Emerging Tech

A research facility at the University of Connecticut's Spectrum Park would allow various companies to test smart car and infrastructure technology in collaboration with university researchers.

Many residents have no idea what sort of data is collected by the myriad sensors, cameras and other pieces of smart city technology. A new project hopes to demystify the technology through embedded QR codes.

From satellite Internet to ground-station-as-a-service, space tech is a big — and increasingly well-funded — deal that's poised to have a big impact on state and local government.

Digital transformation efforts are rapidly accelerating in the public sector. Spurred in part by the pandemic — and now, as state and local governments pivot to meet rising constituent expectations — the technology landscape is changing quickly. Agencies will need to continually expand their capabilities to deliver more responsive service, strengthen enterprise security and drive proactive decision-making that increases their operational efficiency and maximizes the use of public dollars.

From electrified pavement that can charge vehicles and delivery robots that collect data to flying taxis, transportation experts sound off on what we can expect highways and byways to look like in 2050.

A machine learning tool designed to predict where crime might occur across eight major U.S. cities is also helping to highlight areas that are not receiving adequate police protection — often poorer neighborhoods.

From the future of transit to research still in the lab to space-based technology, our July/August magazine looks at emerging tech gaining ground and what it could mean for state and local government.

The system, known as FUSUS, integrates a range of city-owned and civilian video sources into a central, cloud database. The feeds can be accessed by officers on their in-unit computers and via an app on their smartphones.

The smartphone-based congestion-pricing technology being tested in Bogota, Colombia, is showing promise. Some major U.S. cities are also looking at solutions to better manage their own crowded roadways.

The latest and greatest technologies often start as projects in university laboratories across the country. Here are a handful of innovations in the works that could transform gov tech in the coming years.

While a handful of higher ed institutions are now accepting cryptocurrencies for tuition payments, the trend has yet to take off at most universities for reasons such as environmental impacts and market volatility.

Public meetings have changed since the pandemic, with some agencies going back to in-person participation while others opt for hybrid situations. The new technology is designed to meet those needs and provide more automation.

Seattle's Avalanche Energy and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation received undisclosed amounts of funding from the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit to further develop two different approaches to small-scale nuclear power.

The unincorporated community of Lockeford, Calif., is slated to be Amazon’s first attempt at making Prime Air a reality. The company will be working to get the program operational later this summer, officials say.

A recent study by Carnegie Mellon University looked at the effects of traffic, weather and other factors impacting the safety of highway work zones and increased accident risks in these areas.

The New York State Office for the Aging has launched a new initiative to bring companion robots into seniors’ homes — and they go beyond the common virtual assistants to proactively support seniors’ needs.

The Chicago Quantum Exchange this week unveiled a network for sharing information between four universities and two national laboratories that could produce breakthroughs in cybersecurity, medicine and climate change.

These miniature nuclear power plants under development as a source of clean electricity for the United States — and for deployment in space — would be smaller than standard shipping containers.