Frisco Wins 2026 IDC Smart Cities Award for AI Travel Assistant Frankie

Frankie, the AI travel assistant built for Visit Frisco, beat out a competitive field spanning 10 categories to win a 2026 IDC Smart Cities North America Award, city officials announced March 12. The recognition placed Frisco among 10 category winners and one overall winner honored alongside more than 20 finalists at a reception during the Smart Cities Connect conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Frisco's win came in the Economic Development, Tourism, Arts, Libraries, Culture, Open Spaces category. Frankie functions as an integrated, curated chatbot experience that allows users to efficiently navigate Visit Frisco's content and receive trip recommendations — essentially a digital concierge for anyone planning a visit to the city.

"Frisco continues to lead with innovative approaches that enhance how people experience our city," said Melissa Kraft, Chief Information Officer for the City of Frisco. "Frankie demonstrates how artificial intelligence can help visitors from around the world easily discover Frisco while providing insights that help us continuously improve the digital experience."

The IDC Smart Cities North America Awards, administered by International Data Corporation, recognize leading practices and innovation in state, provincial, and local government projects. The Smart Cities Connect conference, where Frisco was honored during an awards ceremony and IDC reception, ran March 10 through 12 in Raleigh. Raleigh itself was among the other municipal winners, recognized for a project called Raleigh in Motion.

As a category winner, Frisco is entitled to a speaking opportunity at the awards ceremony, one hour of IDC analyst expertise, an IDC report of its choice, and coverage in IDC blogs and publications. The program is designed not just to recognize achievement but to create a forum for cities to share what is working as they build smarter infrastructure and services.

For a city that has grown from roughly 6,000 residents in 1990 to well over 200,000 today, Frisco's investment in AI-driven visitor tools reflects a broader push to manage that growth with technology rather than just concrete and steel.