Artificial Intelligence. I can’t think of a reference to the intellect that would feel more unauthentic and fake. It’s no wonder people turn to The Terminator or The Matrix to fathom what it’s all about. Fortunately, after 60 years of AI rumors fueled by academia and movies, we’re finally starting to see signs that it means more than just robots taking over.

Working in the tech industry, it’s ironic that the AI lightbulb clicked not through an understanding of machine learning or engineering — but through the human challenges we face in the technology world.

See also: Look at all the amazing things AI can do for lawyers

While at Yahoo! and Apple, it was amazing to be part of technologies that not only helped enable the modern cloud today but continue to support its more than doubling in performance every year. But on the people side, opening a new data center meant hiring a team with over 100 man-years of various expertise and experience. As these skills became harder and harder to find, we realized that since we couldn’t find more people that had them, we needed to figure out how to get more out of people that didn’t.

We’re living in a world where the evolution of technology is exponentially outpacing that of people. AI is now empowering machines with the intelligence to form its own insights and thoughts. What were sensors are now evolving into senses, where machines can acutely comprehend things like sight, sound, and touch.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling “self-driving” actions to be performed, based on those thoughts and senses. Right in front of our eyes, technology is making the leap from being the inanimate tools of yesterday to serving as our collaborative and conscious AI-powered co-workers of tomorrow. As people, our responsibility is to serve as the manager and mentor of this new form of co-worker.

Using comprehensive human-to-machine learning interfaces, all people will have the ability to effectively teach and mentor our new co-workers using one’s own natural human language. Yes, human knowledge will be the foundation of what makes artificial intelligence real. This is why AI will prove to be more useful as an extension of human intelligence, than a substitution for it. It is then that it will no longer be viewed as Artificial Intelligence, but understood as Augmented Intelligence.

Enter augmented intelligence

AI is going to augment natural human intelligence and enable people to gain the world’s collective expertise while requiring less time and study than what has been required to become an expert in any one thing today. Traditionally in humans, an expert’s mind possesses fewer possibilities for slower growth, while a beginners mind offers many possibilities for rapid growth.

Augmented Intelligence will empower us with the best of both. In doing so, there is no reason to think that our own personal capabilities for intellectual advancement cannot equal or surpass the doubling per year that we see in computers. Yes, we will see the day when the augmented human expert will be able to get 2x smarter, every year.

Being a leader of people, I learned long ago that my own success is more defined by the augmented intelligence and capabilities that my team provides than anything I could solely do as an individual. The same will apply to the new performance enhancing co-workers that will augment our intelligence and capabilities. Through today’s eye, this picture of our future may be seen as heresy or a superhuman threat. That said, the same fear occurred in the past when it was suggested that all people could be given the power of reading.

Evolution is life. Embrace the future.

Parking garages take up an enormous amount of space in retail zones and bring less value than a retail store, business block, or housing complex in the same area.

Sadly, in a world where almost everyone drives, they’re a necessity if a city or supermarket wants to avoid congestion and road accidents.

See Also: Taking a look at the future of next-generation transportation

It is no surprise then that AvalonBay Communities, a real-estate investment trust, is eager to see the introduction of self-driving cars.

The Virginia-based developer has already shown future plans for the two-floor underground parking garage, part of a residential complex under development in the Los Angeles Arts District, to the LA Times.

When it is finished in four years, the parking garage will still serve approximately 1,000 cars, but as people switch to ride-sharing vehicles, it will make way for shops, a gym, and a theater.

Not just AvalonBay

AvalonBay is not the only property developer eager rid the world of parking garages. Upscale shopping centre Grove has talked to Google about how to prepare for the future.

There is no definitive time when parking garages will become obsolete, but some analysts have projected 2020 to be the peak point for car ownership. After that, ride-sharing and shuttle solutions will start to rise.

Even though most automakers have not said it publicly, it sounds like self-driving cars will be for rental or ride-sharing services only, at least for the first few years. Ford’s head of research, Ken Washington, recently said customers will not be able to purchase self-driving cars until at least 2026.

