World Cities Day 2020: Committing to sustainable urban environments

October 31 is World Cities Day, established to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. This year’s theme ‘Better City, Better Life: Valuing Our Communities and Cities’ is expected to greatly promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities, addressing challenges of urbanization, and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world. This is an important moment for people from across the globe to come together on these urgent issues for society.

Microsoft has continued to grow its focus and commitment around the critical issues surrounding sustainability. We know that sustainability is one of the most essential ways to ensure a thriving future for many generations to come. And we know that sustainable development requires an integrated approach that tackles environmental concerns, along with economic and societal development.

For World Cities Day this year, we are celebrating how many of our technology partners are driving impact around climate action. This has also been the focus of our #BuildFor2030 campaign that has highlighted solutions that enable a more inclusive economy by creating opportunities and positive business outcomes aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Microsoft partners: helping build innovative solutions for cities

Microsoft is committed to becoming a carbon negative, water positive, zero waste company. We intend to protect more land than we use by 2025, and we are building a Planetary Computer to help inform smart decisions about air, water, and land management. To achieve these goals, we’ll need the support of partners working with us.

Microsoft partners bring unique ideas to businesses and cities and have been executing bold plans to help land our ambitions and transform our business.

To use less energy on our Redmond Campus—which is a small city of its own—we collaborated with a partner to create a smart city solution. Using our cloud services, the solution connects more than 2 million data points generating 500 million transactions daily, helping achieve energy savings of 6 – 10 percent annually with an implementation payback in less than 18 months.¹

Our partner solutions support building a sustainable future. One example is supporting a city’s infrastructure through monitoring utility supply to diminish emissions. Other solutions include helping monitor and improve air quality, manage recycling, and optimize solar, wind, and other renewable energy uses. Lastly, partners support smart building solutions that can help maximize residents’ comfort while minimizing their water and energy consumption. Partners can even help you enlist citizens and measure their participation in citywide sustainability initiatives.

Microsoft partner solutions are helping support sustainable, safe, and livable cities. Explore more Microsoft partner solutions featured in our #BuildFor2030 campaign, in our Microsoft AppSource, and Azure Marketplace.

1. Read additional details about how Microsoft quietly built the city of the future.

Source: Azure Blog Feed