Smart Cities

Data is the new oil of the 21st century. COVID-19 is providing the opportunity for city CIOs to implement massive new data collection and analysis systems at a time when other initiatives have no funding or support. Technocrats remain in control of the entire narrative.

Plagued with problems from the start, Sidewalk Labs has abandoned Quayside and Toronto but is not giving up on 'reimagining cities'. Former CEO Eric Schmidt, has just been tapped by New York City to reimagine its future existence.

The Internet of Things, AI, machine learning and other Smart City Technology is proposed to be the catch-all solution for 'winning the war' against COVID-19. Likened to Superman, this article states, "This sounds like a job for data visualization and smart city tech."

One man's deadly virus is another man's sledge hammer to drive smart city policies, including booting cars out of city centers to make way for foot traffic, scooters and public transit. Demand for this is falsely attributed to local urbanites rather than green urban planners.