Uruguay — best known for its art deco buildings and many steakhouses — will now add leading tech hub to its many great titles.  

Sinergia Tech raised $500,000 to launch the very first hardware accelerator in Latin America. The firm, known for its technological development, digital fabrication, and prototyping laboratory, can offer a unique environment for aspiring hardware startups.

See also: Readwrite Labs launching their new incubation program

The accelerator, based in Montevideo, Uruguay, plans to fund close to 500 tech startups with a focus on IoT, smart cities, smart agriculture and smart hemp.  The chosen startups will receive investment sizes of between $25,000 to $100,000. 

Montevideo is looking to position itself as a melting pot for tech leadership due to its highly sought-after tech talent, free exchange market and a stable social, legal and political environment.

First cohort will have 20 startups

Sinergia Tech will be selecting 20 startup finalists into the first batch, with a goal of choosing 5 winners to continue the program and assist with international growth.  A network of 15 local mentors, as well as more than 80 international profiles, will form a support network to assist the startups.  The mentorship of these startups will include personalized feedback, and a tailored approach based on the needs of each team.

The startups chosen to participate in the accelerator will have access to state of the art equipment — such as a laser cutter, 3D printers, CNC router, circuit printer, cut plotters, and traditional tools.  Moreover, startup teams will also have access to robotics and electronics gear. 

The goal of Sinergia Tech, aside from creating a hardware accelerator to assist entrepreneurs and startup teams within the hardware space; is to empower young men and women by helping them achieve their dreams.  By doing so, Sinergia Tech hopes to motivate and inspire others to take up the entrepreneurial journey.

Entrepreneurs and startup teams requiring more information should visit Sinergia’s website.

As a technology executive, I’ve overseen the buildout of multiple data centers in my career. Without exception, all were designed with an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and backup power.

In fact, I can’t imagine a data center of any consequence being built without these safeguards in place. No IT engineer worth his or her salt would consider it. Simply, the grid is not a sufficiently reliable foundation on which to rely for the ongoing operation of critical equipment.

Recognizing that, I ask you to think about the megatrend around smart city development. The current efforts around smart cities completely fail to address and incorporate resilience as a core strategy.

That is not smart.

We’re deploying “smart” cities such that they will fail our citizens and service providers the minute the grid goes down, when that information and capability is of critical importance and maximum need. Earthquake, bombing, super storm, tsunami, attack, hurricane, or rioting… That’s when we need guarantees that our city infrastructure will shine and support emergency response, empower “boots on the ground” and, of course, help our citizens.

When these scenarios arise, we’re in critical need of many services. Backup power. Communication network availability. Active information resources like public kiosks and intelligent lighting to direct people to safety. Data assets such as cameras and sensors to provide intelligence about local weather, the wind, water levels, flow rates, tilt, vibration, foot traffic and vehicle traffic. Systems to identify citizens in need. Security mechanisms to deter crime and damage to property.

Brian Lakamp, Founder & CEO, Totem

This sort of resilience has, so far, been an afterthought in the smart city dialogue. We’ve been focused on incremental additions of new capability, without considering performance in adverse scenarios. That’s nuts.

The good news is that we’re in the process of rebuilding the grid around advanced energy like solar, wind and batteries. Some, like me, refer to that new network as the “Enernet.” As we build out the Enernet with energy storage to optimize the network and integrate renewables, we also have an opportunity to address resilience of critical services.

It would be a complete failure in our energy strategy if we were to overlook distributed batteries as part of the solution, and if we were to fail to deploy those assets as a resilient underpinning to smart city nodes and functionality.

Governments and utilities need to take a more active role on this front. Municipalities, states and public utility commissions (PUCs) need to demand resilience for strategic services. Utilities need to enable it. Smart city certification programs like that recently announced by Bloomberg need to evolve to incorporate resilience measurement.

Utilities need to embrace the future

Worth noting, the utilities shouldn’t do it only because their PUC requires it of them. Utilities who embrace the future have the opportunity to act as the backbone of the smart city, on which all other services reside. Paula-Gold Williams, CEO at CPS Energy understands the smart city opportunity.

