The $1.65 million "city automation project" (which includes $150,000
from the city) would "cut across several areas of municipal
responsibility, including transportation, public safety, and planning
for public events," writes Alexander.
An example is the
possibility of people using smartphone apps to interact with city
departments, or centralizing the city's monitoring of parking lot,
security, and traffic video cameras to save money.
IBM has worked on "smarter cities" projects with about 2,000 municipalities around the world, according to the article.