Tech & Data

  • At ShotSpotter's Incident Review Center, three people sit in a row facing up to six computer monitors each, with keyboards and phones on the desks in front of them.
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    Courtesy of Shot Spotter
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    New York joins cities questioning ShotSpotter costs, benefits

    The gunshot detection system may waste NYPD resources, a June audit states, and existing data don’t support renewing the contract. Chicago and Houston are among the cities that plan to drop the technology.

    By David Silverberg • July 11, 2024
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    Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    12 ‘tech hubs’ get $504M to support new jobs, innovation

    Projects that scale lab-to-market transitions, train workers and build shared testbeds and manufacturing facilities are among those receiving federal funding.

    By • July 3, 2024
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    NanoStockk/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Smart Cities Technology and Data

    Local governments are increasingly turning to predictive analytics and other technologies to solve real-world problems like homelessness and preparing for an AI-driven future.

    By Smart Cities Dive staff
  • a group of people stand in a line in front of large white pipes in an indoor facility.
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    Permission granted by Results for America
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    4 US cities driven by data

    Artificial intelligence presents new opportunities for how cities can use data, said Rochelle Haynes, managing director of the What Works Cities Certification program.

    By • June 17, 2024
  • A safety driver monitors a self-driving Kodiak tractor-trailer navigate a turning ramp of a highway.
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    David Taube/Smart Cities Dive
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    Deep Dive

    ‘A totally different world’: Autonomous trucks prepare to go driverless in Texas

    Heavy-duty, driverless AVs could hit the state’s roads this year. The companies operating the vehicles say safety is a priority, but some critics are still concerned.

    By David Taube • June 17, 2024
  • A person wearing a hooded jacket and sneakers applies white paint to the side of a building spraypainted with red and blue letters
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    Ichabod via Getty Images
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    AI-powered cameras to sweep streets for code violations in a California city

    Overgrown lawns, improper parking, peeling paint, boarded windows and graffiti were some of the violations the cameras identified in a five-day pilot in Stockton earlier this year.

    By • June 13, 2024
  • A Zoox robotaxi drives on a public road
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    Courtesy of Zoox
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    Amazon’s Zoox expands robotaxi testing to Austin, Miami

    The company will use retrofitted Toyota Highlanders with safety drivers instead of its autonomous robotaxi to gather "valuable insights and feedback."

    By Haley Cawthon • June 12, 2024
  • Large group of people in front of an eVTOL aircraft inside a building.
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    Courtesy of Archer Aviation
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    Archer Aviation receives FAA certification to operate air taxi service

    While eVTOL aircraft may seem futuristic, they will "become reality in the not-too-distant future," Archer's chief operating officer said.

    By • June 5, 2024
  • A driver holding a cell phone on a winter road.
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    sestovic via Getty Images
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    What smartphone data can reveal about traffic accidents

    Distracted driving increased 30% from 2019 to 2024. One company wants to use data to help authorities "better understand what is happening more in real time."

    By • June 3, 2024
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    Permission granted by Oldcastle Infrastructure
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    Sponsored by Oldcastle Infrastructure

    A path toward solving water scarcity

    A cutting-edge solution, leveraging Artificial Intelligence to detect and repair pipe leaks, will propel the fight against the global water crisis.

    June 3, 2024
  • A handful of people sit and walk on a small green area next to large glass spherical buildings on a sunny day.
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    David Ryder/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    What are the top 10 US smart cities in 2024?

    New ProptechOS research analyzed 16 metrics related to connectivity and infrastructure, sustainability and the tech job market to name a new top smart city.

    By • May 30, 2024
  • Six people sit on chairs on a stage in front of an audience. A presentation behind the speakers reads "What Works Cities Presents: AI Shaping Cities of the Future"
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    Ysabelle Kempe/Smart Cities Dive
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    3 AI takeaways from Smart City Expo USA

    “Hard conversations” about AI can reveal "what the priorities are for your community and make sure that you're using AI responsibly" in that context, one tech leader said.