It starts with imagining a future different from the historic, centralized “power plant” architecture to one where the network acts much more dynamically, like the communications network today, supporting new capabilities and services. The utilities that figure it out first and fastest stand to be the Verizon or Comcast of the Enernet.

Back to the matter at hand. To build a resilient smart city, the Enernet needs to be woven by utilities directly into the infrastructure, with deliberation. Fealty to foreseeable futures requires the Enernet be built as a resilient underpinning to modern municipal services. That is not yet happening today. And, that is not smart.

The author is the Founder/CEO of Totem Power, a startup transforming the future of distributed energy and smart cities. Previously, Brian worked for media giants including Sony and most recently iHeartMedia.

Uruguay — best known for its art deco buildings and many steakhouses — will now add leading tech hub to its many great titles.  

Sinergia Tech raised $500,000 to launch the very first hardware accelerator in Latin America. The firm, known for its technological development, digital fabrication, and prototyping laboratory, can offer a unique environment for aspiring hardware startups.

See also: Readwrite Labs launching their new incubation program

The accelerator, based in Montevideo, Uruguay, plans to fund close to 500 tech startups with a focus on IoT, smart cities, smart agriculture and smart hemp.  The chosen startups will receive investment sizes of between $25,000 to $100,000. 

Montevideo is looking to position itself as a melting pot for tech leadership due to its highly sought-after tech talent, free exchange market and a stable social, legal and political environment.

First cohort will have 20 startups

Sinergia Tech will be selecting 20 startup finalists into the first batch, with a goal of choosing 5 winners to continue the program and assist with international growth.  A network of 15 local mentors, as well as more than 80 international profiles, will form a support network to assist the startups.  The mentorship of these startups will include personalized feedback, and a tailored approach based on the needs of each team.

The startups chosen to participate in the accelerator will have access to state of the art equipment — such as a laser cutter, 3D printers, CNC router, circuit printer, cut plotters, and traditional tools.  Moreover, startup teams will also have access to robotics and electronics gear. 

The goal of Sinergia Tech, aside from creating a hardware accelerator to assist entrepreneurs and startup teams within the hardware space; is to empower young men and women by helping them achieve their dreams.  By doing so, Sinergia Tech hopes to motivate and inspire others to take up the entrepreneurial journey.

Entrepreneurs and startup teams requiring more information should visit Sinergia’s website.

The recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona revealed that while few brand new and innovative smart city deployments are center stage, it’s an area of technology that is intensely interesting to many and worthy of much consideration.

Here are some of my thoughts based on what was showcased:

Idea #1: Traditional industries should continue to form alliances with start-ups to create innovative solutions to local problems

In 2017, Deutsche Telekom will roll out NB-IoT commercially in eight countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, and Croatia.  They used their NB-IoT prototyping hub, to showcase their work with selected partners and start-ups to develop cutting-edge solutions for Smart Cities.  Some of the notable examples showcased included a collaboration with Ayyeka,  a California start-up that makes smart water management a reality. It develops end-to-end remote monitoring solutions that streamline and secure the process of bringing field data to decision makers and SCADA systems, enabling smart infrastructure and environmental networks.

Also showcased was a beehive monitoring solution by  BeeAndMe which provides technical assistance to beekeepers: A microprocessor unit measures all significant beekeeping parameters. The data collected by the “baby monitor” for bees is also processed via data mining techniques, helping find answers to important scientific questions. Such partnerships and alliances mean that start-ups can bring creative innovation to smart city deployments, a cohort that could easily be otherwise outnumbered in decision making by the big players.

Idea #2: Smart city solutions should be interoperable and multilayered. 

We need smart cities and not just a disparate collection of smart city projects. In terms of practicality and streamlining, there’s a need for smart city solutions that solve multiple problems rather than stand-alone devices with single use capacities.  This needs to be managed by a primary vendor so that issues such as planning, implementation, and repairs are straightforward to resolve. For example, a light pole was showcased by AT&T equipped with sensors that can communicate to public safety and traffic officials about road, parking and pedestrian conditions. Sensors can also be installed to monitor air pollution, weather or the sound of gunshots. The light pole alone has a range of different abilities (with more to come) as well as data that is distributed to multiple service providers. It is important that stewardship for the device is clear and straightforward.

