Brandon Branham

Brandon Branham is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Assistant City Manager of Peachtree Corners, one of the United States’ first 5G smart cities powered by real-world connected infrastructure. He is the leader of smart city and IoT programmes under the flagship of the City of Peachtree Corners. 
He is the Executive Board Member of Southwest Gwinnett Chamber, a membership organisation that exists to form partnerships among businesses, non-profits, and government leadership to positively impact the people of communities in Berkeley Lake, Norcross, and Peachtree Corners.
Brandon is an MBA from Georgia Southwestern State University and a Certified Public Manager from Carl Vinson Institute of Government. He is a certified cybersecurity leader from the Professional Development Academy, in conjunction with the International City Managers Association.
As the Assistant City Manager and Chief Technology Officer at the City of Peachtree Corners, he heads the operations at Curiosity Lab, which is the country’s first true smart city technology proving ground – featuring real connected city infrastructure and thousands of interacting residents/vehicles that can’t be replicated by closed or controlled testing environments.

The Peachtree Corners announced a partnership with the North Texas Innovation Alliance (NTXIA), a 501(c)3 regional consortium of nearly 30 municipalities, agencies, corporations and academic institutions across North Texas. The alliance was created to develop a supportive and collaborative network to integrate smart city efforts across the region. This cross-regional partnership extends both Peachtree Corners’ and NTXIA’s efforts in supporting the expansion of smart cities across the country through public-private partnerships.
 

Brandon started his career in the City Of Sandy Springs Project, a series of city improvement projects that constantly worked to improve our public infrastructure
Branham serves on various boards in the community, and recently received his certification in cybersecurity leadership from the Professional Development Academy, in conjunction with the International City Managers Association.
As an Assistant City Manager and Chief Technology Officer at the City of Peachtree Corners, Brandon manages a broad spectrum of responsibilities. His operational responsibilities include imbuing departments with strategy and efficiency updates, handling economic development with an emphasis on recruitment, overseeing Innovative and Smart Cities programs, managing facilities and doing partner engagement and management with the Curiosity Lab. 
Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners is the country’s first true smart city technology proving ground – featuring real connected city infrastructure and thousands of interacting residents/vehicles that can’t be replicated by closed or controlled testing environments. The 500-acre technology park and 1.5-mile autonomous vehicle test street creates conditions that enable robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomous services/vehicles and countless more emerging applications to be trialed, developed and ultimately deployed globally. Serving as the model for how government entities and the free market must collaborate to build out smart cities and regions in the United States, Curiosity Lab showcases how buildings and other city fixtures are enabling, and connecting with, devices and solutions. When it comes to autonomous technologies, for example, Curiosity Lab’s mobile 5G network, combined with direct short-range communications (DSRC) roadside units, enable disruptive technology developers to test vehicle-to- everything (V2X) communications in an unprecedented manner. Intelligent traffic cameras and traffic signals, along with smart street lights and data sensors, push video and invaluable data to a central operations center for analysis and action. All reflective of how city infrastructure will soon communicate with machines and humans on a scale never seen before. 
 

Brandon has been at the edge of innovation since his first 'City of Sandy Springs Project'. He partners with elected officials and representatives of cities to innovate, experience technology, and see its benefits. 

In a recent interview with Dinis Guarda, Brandon said:

“Every city has a different initiative. We are able to take a holistic view of economic development and current infrastructure in creating a healthy community to create Curiosity Lab to bring together, both the private and public sectors to drive innovation and connect to create smarter communities.”

Speaking of the ongoing projects at the Curiosity Lab, which is the world’s first 5G-powered smart city and autonomous vehicle living laboratory,  in one of the interviews, he said:

"We are one of the first to have created a real-world smart city environment, complete with city-owned infrastructure, that is giving everyone a glimpse into how everyday life may look in the future.”