Back in 2010, a French company offered the Easter Island government a massive pyro-gassification machine that generated electricity from garbage. It was to be a gift. Was it really the kind of gift you’d give a friend? Or was did it come with … [Continue reading] about Three non-technical attributes for “smart” Before you change any lightbulbs
Power to the transit user in San Francisco OpenTransit puts data behind complaints and lets transit managers drill down
The bus is late again. You're going to be late, and you're infuriated. You've called to complain now and then, but nothing changed. You wrote letters and you signed petitions. You marched on the transit district's offices. You muttered curses within … [Continue reading] about Power to the transit user in San Francisco OpenTransit puts data behind complaints and lets transit managers drill down
White-hat hackers ride into town Large-scale smart city find a complement in small-scale private projects
Bob Bennett, a former chief innovation officer for Kansas City, Missouri illustrated a common problem for cities undertaking smart-city projects — and how white-hat hackers can be a priceless complement. They got off to a fast start. … [Continue reading] about White-hat hackers ride into town Large-scale smart city find a complement in small-scale private projects
Take data from ethereal to grounded An escape from the same old conversation
A few days ago, I told former Tableau CMO Elissa Fink why I found "smart cities" more interesting than the data industry's tired old slogan "data driven." Cities are complex and layered. Analytics has results, good or bad. Data becomes tangible, … [Continue reading] about Take data from ethereal to grounded An escape from the same old conversation
The one place “citizen data scientist” makes sense Another BI bauble or actually useful?
A new term has hit the wind, “citizen data scientists.” These data workers are the cheaper, good-enough version of the gold standard, the data scientists. Where does it work, if anyplace at all? In the business world, this windy … [Continue reading] about The one place “citizen data scientist” makes sense Another BI bauble or actually useful?