The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded Detroit a $200,000 grant to catalog the city's network of internet-connected assets and develop a strategic plan for utilizing those assets.

Detroit was one of six cities that received a grant for development of strategies around the "Internet of Things" or IoT, the tech term for everyday devices and tools that are connected to the internet.

The Knight Foundation is funding the project in an effort to get cities to use inter-connected devices to improve urban quality of life, mobility, transportation infrastructure and government services in cities.

Across the globe, there are examples of how cities are using internet-connected devices to improve services.

In Barcelona, Spain, trash bins contain censors that alert garbage haulers when they're full and the refuse is ready to be collected. Los Angeles is using smart technology to conserve water and energy as well as manage traffic congestion, according to the Knight Foundation.

"As cities increasingly use the Internet of Things to reduce costs, increase sustainability and improve services, we need to be acutely aware of its impact — both good and bad," John S. Bracken, Knight Foundation vice president for technology innovation, said Friday in a statement. "These cities will help create a model and guidelines for the thoughtful and responsible use of IoT, linking its development to the public's benefit."

Detroit's grant will pay for a consultant to catalog the city's current Internet of Things assets and identify ways smart devices can be used with existing infrastructure, said Beth Niblock, chief information officer for Detroit.

"We've got a lot of assets in the ground and we're trying to see how we can pull those assets together to create a smart cities blueprint," Niblock told Crain's. "We feel like bringing somebody in to help us to put that blueprint together is the most responsible thing to do."

Niblock has been focused on overhauling Detroit's once-antiquated municipal government information technology systems since joining Mayor Mike Duggan's administration in February of 2014.

The other cities that also received $200,000 grants from the Knight Foundation are Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, San Jose and Akron, Ohio.