Infrastructure

A new report finds labor still accounts for a large portion of the cost of deploying the necessary infrastructure. But advocates say technology is worth it, given the resiliency and future-proofing it offers.

The local government’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to appropriate the funds for a “comprehensive technology infrastructure remediation project.” It comes in response to a critical IT outage last summer.

The city’s tourist-heavy Oceanfront neighborhood is using a digital parking solution from eleven-x to improve parking management and grow revenue in its “resort area.” Area residents will get parking credits.

California electric utilities plan to launch a program to help pay for electric vehicle charging, for income-qualified households that do not have charging at home. Other initiatives are already underway.

Officials at the capital city this week approved a one-year moratorium on data center development. The suspension will provide time to review potential impacts and guide responsible development.

National Grid is expected to install the devices for 121,000 customers in the city. They will enable people to track energy usage via a portal, and will immediately alert the utility to power outages.

The state’s new Infrastructure Planning and Development Division has adopted cloud technology to help community governments navigate matching requirements, compliance and project delivery.

With new EV sales in the United States recently reporting a year-over-year decline, advocates said factors like their long-term affordability should have been emphasized and infrastructure should be accessible.

After launching a fiber-optic broadband network, Chattanooga, Tenn., has seen robust economic development and better Internet service for residents. Chico, Calif., recently broke ground on its own fiber project.

A new report from the Urban Institute outlines how many of the projects developed as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including technology work, have been slow to finish and deploy.

The document emphasizes governance, risk assessment and safety principles to protect operational technology as AI adoption grows. Understanding security concerns during development is one recommendation.

Data center development, the subject of much public-sector conversation and policy, is predicted to expand, driven by the growth of AI. It's also expected to come at a cost and bring a selective benefit.

The Florida-based supplier of “intelligent streetlighting” says its latest tools offer deeper insights into traffic patterns and more safety protections. The company recently joined a law enforcement network.

A new policy guide from the nonprofit Public Citizen is intended to support the public sector with concrete recommendations on transparent data center projects that are respectful to residents.

Policy and other changes have slowed the rollout of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. Internet providers, residents and others are frustrated by its lack of tangible results.

Governments and communities must work together to ensure AI data center projects meet residents’ current and future needs, experts said, and in order to realize their full economic benefits and mitigate harm.

States frequently compete heavily to land major data-center projects, but less than a dozen of them disclose which companies receive incentives, according to a report by the nonprofit watchdog group Good Jobs First.

When it was installed in 2006, Napa Valley College's photovoltaic array was the fifth largest in the U.S. Now it sits motionless among grass and weeds, a casualty of false promises, bankruptcies and a capricious industry.