Chelsea McCullough, Strategic Advisor, Smart Cities Connect

October 20, 2025

Great ideas often start small (and local!) City government has the unique opportunity (and challenge) of responding to issues that residents face in their everyday lives. This often means working across departments, breaking silos, introducing innovation that responds to human needs rather than just adding the next shiny technology. 

In the realm of smart cities, small ideas with big visions often start with a pilot-level project. Two of the main advantages of a pilot are that they (1) help teams work out the kinks of the project design and deployment, and (2) create “real” outcomes so that residents and other stakeholders can provide feedback. The opportunity for smart city leaders to work iteratively on a smaller scale can often make a big difference in terms of overall impact.

The question then becomes, once pilots are successful how do you scale the impact for wide-spread adoption? This topic will be the focus for an important panel discussion at Smart Cities Connect this Fall titled “Getting from Pilot to Scale” where five talented, experienced smart city leaders will offer key insights on ways to expand great ideas that work into systemic impact. 

In addition to discussing specific ways that cities can move from pilot to full-scale adoption, the panel will also explain how to collaborate with partners who can support the development of ideas beyond city lines. Specifically regional partnerships and public private partnerships can leverage scale to attract new funding mechanisms, introduce new thinking, and maximize impact to the greatest number of residents. 

Like many Smart Cities Connect panels, these speakers will share real-world examples along with relevant insights about best practices and areas to avoid. The panel will be moderated by Bob Bennett who currently serves as the Ward 2 Alderman for the City of Parkville, MO, the Chairman of Cities Today, and author of the book “Changing the World, One City at a Time: A practical guide to tackling urban challenges.“ Bob is a dynamic leader who has been a long-time fan favorite at Smart Cities Connect across his previous roles as CIO at Kansas City, MO and a distinguished career in the US Army. 

Also on the panel is Jennifer Sanders who serves as the Executive Director of the North Texas Innovation Alliance. Jennifer was one of the first smart city leaders to concept, build, and scale a regional coalition. She has created, managed, and scaled dozens of programs and is a frequently sought after expert and speaker on smart cities. Jennifer also builds upon her experience of creating high-impact, community-focused programs in her role as Co-Founder of the Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA). 

Dom Papa is another one of the founding leaders who built a regional smart cities coalition from the ground up in his role as the Executive Director and Founder of the Connective. Today he serves as the Chief Government Relations Officer at the Institute for Digital Inclusion Acceleration as well as supporting several other initiatives to connect government, industry, and academia. Dom is a true “public entrepreneur!”

Tiana McNeil joins the panel as the Program and Business Development Director at T-Mobile and brings more than two decades of wireless expertise and knowledge. Her previous roles include leadership positions at Sierra Wireless, Ingenu, Telit, and other innovative companies.  She is instrumental in forging public private partnerships with smart city programs and ensuring that projects are strategic and centered on communication and problem solving.

Brandon Branham is currently the Vice President of Connected Solutions at Juganu and builds upon 12 years of experience leading one of the original and most innovative smart city installations and ecosystems in the nation – Peachtree Corners. In his role as the Assistant City Manager and CIO at Peachtree Corners, Brandon oversaw ground-breaking projects from ideation to scale, creating roadmaps so that hundreds of cities and companies could observe, learn, and iterate on ways to apply smart city projects and partnerships to benefit their own communities. 

This panel is an incredible opportunity to learn from some of the brightest minds who have envisioned, created, and scaled innovative smart city approaches.  Attend this panel to benefit from their first-hand knowledge and real-world experience!