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A new sensing skin is showing promise in finding flaws in concrete structures before they result in catastrophic failure.The skin was developed by researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Eastern Finland who say it...
Article - 06/27/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Built environment, Public safety and security, Instrumentation and control
The mayors of Las Vegas, Nevada and Gresham, Oregon were first place winners in the 2014 Mayors' Climate Protection Awards announced at the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors gathering in Dallas. The annual awards program recognizes mayors for...
Article - 06/27/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Energy, Policy and leadership
By Gary WachowiczThere’s a data-driven transformation underway today, built on the Internet of Things and big data, that promises to transform how city services will be delivered in the near future. In this era of rapid urbanization and decreasing...
Article - 06/27/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Smart City Concepts, Analytics
Scroll down for short takes from Council members…Alstom will help manage NYC's electricity demand: As part of a Department of Energy Smart Grid Demonstration Project, Council Global Partner Alstom has won a contract to deliver Demand Response...
Article - 06/27/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Built environment, Energy, Transportation
Sometimes it’s hard to map out exactly how open data helps create smarter cities. But a new project from MIT Media Labs is helping people see the benefits of open data with maps.The Social Computing Group at the MIT Media Lab is tapping open data...
Article - 06/27/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Built environment, Health and human services, Analytics, Data management
Electric Light & Power -- an influential publication that targets utility industry professionals -- featured a story by Council Editorial Director Liz Enbysk that focused on why it is so important for utilities to get in front of the smart...
Article - 06/25/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
By Eric WoodsThe path to better control of street lighting has been blazed by the adoption of light-emitting diode (LED) technology. The continuing fall in the price of LED street lights is making them an attractive proposition for cities around...
Article - 06/25/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Built environment, Energy, Connectivity, Instrumentation and control
Tech-bent Chicago is diving deeper into data collection by installing artfully and smartfully designed fixtures on about 50 city lamp posts.The Chicago Tribune reports that the intriguing fixtures will conceal a dozen data-collection sensors that...
Article - 06/25/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Built environment, Health and human services, Data management, Instrumentation and control
A mobile app that encourages friendliness -- both the neighborly and environmental kind -- won the $5,000 AppMyCity! contest at the recent New Cities Summit in Dallas.Called Peerby, the Dutch-built app enables people to borrow things quickly from...
Article - 06/25/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Transportation, Connectivity
What’s the best strategy for getting people to ditch their cars and ride the bus? How about trying a friendly conversation.CityLab reports that a U.K.-based transportation consultant is doing just that and seeing results. The firm Steer Davies...
Article - 06/25/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Transportation, Citizen engagement
Water Technology magazine features an article by Council Chairman Jesse Berst on the infrastructure challenges that cities face today and three ideas that can help accelerate infrastructure improvements. Below is an excerpt from the article, which...
Article - 06/20/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Scroll down to read about some interesting developments involving Council members.PlayPump system earns Itron best Community Project at African Utility Week Council Global Partner Itron won top honors for Community Project at the 14th annual African...
Article - 06/20/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
SCC Global Partner IBM is partnering with the Indian city of Palava to help it become a showcase of that country’s smart cities vision.India announced ambitious plans to have 100 new smart cities in the coming years, and IBM says Palava will serve...
Article - 06/20/2014
Active Region(s): India, Main, North America
Category: Smart City Examples
This month a Chicago man was sentenced to 22 years in prison for a pair of robberies at a transit stop. He’s in prison because of his face. Chicago police used facial recognition technology to identify him. Pierre D. Martin is the first to be busted...
Article - 06/20/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Public safety and security
A growing number of cities are finding they can make significant livability improvements literally overnight.They’re doing it with hackers. While “hackers” often get a bad rap in news stories about data breaches, the term actually refers to anyone...
Article - 06/18/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Citizen engagement, Computing resources, Connectivity
Scroll down to read about some interesting developments involving Council members.GE tapped for historic solar storage project in AfricaThe government of Equatorial Guinea selected Council Global Partner GE to provide the energy storage system for a...
Article - 06/13/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Energy, Health and human services, Computing resources, Instrumentation and control
Last year the Playable City Award went to an augmented reality project that allows residents to have pretend conversations with lamp posts, street signs and other urban objects. At the time I thought it was a pretty dumb way to get smart when there...