    By • May 29, 2024
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    GaudiLab/Shutterstock.com

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    Sponsored by Opendatasoft

    How data portals support data governance strategies for smart communities

    Data is central to smart communities, requiring a combination of data portals and data governance.

    By Franck Carassus, Chief Sales Officer and Co-Founder of Opendatasoft • May 28, 2024
  • Head-on view of a transit bus in a bus only lane along a busy Manhattan avenue.
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    Masha Zolotukhina via Getty Images
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    As cities add bus and bike lanes, traffic enforcement keeps them clear

    Automated cameras mounted on transit buses or fixed locations such as traffic signals can help catch violators and protect these priority lanes.

    By • May 22, 2024
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    lnzyx for iStock via Getty Images
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    EPA to ramp up enforcement as most water utilities lack cyber safeguards

    The agency may take enforcement actions against water utilities that don't address cyber risks following months of attacks against drinking and wastewater treatment facilities.

    By David Jones • May 21, 2024
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Heat resilience research centers unveiled by Biden administration

    Most governments have historically lacked “a comprehensive or coordinated set of strategies to deal with heat and its impacts,” a center lead said. Applications for communities to get involved will open later this year. 

    By • May 21, 2024
  • A autonomous Waymo Jaguar I-PACE SUV yields to a pedestrian at a crosswalk.
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    Courtesy of Waymo
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    NHTSA probes Waymo, Zoox over ‘unexpected’ self-driving behavior

    The robotaxi companies are facing investigations after their autonomous vehicles behaved erratically, causing collisions.

    By Haley Cawthon • May 21, 2024
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    Bruce Bennett via Getty Images
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    Smart community technologies get USDOT grant funding opportunity

    Innovative and experimental projects that "solve real-world transportation problems" are eligible for the program, the Transportation Department said.

    By • May 14, 2024
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    Retrieved from FHWA.
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    How will AI impact transportation? US DOT wants public input.

    The federal agency predicts that the deployment of AI tools and applications will impact virtually all aspects of transportation.

    By David Taube • Updated May 7, 2024
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    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    How tracking homelessness in real time ‘by name’ can guide local action

    Federally mandated annual “point-in-time” counts paint a picture of homelessness in broad strokes. But some communities are collecting information to understand what happens in between.

    By • May 3, 2024
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    Navigating social media and free speech as a public official

    Separate accounts for personal and official use are the safest bet to avoid litigation in the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision, one lawyer said.

    By Paige Gross • May 1, 2024
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    Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Air quality data is now widely available, but what should communities do with it?

    With air quality sensors now costing as little as $100, some communities are hoping for more federal guidance on how to use them to support decision-making and regulation. 

    By • April 19, 2024
  • Flooding along a developed coast at night with city in the background
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    Scott Eisen/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Boston teams with climate tech company to map floods as they happen

    The low-lying coastal city will use the technology to target alerts, evacuations and post-disaster resources to the neighborhoods that most need the support. 

    By • April 16, 2024
  • An range and white Chevy Bolt EV robotaxi operated by Cruise crosses an intersection San Francisco.
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    Courtesy of Cruise LLC
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    Cruise robotaxis will return to Phoenix to collect mapping data

    It's the company's first deployment of vehicles on public roads since it recalled its robotaxis last fall.

    By Eric Walz • April 12, 2024
  • A Tesla dealership in Austin, Texas
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    Elon Musk teases Tesla robotaxi

    The CEO’s announcement comes five years after he first told investors Tesla expected to put one million robotaxis on the road in 2020.

    By Haley Cawthon • April 11, 2024
  • An older and younger person kneel in a workshop as they examine a grey concrete tile on the ground.
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    Courtesy of Consensus Digital Media/Purdue University
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    Indiana DOT, Purdue collaborate on highway that charges EVs

    Researchers will embed coils in a quarter-mile stretch of concrete roadway to produce a magnetic field that can recharge vehicles while they drive.

    By Matthew Thibault • April 8, 2024