IBM announced the first batch of cities this week awarded grants as part of the company’s three-year, $50 million Smarter Cities Challenge. The recipients–including New Orleans, Newark, Rio de Janeiro, and Jakarta–are diverse, to say the least. So how did they end up with IBM’s attention, and what happens now?

IBM chose 24 recipients from more than 200 city applicants, all of which were vying for IBM’s expertise in data analytics to tackle problems like crime, education, and budgeting.

The issues in the winning cities are as diverse as the cities themselves. In St. Louis, Mo., for example, IBM has already hit the ground running, with consultants and technology specialists using advanced data analytics to deal with the city’s public safety and education problems. Data analytics are being used to “deploy public safety officers and to figure out which students are most at risk of dropping out, as well as social service needs,” explains Stan Litow, IBM’s Vice President of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs and President of IBM’s Foundation.

In Chengdu, China, IBM will home in on the local government’s Wireless City initiative, and in Rio de Janeiro, the company will work on infrastructure, environmental, and economic challenges.

The company had a number of requirements for potential recipients: discrete sets of issues to deal with, an assurance that IBM would have full access to the city’s data, a population of approximately 300,000 to 750,000 residents, and the equivalent of the top city official signing off on the proposal, among other things. Some (not-so-smart?) cities were knocked out of the running simply because they didn’t have the mayor’s signature on their application.

But overall, the process was competitive. “We were looking for cities where you could really make an impact,” says Litow.

A team of six IBM employees will be deployed to each recipient city, including at least one technology specialist, one business and consulting expert, and one marketing and communications pro.

IBM will reveal the goals of other recipient cities in the coming weeks and months. And as for the cities that didn’t make the cut this time around? Better luck next year (and, make sure to sign on the dotted line).

EarthCam, the world’s premiere webcam network, will once again capture the experience of Mardi Gras from the heart of New Orleans, as live cameras stream the biggest outdoor party going on right from Bourbon Street through Shrove Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday), March 8th.

Can’t make it to New Orleans for all of the Mardi Gras hoopla? With EarthCam anyone can, as the webcam experts will transmit three live views, including streaming video with audio, of the nation’s most decadent party at both the street level and balconies. The excitement is available from any computer or mobile device (and EarthCam’s “Mardi Gras Live” and “Live Cams” mobile apps are available at http://mobile.earthcam.com/iphone/applications.php).

EarthCam’s first camera lets viewers enter the famous Cats Meow and enjoy karaoke Mardi Gras style. The second gives you the rare opportunity to watch and listen to the party goers on crowded Bourbon Street as “the royalty” showers them with beads and trinkets. The third webcam is actually street level from the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter’s streets enabling observers to soak up the sights and near hysteria from the midst of Mardi Gras in the Big Easy. EarthCam cameras are currently live with ongoing views of the preparation and the festivities and will continue live transmission beyond the massive morning after clean-up.

EarthCam is the global leader in webcam technology and software. Founded in 1996, EarthCam provides live streaming video and megapixel cameras, along with complete managed services for consumers and corporate clients in more than 1,500 cities throughout all 50 states and 46 countries. The company’s expertise includes developing technology to manage camera networks and delivering millions of images daily to 192 countries. EarthCam holds the expertise and knowledge to offer consumers the ability to view, create and share webcam content at anytime and in any location in the world. Clients include Walt Disney Pictures, Clear Channel Communications, PBS, ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC, Weather Channel, Discovery Channel, CNN, Turner Construction, Major League Baseball, NFL, This Old House, Skanska USA, NASA, Coca-Cola, Sprint, Volkswagen, GE and National Geographic.
Visit EarthCam at http://www.EarthCam.com.

Visit our Mardi Gras cameras at http://www.EarthCam.com/mardigras