Municipal broadband internet: The next public utility?

Initiatives seem to be gaining steam as U.S. cities look to encourage equitable access — but pitfalls around cost and taxpayer risk remain.

By Chris Teale • March 5, 2019

Report: Seattle home internet access increasing, but disparities remain

The 2018 Technology Access and Adoption Study found 95% of the city's households have internet access, but 21% of those living in poverty do not.

By Chris Teale • March 1, 2019

Explore the Trendline➔

Smart Cities Technology and Data

Cities are increasingly looking to technology and data to address real-world issues from traffic safety to law enforcement.

By Smart Cities Dive staff

Toyota announces partnership to create HD road maps

The company's research arm will work with mapping platform CARMERA to build advanced maps using data from participating AVs.

By Jason Plautz • Feb. 28, 2019

Tackling the opioid epidemic with connectivity and cannabis

Silver bullets are in short supply for the opioid crisis. It’s time to propose radical ways to tackle the entrenched epidemic.

By Ying Tam • Feb. 26, 2019

New York MTA chooses 4 companies for innovative transit pilots

The Transit Tech Lab accelerator graduated six companies today, four of which were selected to test innovations that address the city's subway and bus challenges.

By Katie Pyzyk • Updated July 30, 2019

Visa to launch touchless transit fare system

Rio de Janeiro will be the first city to roll out the system this spring, which can reportedly be done without replacing current turnstiles or terminal hardware.

By Katie Pyzyk • Feb. 26, 2019

Sprint to launch 5G in 9 cities this year

The news, which was announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, comes as Sprint advocates for its proposed merger with T-Mobile.

By Jason Plautz • Feb. 26, 2019

NYC subpoenas Airbnb for data on 20K listings

In an interview with NY1, Mayor Bill de Blasio called on Airbnb to "be transparent and we can start to make progress."

By Katie Pyzyk • Feb. 25, 2019

Transit app adds offline trip-planning feature

Users can now plan trips using fixed public transport schedules and walking and biking information, regardless of an internet connection.

By Chris Teale • Feb. 25, 2019

Study: US will lead Asia, Europe on 5G

Analysis by Cisco found 9% of mobile data connections in North America by 2022 will run on 5G, compared to 4% in Asia and 6.5% in Western Europe.

By Jason Plautz • Feb. 22, 2019

Honolulu launches publicly-facing performance dashboard

Citizens can track the city's progress on projects and services on topics including homelessness, affordable housing, roads and park improvements.

By Katie Pyzyk • Feb. 22, 2019

Supporting smart cities: The importance of building a strong IT infrastructure

Data is being created at a quicker pace than ever before, and it is imperative that governments do everything they can to keep up and be efficient.

By Nick Psaki • Feb. 22, 2019

Orlando, FL to deploy first autonomous shuttles

The free 15-person shuttles will operate within the confines of the city's Lake Nona smart community, and are expected to start this spring.

By Katie Pyzyk • Feb. 21, 2019

NASA chooses Nevada, Texas cities for drone traffic management tests

The agency will test its systems in Reno and Corpus Christi later this year in the culmination of a four-year research and development initiative.

By Chris Teale • Feb. 21, 2019

Draft FCC report shows digital divide narrowing 'substantially,' but critics differ

The commission said 19.4 million Americans lacked a fixed broadband connection at the end of 2017, down from 26.1 million at the end of 2016.

By Chris Teale • Feb. 21, 2019

New York's going to be just fine, but what's next for Amazon's expansion?

National Landing could accommodate 50,000 HQ2 jobs, but Arlington, VA officials don't think the county will try to assume the volume of the New York site.

By Alex Hickey • Feb. 20, 2019

GM Cruise, Uber open up AV visualization software

The companies said making their tools open source would help developers try out more complex scenarios and make research less secretive.

By Jason Plautz • Feb. 20, 2019

EastWest Institute releases municipal guide for developing safe, secure smart cities

The guide presents challenges and solutions in four areas: cybersecurity; cyber resilience; privacy and data protection; and collaboration and coordination.

By Katie Pyzyk • Feb. 19, 2019

How Hello Lamp Post brings residents closer to their cities

According to company CEO Tiernan Mines, city dwellers can obtain information and be closer to decision-making by communicating with infrastructure.

By Chris Teale • Feb. 19, 2019

Fort Lauderdale, FL adopts centralized mobility management system

The city will start with digitizing parking initiatives and can expand to other areas to reduce congestion.

By Katie Pyzyk • Feb. 15, 2019

White House releases strategy to increase broadband access

The US Department of Agriculture will spend $600 million on rural projects, while other agencies will take steps to streamline permitting and deployment.

By Jason Plautz • Feb. 15, 2019

VA, TN expect Amazon HQ2 to proceed as planned after NY shock withdrawal

After the company scrapped its plans for Long Island City, leaders in Arlington County, VA, said they did not think there would be similar moves.

By Chris Teale • Feb. 15, 2019

Amazon scraps NYC HQ2 plans

The company said it is withdrawing its plans for the Long Island City headquarters location due to the significant local political opposition.

By Chris Teale • Feb. 14, 2019

San Jose, CA to bridge digital divide with new inclusion fund

The fund will be supported by the fees telecom companies must pay to the city to install small cells and other infrastructure for 5G deployment. 

By Chris Teale • Feb. 14, 2019

$13B data center investment will expand Google to 24 states

"2019 marks the second year in a row we'll be growing faster outside of the Bay Area than in it," CEO Sundar Pichai said in a company blog post.

By Samantha Schwartz • Feb. 14, 2019