The Smart Cities Council awarded the Readiness Challenge Grant on Feb. 8 to Orlando, Miami, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Austin, which gives the cities mentoring opportunities and a workshop in which to develop new IT projects that will best help their populations. 21st Century State & Local checked in with these cities to find out how they plan to use these resources.
Over the next year, the city of San Antonio will deploy sensors that monitor both foot traffic and vehicle traffic. In late January, Mayor Ivy Taylor announced that her city was selected for the Envision America smart city initiative, which helps cities develop major Internet of Things projects.
The Smart Cities Council awarded the Readiness Challenge Grant to Austin, Indianapolis, Miami, Orlando, and Philadelphia.
States looking to become “smart” can look to smart cities initiatives to inform broader statewide practices, according to Illinois government officials.
The City of Chicago is partnering with CIVIQ Smartscapes, the same company New York City partnered with for LinkNYC, to deploy smart city, interactive CIVIQ Waypoint devices in downtown Chicago. AT&T’s Smart Cities program is covering the cost of the pilot.
A year ago this month, New York City deployed a beta test of kiosks across the city. The program, dubbed LinkNYC, is powered by CIVIQ Smartscapes and gives the public access to free, fast Wi-Fi, free domestic calling, two USB charging ports, maps, and direct access to 911 and 311.
The New York-based Upstate Transportation Association wants to turn back the clock on driverless cars. In a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as well as leaders of the New York Senate and Assembly, UTA raised concerns about potential job losses if self-driving cars become commonplace on public roads.
Smart city technologies open those cities to security and privacy dangers, according to Trend Micro.
As a way to combat public mistrust of autonomous vehicles, the Alliance for Transportation Innovation announced a cross-country autonomous vehicle road trip.
In the near future, 8,000 new residents of Treasure Island, Calif., will travel around the island in buses that drive themselves, according to plans outlined by the city of San Francisco. The project will be funded through a U. S. Department of Transportation award for smart city projects.