Article - 06/13/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Built environment
It seems counterintuitive, but excess parking may in fact thwart a city’s ability to attract shoppers and diners and other folks who enjoy being downtown.That’s the thinking around a move to revitalize downtown Hartford, Connecticut, which has lost...
Article - 06/13/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Transportation
In hundreds of cities around the world, transit riders use smartcards to pay the fare to ride buses and trains. In London they have the Oyster card. In Hong Kong it’s the Octopus card. Seattle has its Orca card. And the list -- not all of them use...
Article - 06/13/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Payments, Transportation
The spotlight at last week's Intelligent Community Summit was on Toronto – but in this case for the example it has set on how to flourish in the new economy -- not its embattled mayor. After two times in the finals, Toronto was named 2014...
Article - 06/11/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Built environment, Economic development, Policy and leadership
By expanding its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) capabilities in North America with its cellular solution for water utilities, Itron says utilities are able to collect real-time consumption and flow analysis, pressure data and meter data from...
Article - 06/06/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Water and wastewater, Analytics, Connectivity, Instrumentation and control
Is walking a realistic emission-free option for getting significant numbers of workers to their city jobs? It appears so -- if pedestrians feel safe. A recent Sustainable Cities Collective article looked at the recent Bicycling and Walking in the...
Article - 06/06/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
Category: Built environment, Public safety and security, Transportation
Smart city development looks to get a stronger push in India with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prevailing in recent national elections and Narendra Modi settling in as the country’s prime minister.The new, pro-business government is advocating...
Article - 06/06/2014
Active Region(s): India, Main, North America
Category: Policy and leadership
Council Chairman Jesse Berst discusses trends and challenges in water infrastructure and how smart water systems can make dramatic improvements to the cost, safety and reliability of urban water supplies in this Q&A with Water Utility...
Article - 06/04/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America
In this video from Council Associate Partner SunGard Public Sector, Anna Ward, IT Support Specialist for the City of Ft. Pierce, Florida, talks about how their Blended Web Learning+40 continuing education subscription plan benefits her city,...
Resources - 06/27/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America, Readiness Guide Online
Category: Computing resources
Finding solutions for areas where water is needed the most is a challenge. Watch this short IBM video to learn about a mobile infrastructure system that can release pipeline from helicopters regardless of local geography to get water anywhere.
Resources - 06/27/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America, Readiness Guide Online
Category: Water and wastewater
This video shows S&C Electric Company's work over a three-month period to construct a 4.1 MW Solar Farm in Sandwich, Massachusetts. The project was built in the midst of winter and was hit by two Nor'easter storms. The video shows how these...
Resources - 06/27/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America, Readiness Guide Online
Category: Energy
Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities installed distribution feeder technology from Council Associate Partner Siemens to ensure a reliable power supply to an Ibuprofen plant, an anchor of the economy in the Orangeburg area. Its 10-megawatt load...
Resources - 06/27/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America, Readiness Guide Online
Category: Economic development, Energy, Instrumentation and control
Although they are a hot topic, few fully commercialized state-of-the-art microgrids with significant generation capacity are actually up and running. Nice Grid, a living laboratory located near Nice in the south of France, is one of the rare...
Resources - 06/20/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America, Readiness Guide Online
Category: Energy
This video introduces IBM Smarter Water Management solutions for flood and natural resource management and how it enables Dutch water authorities to harness insights from Big Data to transform flood control and management of the water system.
Resources - 06/13/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America, Readiness Guide Online
Category: Water and wastewater, Analytics
Budget and financial systems officials from the city of Atlanta discuss how they are using Oracle's solution for planning and budgeting to have more confidence in the numbers they are reporting to the mayor and city council. Oracle is a Council...
Resources - 06/13/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America, Readiness Guide Online
Category: Finance and procurement
This news video explains National Grid's program to pay British companies cash to cut their electricity use in winter months to prevent blackouts. National Grid is a Council Global Partner.
Resources - 06/13/2014
Active Region(s): Main, North America, Readiness Guide Online
Category: Energy