ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks with thought leaders from intelligent communities around the world.

I wrote my last post, “Why Are We Falling Apart?” in response to a heartfelt editorial by David Brooks of The New York Times. Confronting today’s epidemic of inhumane behavior in America – reckless driving, unrest in schools, fights on airliners, hate crimes and murders – he asked, “What the hell is going on?” His plaintive and honest answer was “I don’t know.”

In my post, I explained why I thought we have been falling apart – not just recently but gradually for the past 40 years, and not just in the United States but in fellow industrialized nations around the world.

But understanding reasons is only gets us so far. What matters is what we can do about it.

In this freewheeling conversation, municipal CIOs and IT experts discuss the challenges of deploying reliable and secure information technology systems to support operations, deliver services and improve decision-making – within the limits of municipal budgets.  They explore the opportunities to expand capabilities and reduce costs provided by the latest technology developments.

There is a children’s book, which became an animated movie, about a town destroyed by giant pieces of food falling mysteriously from the sky. It turns out a similar thing can happen when the objects falling from on high are big bales of cash.

In 2015, ICF named Columbus, Ohio, USA as its Intelligent Community of the Year. The very next year, the city beat out 77 other small and midsize US cities for a grant of $50 million from the Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge. (Its status as IC of the Year helped.) Its winning bid called for many cool projects: Wi-Fi-enabled kiosks to help residents plan trips, apps to pay bus and ride-hail fares and find parking spots, autonomous shuttles and sensor-connected trucks.

Self-driving shuttles are headed into a residential neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, as the city sets out on its second autonomous bus project.

The Linden neighborhood in northeastern Columbus will be the site of a 2.7-mile route for a small, electric autonomous shuttle, capable of carrying about a dozen passengers. The new route, set to be operational in November, will be in addition to an existing AV shuttle route operating in downtown, known as the Smart Circuit. More than 3,300 riders have boarded the three downtown shuttles since they began operating, say city officials.

A sculpture made of abstract glass pieces glows on a platform at the entrance of The Forge, the name the smart-tech startup Pillar uses for its space on the edge of Downtown.

“We ask people to say what it is. What do you see?” said Bob Myers, who is managing director of Pillar, an Accenture Industry X.0 company. “There are no wrong answers.”

The sculpture is supposed to activate left-brain thinking, spurring creative and innovative ideas on projects completed at the smart-tech hub, he said.

“When people come into The Forge, we want a no-constraints frame of mind. It doesn’t mean that there’s not restraints. Let’s just not start there,” Myers said.

(TNS) — Columbus' first interactive kiosk experience — or "IKE" — is now available to the public.

The 8-foot-tall touch-screen electronic tablets provide users information on stores, restaurants, hotels, services, parks, transportation and local events.

IKE Smart City launched the first screen in the Short North on Wednesday outside the UPS Store on North High Street.

Columbus, Ohio has been named City of the Year in the Smart Cities Dive website’s awards for its work on transit and electrification.

The US city won the US Department of Transportation’s inaugural Smart City Challenge two years ago – and is rolling out a variety of smart city-related programmes.

(TNS) — The first self-driving shuttles in Ohio will hit the streets in Columbus this week.

May Mobility, a Michigan-based start-up, will operate the shuttles as part of an initiative announced in July by Smart Columbus and DriveOhio.

"We're proud to have the first self-driving shuttle in Ohio being tested on the streets of Columbus," Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said in a news release. "This pilot will shape future uses of this emerging technology in Columbus and the nation."

Connected vehicle technology is coming to Columbus, Ohio, in the hopes of making a large swath of the city safer for motorists as well as pedestrians and cyclists.

The city is moving forward with a demonstration project to connect up to 1,800 private and public vehicles, as well as upgrade some 113 signalized intersections with technology to better manage traffic as well as improve safety.