How Arizona Cities Are Aligning Around Immersive Tech, Digital Twins & AI Solutions

We’re constantly inspired by how Arizona cities are collaborating with each other to drive civic innovation. Cities throughout the state are exploring emerging technologies and sharing ideas and lessons learned that cross city boundaries. City leaders are testing new digital tools in low-risk scenarios to help build momentum around future-ready civic innovations.

The Connective recently convened three virtual working groups with Arizona cities.

The working groups were an opportunity for cities to highlight their own efforts, including immersive tools for civic engagement and education, digital twins for urban planning and climate resilience, and artificial intelligence tools for civic services and operations. Here, we explore some of the exciting ways Arizona cities are working together to share knowledge and advance tech-driven initiatives in city planning and management.

Immersive Technologies & New Approaches to Civic Engagement

Arizona cities are experimenting with affordable immersive technology to boost constituent participation and community connection. Some of the shared priorities among cities that are driving these projects include:

• Activating underused areas through creative digital experiences

• Engaging younger or harder to reach residents

• Reducing staff workload with digital tools that enable residents to serve themselves

Some of the creative uses of immersive technology some Arizona cities have used recently include:

• Augmented reality tourism projects: For example, the City of Scottsdale is partnering with The Connective and Grand Canyon University students to develop an augmented reality historic walking tour of Old Town Scottsdale. Tour-goers can use the Scottsdale website and Hoverlay app to access stories and insights at key landmarks, showing how cities are using technology to make local history more engaging and accessible.

  
  

• Virtual reality training projects: To support workforce development and job reskilling, Arizona city representatives have been using virtual reality tools to create immersive training experiences that take trainees right into various city job environments. This immersive training gives new hires real-world experience in a risk-free environment.

  
  

• Virtual spaces and digital communities for youth civic engagement: To encourage youth involvement with city communities, Arizona cities are using technology and online tools to foster strong digital communities. For example, the City of Avondale, with support from the Avondale Youth Advisory Commission, is helping teens connect and engage through leadership programs and digital inclusion initiatives. These efforts demonstrate how cities can use technology to build strong online communities, foster early civic involvement, and empower younger generations to take an active role in public life.

As Arizona cities like Scottsdale and Avondale launch pilot immersive experience programs, government leaders and city planners are sharing learnings with other communities throughout the state. This knowledge sharing positions Arizona to be a national and global leader in using technology to strengthen city connections and improve work outcomes for government organizations.

Digital Twins Emerge as a Regional Planning Strategies

Digital twin, 3D mapping and data visualization technologies are gaining momentum, as cities work to strengthen infrastructures and resilience. There’s an interest in regional collaboration for shared datasets and digital models, and in exploring technology connections for real-time data on city issues like traffic, climate and infrastructure.

Cities are evaluating digital platforms and sharing their insights with others. For example, some Arizona cities have adopted Nextspace, a digital twin cloud solution, and Cesium, a 3D open data platform. By adopting a shared and open-source ecosystem such as these, cities can share their experiences across the region and make recommendations for the best project-specific solutions and partner on pressing cross border challenges.

Some of the ways Arizona cities are using and collaborating with digital twin technology include:

• The City of Mesa is currently integrating Smart Water Meters and Smart Lighting Solutions equipped with temperature sensors to monitor and calculate heat island effects. Understanding the nature of heat will allow Mesa to better activate and provide heat mitigation solutions as well as measure impact. The real-time nature of live data will allow a comprehensive understanding across time of day and year to better intervene and provide much needed heat relief. 

  
  

• The City of Phoenix has launched the Tree Equity Score Analyzer for Maricopa County. This tool displays “place-based metrics, such as heat disparity, qualified census tracts, bus stops, light rails, schools and cooling centers”, and demonstrates “how human-centered tree plantings can improve health and well-being in Maricopa County’s urban neighborhoods.”

  
  

• The Cities of Surprise and Avondale are exploring how Digital Twins can enable economic development remotely by allowing for comprehensive visualization and data tracking of key metrics including traffic both vehicular and pedestrian, county assessor data and demographic information to better help companies locate and identify service gaps across their communities.

Digital twin projects such as these are becoming a shared foundation for smarter urban planning and decision-making for Arizona cities. As more cities use digital twin platforms and share their outcomes with others, Arizona regions are learning what tools will work best for various objectives.

Artificial Intelligence Tools Are Reshaping Civic Services

Arizona cities are also quickly adopting artificial intelligence tools to improve civic services and make information more easily accessible for constituents, as well as to improve workflows for staff. Some examples of AI use in local regions include:

• Translation tools, such as Wordly AI or home-grown solutions such as the Integrated Language Assistant, are in use by cities like Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe to make public meetings and city services more accessible to non-English language speakers. 

  
  

• Cities like Avondale are using virtual assistants and digital chat services to improve customer support and website navigation. These AI tools can provide instant answers to users and/or direct users to where to find advanced help.

  
  

• The Maricopa Association of Governments uses predictive data tools for public safety forecasting. For example, various Maricopa County law enforcement agencies are using software to analyze crime data, track criminal trends, identify crime patterns, and predict high-risk areas based on both historical data and real-time trends. 

  
  

We’re seeing that cities are focusing on tools that are both affordable and easy to scale, as they’re testing out capabilities and seeing what works best for constituents. As cities share challenges with purchasing, technology integration and limited staff resources, there’s been an emphasis on simple and effective AI projects that have tangible and readily identifiable return on investment, and/or applicable use cases. 

Shared Challenges & Regional Priorities

While there has been great progress in Arizona cities’ adoption of technology and collaboration, there have also been hurdles to overcome. Common challenges we’re seeing cities work to mitigate include:

• Limited budgets for growing technology projects

• Long purchasing timelines that delay testing and adoption

• The need to balance innovation with public engagement that’s fair and inclusive

• Balancing immediate expenses like infrastructure and maintenance with evaluating new technology

To address these issues, cities are focusing on small pilot projects that can grow across the region. Project priorities include those that show immediate return on investment (financial or otherwise), increasing employee efficiency, while providing a quantitative citizen impact. By consistently sharing lessons and solutions among cities, Greater Phoenix communities are aligning priorities for smarter and a more connected region. Collaboration helps dilute the cost of experimentation and helps speed up the process of adoption. 

At The Connective, we’re encouraged to see cities across Arizona show leadership by testing new technologies, sharing lessons, and advancing collaborative projects. These efforts offer strong examples of how cities are preparing together for a more connected and innovative future. The Connective is here to support Arizona cities in their technology adoption and connect regions to share insights and improve outcomes.