About ISCRA
Connecting Leaders, Vendors, and Experts to Build a Smarter Future
What We Do
The Illinois Smart City & Region Association (ISCRA), is a 501(c)(3) that began as part of the Illinois Smart State Strategy in 2018. ISCRA connects municipal decision-makers, technology vendors, and other subject matter experts from the smart city sector in a sales-free atmosphere to educate and guide community leaders through the multitude of technology providers to identify the right solutions and proper timing of integration, making their communities more efficient, sustainable, and connected using these technologies and data driven solutions. Ultimately, transforming their municipal landscape into an environment more equipped to tackle today’s challenges.
Nearly every community has a comprehensive (a.k.a. strategic) plan. Unfortunately, most of these plans in any Illinois community are older than 3 years and out of touch with today’s challenges. We help local leaders visualize a plan that incorporates technology to modernize the direction of their community. ISCRA doesn’t just help them add token words like sustainability, innovation or resilience. We make sure these words correspond with specific objectives, defining exactly how they’ll aid the community in achieving modern objectives. We help cities become smart.
Mayors and Board Presidents are elected to lead their community toward a collective vision for how the residents want their city to be. We help those leaders be the visionary their constituents believe they are. The Mayor and elected bodies, much like the residents, rely on the actions and efforts of their municipal staff. The municipal workforce is the team responsible for making the vision become reality.
Most communities strive to upgrade three main areas on a continued basis. These areas are, improving operations, enhancing services, and delivering positive financial impact to relieve the tax burden from the citizens. Making good on those three areas has a direct effect on quality of life. That’s why incorporating technology and data-driven solutions to affect those areas is critical. But that’s not all. At any given time in any given city, they have challenges in one or some combination of the six municipal domains ISCRA focuses on during the digital transformation process.
You’ve seen these areas identified on this website numerous times. Those municipal domains are: Public Safety, e-Gov. Services, Cybersecurity, Transportation & Mobility, Energy & Environment, plus Buildings & Infrastructure. Those domains at their most general level help us, help you. When you tell us where your challenges are, we bring many reliable solution providers to the conversation to educate and guide you toward the solution that will actually deliver as promised. No more reluctance to invest in technology because of a bad experience. No more exhaustion from dealing with sales reps who constantly promise the silver bullet to your city’s problems. We arm you with comprehensive information and insight to make sure you and your team are fully informed end-users.