An accountant, a farmer and a teacher walk into a train depot... Sounds like the beginning of a great joke doesn’t it? Funny enough, I met people in each of those professions as well as many others at the AgLanta Conference 2018. At this year’s conference, we focused on the role of agriculture in ‘smart cities’. To start the conference off, Henry Gordon-Smith, Founder of Agritecture, so eloquently asked the audience: “can a city really be smart without agriculture?”
Last week, city officials from around the country gathered in Los Angeles to share ideas about how government can be more data-driven, creative and effective in solving public problems. The raison d'etre for the Government Performance and Innovation Summit, an annual event hosted by Governingmagazine and its nonprofit partner Living Cities, is to showcase, spread and scale up promising programs and practices in local government.
Read MoreLONG BEACH, Calif. — Platooning developer Peloton Technology will have its two-truck platooning system in day-to-day commercial operation by the end of the year, a company executive said.
Over $14.85 billion have been spent on smart city initiatives in 2015. By 2020, the figure is expected to double and reach $34.45 billion.
Read MoreALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces an important milestone in its Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) effort. In collaboration with an industry consortium of 28 networking companies and associations, NSF is supporting the development and deployment of the first two PAWR research platforms, based in Salt Lake City and New York City. These platforms will power research motivated by real-world challenges on experimental, next generation wireless test beds at the scale of cities and communities. The goal is to advance the state of the art for wireless technology beyond today's 4G, LTE and emerging 5G capabilities.
Read MoreIn recent years, the city of Ann Arbor, Mich., has struggled to deal with increased floodwaters reaching the city. To funnel pooling waters after intense storms safely away, the city worked with the University of Michigan to develop Open Storm, a package of open-source sensors, hardware and algorithms to measure and control storm water.
Read MoreUsing failure as a learning moment and building partnerships are among the lessons from the three-day conference in Kansas City, MO.
Read MoreDuring the Smart Cities Conference in Kansas City, Mo., earlier this week, thought leaders broke down the issues facing technology deployments and the importance of bringing constituents along for the ride.
Read MorePaying a water bill or filing a business license fee in Chicago is getting easier. The city has organized payments under one platform and launched the application on 50 new kiosks to be arranged around the city — in locations as varied as police stations to libraries — with the aim of making certain transactions with Chicago quicker and more seamless. The kiosks are expected to roll out this summer.
Read MoreIn Jasper, Ind., Mayor Terry Seitz leads a three-year initiative to bring a fiber network to all residents and businesses to his town of 15,000. He won support for the plan by explaining the opportunities the network would create as well as warning the city could be left behind in innovation and prosperity if it didn’t invest.
Read MoreAustin’s northern neighbor of Georgetown has been making surprising waves in the nationalpress and in several movies and documentaries, including Al Gore’s latest. This town of 67,000, “one of the redder towns in one of the redder counties in Texas,” in the words of its mayor, has become one of “the first US towns, and the largest in Texas, to depend entirely on renewable energy,” in a process that began in 2012. We spoke with Mayor Dale Ross recently to hear about his vision and to discuss how green and tech innovation in Georgetown and Austin might influence each other.
Read MoreAs communities across the United States wait to learn how high-speed mobile networks will figure in a long-promised infrastructure plan, some cities are already attracting private investment in next-generation 5G networks. They are doing so by finding new ways to collaborate with network and equipment providers, creating a set of “best practices” that other local governments can follow.
Read MoreToo often, innovative ideas in the public sector never see the light of day due to regulations and oversight designed for a different era. While procurement regulations are intended to ensure accountability and minimize risk, the process leaves little room for experimentation or creative engagement with entrepreneurs. Philadelphia's FastFWD initiative tackled these challenges directly by opening up new mechanisms for entrepreneurs to co-create solutions with the city.
Read MoreBitcoin buzz has reached stratospheric levels that are tough to rival. Nonetheless, it does lead one to think about which of today’s emerging trends will bear fruit in the coming years and become the next Bitcoin. Edge computing, though not likely to hit Bitcoin levels of buzz, is one trend worth watching.
Read MoreIf the idea of designing and building drones that can carry people appeals to you, the online education company Udacity has just rolled out a college degree in flying cars.
Read MoreFreestanding nanogrid combines wind, solar and batteries to provide up to six USB charging ports and LED lighting
Read MoreBoston's CIO has worked to transform traditional bureaucratic procedures to speed the rollout of the latest mobile broadband infrastructure.
Read MoreAugmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence are the future of retail — and many other industries. Lurking in the background is blockchain, which has the power to disrupt everything in our daily lives.
Read MoreThe Denver City Council approved a four-year, $12 million smart technology program that will lay the groundwork for a full-fledged smart network, according to The Denver Post and others.
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