See also: Smart city development opportunities target $1.3 trillion market

For example, a light pole was showcased by AT&T equipped with sensors that can communicate to public safety and traffic officials about road, parking and pedestrian conditions. Sensors can also be installed to monitor air pollution, weather or the sound of gunshots. The light pole alone has a range of different abilities (with more to come) as well as data that is distributed to multiple service providers. It is important that stewardship for the device is clear and straightforward.

Idea #3: Big telcos are propping up the funding of smart cities 

Current, GE’s digital industrial startup business, used MWC to announce a deal with the City of San Diego to upgrade thousands of the city’s outdoor light fixtures to sensor-enabled LED technology, making it the world’s largest smart city IoT platform. AT&T will act as the data carrier and provide highly secure connectivity for the San Diego deployment, which is expected to save the city approximately $2.4 million in annual energy costs.

Such deals involve a reasonable amount of costly, upfront infrastructure that, even if it reaps financial benefits in the future, may be out of the financial reach of many local councils and municipalities. As a result, there are many big companies offering time and research at a reduced cost or for free.

A 2016 report into smart city development in the UK that revealed that the task of achieving smarter, more connected cities in the UK lies with local councils a cohort that was in many instances, struggling to deploy funds into smart city research and deployment. This can also mean that smart city efforts that are funded by research grants and university think tanks may never be funded outside of their trial, however effective. Public-private partnerships need to, however, be entered into with an egalitarian approach, to ensure that those without the most funds are not the primary decision makers.

Idea #4: Smart city solutions need to be citizen-centric

In reviewing a range of smart city events over the last year, I found that many were at a cost only accessible to well-funded business people and academics, invitation only or at times suitable for those working in smart city development, making them hardly accessible to the average citizen working 9-to-5. It is important that smart city projects are relevant to the local citizens and local issues.

Different cities have different approaches to citizen engagement. An interesting example is Amsterdam’s utility of citizen science to create interesting opportunities for local engagement. It’s not without its critics in that the city has in the past been criticized for projects where volunteers mostly ended up being nothing more than “citizen sensors” (i.e. tech-enabled corporal data collectors for academic and governmental research. Yet Amsterdam has generated social capital and fostered relationships between scientists, designers and everyday people that would otherwise not occur.

Idea #5: Some smart city solutions are not without controversy

Moscow’s smart city efforts were boosted last year with the implementation of 160,000 outdoor cameras focused on traffic and areas of possible crime. This is part of the Moscow Traffic Control Center, the headquarters of an elaborate monitoring and control system that also includes 40,000 traffic lights and a vast data storage facility that contain all the video data transmitted from the streets. The data has been used to fine citizens for violating road signs and signals with cameras recording license plates on cars.

I spoke to one engineer from a Moscow-based start-up who commented that locals were against the cameras but resigned to paying the fines. As part of a smart city panel discussion at MWC,  Andrey Belorezov, deputy CIO for Moscow, elected not to disclose how much revenue has been generated by fines so far. It’s tempting to compare this situation to the UK where there are over 6 million CCTV cameras in public places, ostensibly used to detect and prevent crime. I can’t help wondering how things would change if air quality sensors were as widespread with real-time data to detect and prosecute big business polluters?

But all is not lost, at the other end of the spectrum, with their commitments to oper data and open government, the city of Barcelona has implemented a city portal-a digital connection between citizens and local government where citizens can report government corruption, according to Francesca Bria, Chief Technology & Digital Innovation Officer at the City of Barcelona during MWC. It’s an example where smart cities with an underlying citizen first approach can really get things right.

Idea #6: Smart city deployment needs to be financially viable

The inconvenient question is how smart city deployments can be made financially viable to ensure that there is a reasonable parity between neighboring counties and cities, and that smart city development is not limited to a range of pilot tests of projects that never reach their full potential. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the smart city space over the next decade, and what lessons are learned from the early adopters as the rest struggle to keep up.