For a city that hosts the largest technology conferences in the world, Las Vegas is now employing technology to better serve its roughly 650 000 citizens, and the 40 million tourists who visit annually. It also has a CIO in Michael Sherwood, who previously served as deputy director of public safety, business services and technology in Irvine, California.

Speaking to Brainstorm on a video call recently, he says technology can’t solve problems in isolation. “We like to start with a problem and then create the solution to solve that problem. That’s versus, here’s the solution, let’s go find a problem to solve.” Over the course of our call, he repeatedly stresses the importance of going back to basics and making sure that you get the fundamentals right when trying to create a truly smart city. What does he think a smart city looks like?