected vehicles, as well as deploy smart traffic sensors and signals, create smart electric grids, for example to help with EV adoption, and integrate systems. SMART funded projects with connected technology and data gathering. Examples of projects that moved forward thanks to this initiative include the almost $2 million for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to develop a smart microgrid system at Cape Cod Gateway Airport. 2 million for the Louisville Metro government to integrate a smart sensor based platform that reports real time flooding and congestion data. 700,000 for the Mid-America Regional Council to use data for traffic signal re timing to improve traffic in Kansas City, and the list goes on. The BIL also designated $65 billion to improve High-Speed Internet access across the country, not specifically for smart city and utility projects, but as we know, communications can serve as a base for future projects. $5 million for sensors and solutions to monitor and detect fires in real time were also allocated. 6 billion for smart grid, this includes metering, control devices, sensors, software and communications technologies that support smart grid deployment, as well as technologies to integrate electric vehicles with the grid. The Biden-Harris administration pledged in August of this year $105 million for water conservation, which includes smart meters, and this came only two months after 700 million were also allocated for projects across the lower Colorado River basin, also including an Advanced Metering infrastructure to conserve water. When it comes to artificial intelligence, Harris is known as the czar. As VP, she met with AI leaders from OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and Anthropic to discuss safety standards for artificial intelligence. Although no AI regulation is in place at the moment in the US, Harris did lead the Executive Order on the safe, secure and trustworthy development and use of artificial intelligence in which the Biden administration laid out its policy goals for AI and ordered agencies to take the measures to achieve them, as well as create Chief Artificial Intelligence Officers in their organizations. She has always been outspoken about advancing AI while protecting individuals from it. But just as AI has the potential to do profound good, it also has the potential to cause profound harm. We must manage all these dangers to make sure that AI is truly safe. The Biden-Harris administration even signed an AI agreement with the EU in 2023 to cooperate in artificial intelligence and computing to address global challenges like the climate crisis. As for her campaign now? We don't have as many examples as we do with Trump, as she has been campaigning for less than two months, when Biden announced he would no longer run and endorsed her. Her campaign has said, though, that she would propose raising corporate taxes, putting them back up from 21% to 28%. Also, CNBC has said that Harris is planning to announce the increase of startup tax deduction from $5,000 to $50,000. To summarize, on one hand, we can say that Trump kind of left cities to fend for themselves when it comes to smart deployments, pushing cities to not depend on federal grants to advance their solutions and he prioritized the private sector's opportunities to prosper, which is a good thing for tech providers and could even benefit smart city startups. On the other hand, in her role as VP, Harris helped reinstate federal grants for smart city solutions to help communities and municipalities tackle their issues, which is good for cities looking to deploy smart technology and also beneficial for providers who might then have more projects and therefore more revenue. Both candidates have tech people supporting them. But in conclusion, Trump, who is a businessman, doesn't seem too interested by the idea of realistic smart projects because he doesn't see it as a way to grow the economy. Democrats see it as a positive thing for climate and sustainability, but something that needs incentives with grants. But politicians aren't considering smart city and utility projects as the real economic boosters that, if organized properly, could give the US leadership in the field and allow them to export their know how to the rest of the world with the help of their foreign affairs policy like they do for other industries.