While the latest smart gizmo tends to grab headlines, industry experts are urging urban leaders to focus more on smart city challenges with their citizens, rather than the technology, said attendees at the VERGE 16 conference in Santa Clara, Calif. where leaders in the smart cities space gathered. A key sentiment that emerged from the conference was that leaders in government and industry need to stay focused on the larger smart city picture and not get caught up in the latest gee-whiz technology. Specifically, there needs to be greater focus on meshing emerging tech with the current political and economic systems that affect citizens. “The technology solutions are there,” said Kirain Jain, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Oakland.