By Colin Wood
GovTech.com
Today’s Internet of Things (IoT) innovations aren’t a fluke – they’re the future. Every day, cheaply manufactured sensors are being placed underground, into buildings and into people’s pockets –and government is finding that the arrangement suits its needs nicely. From tasks as small as shaving a few seconds off a person’s commute or finding a parking space to saving the lives of lost hikers, IoT technology is changing how governments serve their citizens.
Boston and Los Angeles, for instance, forged data-sharing partnerships with traffic app Waze to better understand their roadways and offer citizens new services from the city and the company alike. Smart parking meters in San Francisco bring citizens parking information in real time. A traffic light app serving Contra Costa County, Calif., fights distracted driving by connecting drivers’ smartphones to roadway infrastructure. And thousands of RFID markers planted in the dirt across the nation provide government agencies with new opportunities to track and understand the land over which they preside.
Using smart and connected technology to deliver community services is a growth industry, said Ruthbea Yesner Clarke, research director of Smart Cities Strategies at IDC.
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