Some Cities Don’t Need Corporate Sponsorships

In two previous posts, I’ve highlighted initiatives by several corporations (Pepsi, GE, Philips, KFC, and IBM) to influence better design and function in cities and the services they offer. But, as I discovered after reading a tweet by Portland, Oregon’s Mayor Sam Adams, corporations aren’t the only ones stimulating innovative solutions in cities.

Corporate Cities

We are all familiar with the budget troubles facing cities today. School closures, transit cuts, and staff layoffs are all par for the course. The housing bubble burst sending the economy into a tailspin; people earned (and spent) less and cities were left without much needed tax revenue. Fortunately, some companies have found this situation [...]

Twilio, San Francisco

According to The Business Insider, the Silicon Valley startup Twilio is the hot silicon valley startup to watch this year. Though I’ve heard a lot of humming about this company over the last year, I wasn’t exactly sure of what they do or what they offer. So I snooped around their website for a while. [...]

All City Art

Semaphore Mobile recently developed a new application, All City Art, essentially a handheld mobile guide to global street art. Addictive and accessible, the application is ripe for graffiti enthusiasts and the average voyeur alike. Easily tag and upload street art spots you find and discover new ones you haven’t seen yet. And, connect the dots.

Coupon with Groupon

Learn How Groupon Works! from The Point on Vimeo. Groupon is a new couponing service that is taking many American cities by storm. Groupon started in November 2008 as part of The Point, a platform for collective action. Through the power of group buying, Groupon offers daily deals at pretty good prices, making it easier [...]

Using Cell Phones as Traffic Sensors

UC Berkeley and Nokia researchers used GPS-enabled cell phones to test a technology that could soon transform the way drivers navigate through traffic. Detractors, of course, are concerned about the privacy issues that arise from using GPS technology in cell phones in a pervasive manner. Check out the video below to learn how GPS in [...]

Digital Capital Week, Washington DC

The city and the people that brought us the Apps for Democracy Model for service innovation in 2009, will launch the 2010 Digital Capital Week in June of 2010; The Purpose of Digital Capital Week is to strengthen the capital region’s digital economy via a 10 day series of events focused on creativity, technology, entrepreneurship, [...]

Artful Taxis, NYC

For the month of January about 500 taxis in New York City will display art works in place of advertisements atop their yellow hoods. Featuring artists like Shirit Neshan, Yoko Ono and Alex Katz, it’s a delightful gesture by the Los Vegas media company Show Media to New Yorkers at large. Interspersed in New York’s [...]

remap with Bestiario

This Friday I’ll highlight a project from the young and scrappy Barcelona/ Lisbon-based company, Bestiario. Combining art, science and design to create thrilling user experiences, the Bestiario team has put forth numerous unique interactive media experiences since it was founded two years ago. Check out their portfolio here.

Recap: Thoughts on Mobility from Dominique Laousse, INTA33, Koahsiung, Taiwan

Dominique Laousse held court at during his master class on perspectives in sustainable transport on the first day of INTA’s 4 day conference in Taiwan, unleashing a spirited 90 minute monologue on emotional mobility and intelligent transportation that remains a highpoint of the conference: an admittedly unscientific poll showed that for many INTA33 attendees, Laousse’s [...]

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