IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Pathologists may want to explore the opportunity to be tele-consultants and be paid for helping consumers understand their lab test results and other clinical findings

First it was rapid medical clinics in retail pharmacies. Next came health kiosks with information for consumers in pharmacies. Now a national pharmacy chain is upping the ante by installing enclosed health kiosks in their stores that deliver telemedicine services, thus allowing customers to speak with physicians and other medical providers in private from within the pharmacy.

Finding your way around Houston is going digital.

On February 7, city officials and others unveiled the first in a series of interactive wayfinding kiosks in Houston. The inaugural kiosk sits at Walker Street and Avenida De Las Americas, adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center.

IKE (Interactive Kiosk Experience) Smart City, a venture of Columbus, Ohio-based Orange Barrel Media, secured the city contract for the kiosks.

Kiosks could provide free internet access, generate revenue for city. Some find them distracting, unnecessary.

Dallas leaders are considering placing interactive, digital kiosks along sidewalks, a growing initiative in cites throughout the U.S.

The City of Dallas Department of Public Works has started community engagement efforts to share the vision and benefits of a citywide digital kiosk program and receive feedback from stakeholders, according to a March 26 presentation to the city council's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Many City Council members said they can’t ignore the prospect of Dallas getting up to an estimated $3 million a year for 150 of the electronic advertising stands despite strong opposition.

Dallas will move forward with plans to consider adding digital kiosks on sidewalks around the city, which could include paying nearly $1 million to get rid of existing nonelectronic stands before their 2028 contract end date.

After more than a year of discussion, the Dallas City Council this week voted to move forward with installing digital kiosks around the city.

The council voted11-4 Wednesday to approve an agreement with vendor IKE Smart City LLC to install up to 150 units in the coming years.

The interactive kiosks will display directions, transit updates, and public safety alerts, and provide free Wi-Fi.

Digital kiosks have been popping up across the country – in Denver, Atlanta, Miami, and Houston.

"You can't be a smart city unless you have smart technology," said then-mayor Sylvester Turner when Houston introduced them in 2022.

The city of Dallas says the signs can be used to provide free public wifi to an area, broadcast emergency alerts in real-time, and help direct visitors to the city's attractions and restaurants.

The potential revenue does not justify enormous obstruction on sidewalks

In recent years, Dallas has endeavored to improve the walkability of our city. Leaders of our most populous urban districts, including Uptown, downtown, the Arts District and others have worked tirelessly to make their communities more walkable, safe for pedestrians and welcoming to improve the quality of life and the long-term economic strategy in each area.

The Houston City Council is expected to vote on a proposal to install anywhere from 75 to 125 digital kiosks throughout the city Wednesday.

The Ike Smart City kiosks will connect visitors to events, local businesses and services near them, including mass transit and free Wi-Fi.

All kiosks would be installed in the city's rights-of-way.

City Council on Wednesday will consider a plan to install up to 125 interactive digital kiosks around the city, a proposal that has drawn support from city officials who tout the advertising revenue benefits and opposition from some who equate the kiosks to sidewalk billboards.

If approved by council, the city would have Ohio-based IKE Smart City LLC install at least 75 kiosks within the next three years, focusing on commercial areas with heavy pedestrian traffic. The kiosks, which are designed to resemble massive smart phones, would display dining, transit, event and lodging options and provide free Wi-fi and 911 access, among other features.

Houston, Texas, has started deploying digital kiosks throughout the city. In addition to offering wayfinding services and municipal resources to residents and visitors, they also serve as Internet connectivity hubs.

The city of Houston has started the deployment of digitally interactive kiosks, which will offer wayfinding information and act as Wi-Fi hot spots.

In the two years since the COVID-19 pandemic shifted schools and government alike to operate virtually, digital equity has become a top priority for cities. Local governments have taken a number of routes to establish more public Wi-Fi hot spots, deploying them at libraries and even in smart streetlights.

The kiosks offer a free Wi-Fi hotspot and feature a dual-sided 65” touchscreen that displays digital advertising, location-based informational listings and interactive applications to promote local businesses and points of interest.

Houston is expanding its smart city infrastructure with digital, interactive wayfinding kiosks to that aim to enhance the pedestrian experience for residents and visitors.

University Hospitals is one of three health systems in Cleveland working with telemedicine company HealthSpot to expand the system’s reach and give patients better, cheaper access to medical care after hours.

Or at least that’s the hope. UH just opened a telemedicine kiosk at the Friendly Inn Settlement House, a social services provider in a high-poverty neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland. For the next three months, the health system will be collecting data to determine how the kiosk affects the cost of care and the volume of patients in the hospital’s Emergency Department.

Dozens of interactive digital kiosks will be installed around downtown Austin as soon as next year through a city initiative to draw new advertising revenue.

What's happening

Austin is planning to install 50 digital kiosks in busy areas around downtown in an effort to promote "local businesses, arts, culture and civic resources," according to Anthony Segura, interim director of the Economic Development Department. Placing the kiosks downtown would carry no startup cost under a revenue-sharing model between Austin and vendor IKE Smart City that would pay for the process through advertising.

Like a giant smartphone with content tailored to the needs of Seattle citizens and visitors, a large digital wayfinding kiosk was powered up at City Hall on Thursday to demonstrate the look and feel of infrastructure that could be coming to city streets.

The dual-sided, touchscreen kiosks feature Wi-Fi access and can relay information related to transportation, community events, safety, health, arts and entertainment, and more — with advertising included.

A proposal to bring 30 interactive digital kiosks to downtown Seattle — in the hopes of enhancing public safety, wayfinding, Wi-Fi access, community engagement and more — spotlighted the potential of the devices while raising a number of questions and concerns during a Thursday meeting of the Seattle Design Commission.

Will the kiosks targeting residents and tourists in the core of the city, and potentially in outer neighborhoods, provide a meaningful benefit to the public? Or will the large screens planted alongside sidewalks and roadways further clutter Seattle’s landscape with bright light and excessive advertising?

The Seattle City Council approved a permit ordinance Tuesday that paves the way for the installation of large digital wayfinding kiosks around the urban core and eventually in neighborhoods across the city.

By a 6-2 vote, the council granted the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) permission to install and operate the interactive media kiosks from IKE Smart City.

Planners behind a proposal to add digital wayfinding kiosks with news and information, wi-fi access, directions, and advertisements, to the streets of Seattle’s core aren’t just looking at downtown — they’re also planning for the installations in the midst of Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine nightlife district.

Planners from IKE Smart City and the Downtown Seattle Association recently presented an update on the program to the Pike/Pine Urban Neighborhood Council. In the session, the group was presented with images showing what kiosks would like along the sidewalks near 10th and Pike and in front of the Neumos music club.

The digital kiosks will provide real-time arrival information and other civic amenities while generating revenue to support Milwaukee’s streetcar operations.

Smart City Media, LLC, and The Hop, Milwaukee’s streetcar, announced a new partnership to implement a smart kiosk infrastructure program designed to support streetcar operations while fostering stronger connections between the streetcar route and key activity centers throughout the central business district.

Marion County, Ind., citizens may be facing that experience less often at the Department of Health, thanks to a kiosk the county installed at the agency.

DERICK is an acronym for “Distributed eHealth Resource Information Center Kiosk.” A long name, but what it does is provide personalized information about health risks and access to care. It is part of Duke University Medical Center’s population health management effort, which uses technology to improve health and wellness in the community.