Mobile broadband, government-sponsored cloud computing, smart devices - these are a few of the technologies that cities should be thinking about for the future, says the Institute for the Future in a new report.
Greg Lindsay of Fast Company looks at the Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored report, which is more than a gadget list. Called "The Future of Cities, Information, and Inclusion", it predicts a near-future struggle between haves and have-nots on the digital data divide.
From the IFTF's website: "Over the next decade, cities will continue to grow larger and more rapidly. At the same time, new technologies will unlock massive streams of data about cities and their residents. As these forces collide, they will turn every city into a unique civic laboratory-a place where technology is adapted in novel ways to meet local needs."
The technologies that matter, for better or worse, according to Fast Company:
"...mobile broadband; smart personal devices, whether they're dirt-cheap phones or tablets; government-sponsored cloud computing (modeled on the U.K.'s national "G-cloud" initiative); open-source public databases to promote grassroots innovation, and "public interfaces." Instead of Internet cafés, imagine an outdoor LED screen and hacked Kinect box allowing literally anyone to access the Net using only gestures."
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