The city of Santa Maria is expanding its free Wi-Fi access as part of a new initiative.
As part of its Smart City, Safe City initiative, the City of Santa Maria now offers public WiFi internet access at its Grogan Park, 1155 West Rancho Verde. This provides more public internet access in low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods.
Read more: US: Florida: City of Santa Maria expands free Wi-Fi access
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?
Broome County is enlisting the expertise of Cornell researchers and other specialists to implement advanced “smart city” technology, aiming to potentially enhance flood warnings, provide real-time parking updates and optimize waste management.
Those were some of the ideas discussed at the “What are Smart Cities?” forum hosted by the City of Binghamton’s Office of Economic Development and Cornell Engineering on May 16 in Binghamton. Forum attendees included municipal leaders, industry experts, nonprofit organizations, and academics from Cornell and SUNY Binghamton.
St. Petersburg is already a smart city – an urban area utilizing new technologies to improve quality of life, enhance infrastructure and support a more responsive municipal government.
Local leaders hope to build upon a burgeoning framework and collaboratively foster a smarter and more connected future. Over 40 business and municipal stakeholders gathered Wednesday at the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub to help them achieve that goal.
Read more: US: Florida: St. Petersburg: Local leaders work to create a smarter city
Above Clematis Street in Downtown West Palm Beach, sensors mounted on black poles are recording and tracking the movement of pedestrians, drivers and pests like raccoons.
Posters with QR codes alongside the sensors direct residents to a website with information about a new project that could improve mobility, traffic efficiency and public safety.