CHICAGO ― Steve Koch, the deputy mayor of Chicago, said the city would make all-out efforts to transform itself into the smartest city in the U.S. and even in the world by embracing cutting-edge Internet of Things technology.
“We (Chicago) want to be the center of the industry, where people start companies, where people create jobs and where people create value,” said the deputy mayor in a keynote speech at the Internet of Things World Forum Tuesday.
“We want to be the test bed of new technology. Come and test,” he added.
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Steve Koch, the deputy mayor of Chicago. (Bloomberg) |
The city runs various applications available on smartphones, slate PCs and laptops, including Plow Tracker, which lets users know where the snow plows are cleaning up snow.
The sensors placed on top of the lampposts lining the city’s streets collect a variety of data including temperature, humidity and cellphone signals, which are utilized to make the city a safer and more convenient place. The information collected through the sensors are also open to the public online.
He added that IoT technology helps improve the way citizens interact with the government as the government services become more transparent.
Global governments and tech giants have been stepping up their efforts to gain a strong presence in the IoT market. The U.K. government has pledged to create a 45 million pound ($71.6 million) IoT fund, Amazon paid $1 billion for the video streaming platform Twitch and Samsung Electronics acquired smart home platform SmartThings for $200 million.
By Kim Young-won, Korea Herald correspondent
(
wone0102@heraldcorp.com)
