What do smart cities of the future look like?

What do smart cities of the future look like?

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I just returned from the Consumer Electronics Show (#CES2017)  in Las Vegas, and I can tell you that it is a very exciting time for cities and states to invest in smart technologies! The team at Panasonic invited me (aka GovGirl) to cover their exhibit, and I’m thrilled that government agencies were a central part of their “future infrastructure” concept.

Panasonic is known for unveiling consumer technologies at CES, including high end audio and photography equipment. This year, cities took center stage as the company showcased connected technologies designed to improve the quality of life for citizens.

Check out my recap video of what I saw at CES:

Want to be a #smartcity? It really starts with smart infrastructure. Why have one technology that talks to just one system when you can have connected technologies that integrate with the overall infrastructure?

Panasonic has partnered with the City of Denver over the past year, and recently the Colorado Department of Transportation, to bring the concept of smart cities and smart highways to a reality. Check out footage from the #PanasonicCES press conference, where they invited Mayor Hancock of Denver and the director of the Colorado DOT onstage to unveil their projects.

Have you seen the recent viral dash cam video of a smart car predicting a crash two cars ahead? Think of all the ways smart cars and infrastructure could impact our cities. One of the concepts behind smart transportation is that sensors in vehicles could communicate with other vehicles, pedestrians and the overall smart infrastructure in order to predict and avoid crashes. The number I’m hearing is that traffic accidents could potentially be reduced by 80 percent!

In the Panasonic booth, I got to see other smart city technology up close. Plans for a smart bus shelter are pretty impressive. Government agencies want citizens to use public transportation because it reduces traffic congestion, accidents and smog, among many other reasons. However, public transportation is typically underused. Citizens just don’t have a high expectation of the user experience. Enter the smart bus shelter. While waiting for your bus, you’ve got WiFi, charging outlets and a touch screen display where you can see where your bus is in real-time. If your bus is running late, you can schedule an Uber right from the touch interface. This concept shelter comes equipped with security cameras that are designed to feed into the central command center that gives the city one interface to monitor their connected devices.

Add in smart parking meters that allow citizens to find open spaces and feed the meter via an app, and also smart streetlights that dim to save energy when pedestrians and vehicles aren’t around – and you’ve got a truly connected community!

Here is a Facebook Live video that I shot while visiting the CES exhibit:

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