On April 30, Smart Cities Dive named the 2026 winners of the Smart Cities Dive Public Service Awards, recognizing three exemplary individuals who drive local impact. The honorees were selected for their leadership, innovation, mentorship, community impact, collaboration and focus on results. This year’s winners are a chief administrator modernizing county buildings in Texas while still centering residents; a finance chief rebuilding trust and transparency after a period of scandal in a Florida city; and a New York City assistant commissioner digitizing a century’s worth of data, preserving institutional knowledge and supporting the next generation of public servants.
The awards are a continuation of the American City & County Exemplary Public Servant Awards, following last year’s merger between AC&C and Smart Cities Dive.
Read the profiles of the 2026 Smart Cities Dive Public Service Awards below.
In June, we will begin accepting nominations for the Smart Cities Dive Community Project Awards, a continuation of the AC&C Crown Communities Awards, which highlight projects solving real community needs through innovative use of resources and technology. Check back on June 1 for details on how to apply.
Community Project Awards honor projects that identify a problem or need and address or solve it, showing:
- Innovation
- Effective use of resources/good return on investment
- Community response or impact
- Technology integration
- Sustainability/resilience
- Replicability
- Long-term viability
