From Smart Cities Connect, Nov. 30, 2017"
As one of 17,000 attendees at the 6th annual Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, it was easy to get lost in the crowd. And while large corporate companies certainly had formidable and impressive presence, it was the startups that left the biggest impression.This link was triggered by a story at CBS13, Sacramento, last night:
Here are my top picks for new companies that are making their mark on the global stage. They are solving real problems, applying technology and adding value in new and interesting ways:...
***... Zen City, Tel Aviv
Technology moves fast and public opinion zips quickly along with it. City leaders who want to make data-informed decisions are challenged with accessing the right information while also keeping up with the rapid pace of change.
Tapping into the true voice of a community is really quite difficult. Traditional channels deliver silo’d viewpoints, even if unintended. Conducting surveys and ethnographic research is expensive and time consuming. It can also be challenging for contracted companies to deliver news that challenges long-held beliefs. It can be hard for senior officials to hear the truth.
ZenCity removes those barriers and lets Artificial Intelligence (AI) do the dirty work. By aggregating insights across multiple platforms – social media, city databases and open data depositories – the company is able to classify and communicate relevant tropics and trends through visual dashboards.
City leaders are able to source what is important to their communities and assess how specific projects are being received. Other platform bells and whistles include real-time analysis, alerts and notifications as well as integration to existing data sources. No need to scrap and replace existing systems.
Based out of Tel Aviv, they are currently operating in one US city, West Sacramento, with the hopes of expanded to more metros worldwide. A big part of smart city success is paying attention and reacting intelligently with speed. ZenCity promises to help you to “Listen to Your City” – let’s hope everyone is hearing the call....
***... Everyone Wins
These three companies are proving that smart city movement doesn’t have to be about winners and losers...MORE
West Sacramento Launching Controversial Program Watching Public’s Social Media Posts
The "clever, clever boy" is from a story for children called The Amulet in The Strand Magazine Vol. XXX July to December 1905.*
Things change.
*It's a fairly well known volume (in certain circles). From the description:
...This is the first appearance in print of the H.G. Wells story 'The Empire of the Ants', subsequently included in the 'Country of the Blind' collection. This volume also includes two cricket stories by P.G. Wodehouse, his first contributions to The Strand, together with regulars such as Arthur Morrison, Richard Marsh, E. Nesbit (first publication of 'The Amulet', in serialised form), and Arthur Conan Doyle 'Sir Nigel'). This volume also contains an interesting article on Pinkerton's Detective Agency, together with portraits of Mark Twain, Count Tolstoy and President Roosevelt. There is also an account of the mutiny on the 'Potemkin', by A. Kovalenko, the only officer on board to side with the mutineers, and a serialised autobiography of Father Gapon, a priest who championed the cause of the poor in the period leading up to the 1905 Russian revolution....
