Orlando’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), Rosa Akhtarkhavari, wants to save lives using connected technology. And as more urban areas across the globe are utilizing data collected from sensors, cameras and devices to become smart cities, Akhtarkhavari and the City of Orlando are working hard to build a smarter Orlando.
Read More“I am the most un-government person in the world,” says Mr. Chan Cheow Hoe who left a successful career with Citibank and Barclays to become theGovernment Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Deputy Chief Executive of Singapore’s GovTech. He oversees GovTech Hive, an innovative digital services agency created to develop deep technical capabilities within the public sector in order to meet the increasing demands of citizens and businesses.
Read MoreWhen Denver Mayor Hancock spoke at Smart City Day at SXSW this year, he voiced a commitment to establishing trust and transparency, serving residents and “meeting them where they are.” City leaders who encourage that way of thinking are already a step ahead. Adding connected technology is the next step to transforming a community into smart city.
Read MoreWhen you search online for images of a city, chances are you'll find pictures of buildings, roads, bridges and lights. It's natural to think of a city in terms of its physical infrastructure. But today, we are in the emergence of a new digital reality in which a city's invisible infrastructure is just as important as the physical.
Read MoreTAMPA — When a teacher plunked the wrong kid in his car at school pickup time a few years ago, Saravana Pat Bhava was infuriated. But the Tampa father’s anger quickly dissipated when he realized the teachers didn’t have the resources they needed to properly manage the process.
Read MoreIf you pay attention to the headlines, you would think that, as a country and as a society, we have never been more divided. Because we are humans who crave the concept of clan, it is only natural to seek experiences that exemplify how we can come together.
Read MoreHalf of the world's 7.5 billion people are connected to the Internet and we are well on track to hit 50 billion devices by 2020. Yet with all of this activity, there are still many missed opportunities to seamlessly make connected things work for people. As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to emerge, the answer may be right in the middle of our daily existence--in the workplace.
Read MoreBig data is big business--The technology and services market is estimated to reach $58.9 billion in 2020, making today's fervor to collect, interpret and share or re-sell data reminiscent of the Gold Rush era. The challenge is that the massive amounts of data available are not linked nor do they ascribe to a standard format which means they can't be easily shared or interpreted. Incredible insights that can have profound impact are locked away in a cage of inefficiency. If you've ever tried to overlay the results of your own survey with publicly available data like the US Census, you'll understand the frustration.
Read MoreState policy can have a profound impact on smart cities by influencing priorities, establishing advanced infrastructure, and emphasizing regional initiatives that cross municipal boundaries. In Indiana, the state’s Technology and Innovation Council has a pulse on innovation and believes that IoT could accelerate the state’s innovation economy over the coming years.
In four to five years, our world will be drastically different. Almost everything in your life and in your city will be automated thanks to The Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G technology. Steve Case, founder of AOL, calls this the Third Wave which is about "integrating the Internet into every aspect of our lives in seamless and often invisible ways."
Read MoreWhile the concept of making a smart city from the top down is intriguing and sexy as a marketing story, the reality is that it is hard, if not impossible, to align all the necessary stakeholders to transform a city in one fell swoop. Often cities focus on strategic pilot projects, allowing action to be taken quickly and success and failure evaluated rapidly to be able to build on what works in a cost and time-effective manner.
Read MoreIt's easy to look at something already formed and assume that it was easy to get there. But whether it's a product, a company or a supportive ecosystem, it all had to start somewhere.Cities like San Jose, Austin and San Francisco consistently grab top spots on the Milken Institute's List of Best Performing Cities. These are places that crank out companies by the thousands, creating jobs and building a self-sustaining platform for businesses large and small.
Read MoreOnly a few short years ago (2013), futurists predicted the importance of all things mobile. Today, it is hard to imagine how a business could sustain any level of growth without some level of a mobile strategy.
Read MoreThe terms innovation and city government don't often find their way into the same sentence. City hall has traditionally been perceived as a place for political log jams, procedures, policies and paperwork. But with the advent of smart cities, all of that is beginning to change.
Read MoreThe Internet of Things (IoT) holds tremendous promise for creating greater levels of efficiency, productivity and safety. Illustrating this concept through the context of a smart home is relatively simple. “Things” like refrigerators and thermostats are connected to the Internet and controlled by a mobile phone. Without any human interaction, your refrigerator can send an email or a text that certain supplies are low and even automatically integrate with a grocery delivery service. It’s all about leveraging technology to minimize inefficiency.
Read MoreAustin has recently taken a few big steps in its quest to become a smart city. In addition to a quick win as being one of five US metros awarded the Smart Cities Council Challenge Grant, the City of Austin is also beginning the process of its Smart Austin Strategic Roadmap, a Community Co-Creation Plan.
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