Did you catch yesterday’s Twitter chat on what it takes to be a smarter city? To promote its 2012 Smarter Cities Challenge, IBM hosted a discussion with Stanley S. Litow, IBM’s vice president of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs and president of IBM’s Foundation, on Twitter.

The Smarter Cities Challenge is a $50 million grant program where IBM’s top technical experts provide consultations and advice to 100 cities over three years. The program provides selected cities access to elite expertise on a variety of issues facing urban centers, like transportation, social services, recreation, education, energy and sustainability.

The 2011 recipients of the Smarter Cities Challenge included cities like Johannesburg, South Africa; Edmonton, Canada; Guadalajara, Mexico; Providence, Rhode Island; Delhi, India; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Helsinki, Finland. In order to receive the funds and the expertise, the cities had to be prepared to match IBM’s investment with their own commitment of time and resources. The submissions that were favored included urban concerns that could be addressed using “smarter” technologies, the availability of data, and cities that demonstrated a record of innovative problem solving.

Does your city have an urban concern that can be addressed through innovative technology? Learn more and apply for the 2012 Smarter Cities Challenge here.

Follow the Twitter conversation on what makes a city smarter here.