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Truly Smart Cities Are More than Sensors & Real-time Data

Boston, with its rich university resources and innovative start up incubators, stands to have the smartest creativity infrastructure in the world outside of Silicon Valley, says Dr. Boyd Cohen. 
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What’s the Latest Development?

Tomorrow’s smart city will not only have great technology but also great institutions that support new technological development. For that reason, Dr. Boyd Cohen, who researches start up accelerator programs around the world, says that Boston, Mass., is one of the smartest cities on the planet. The city’s rich university resources work in tandem with incubators like MassChallenge, which “leverages a nonprofit model and takes no equity stakes in the 100-plus startups it supports each round.” Outside of Silicon Valley, says Cohen, Boston may have the most innovative ecosystem in the world. 

What’s the Big Idea?

Cities interlaced with data-collecting sensors and connected to a central processing hub are helping to make today’s urban environments more efficient and more enjoyable places to live. But new technology is not the only thing that can make a city smart. Attracting the right people to live in your city is an important way to cultivate local solutions that benefit from an international network of professionals. “While Boston also has many other smart characteristics–including quality transit and renewable energy leadership–it truly stands out as a global leader in fostering innovation within and outside of its worldclass universities.”

Photo credit: Shutterstock.com

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