By Stephanie Kanowitz
Apr 06, 2021
In the two years since an executive order from Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney established the SmartCityPHL program, the two women who run it have laid plans to improve food distribution, the built environment and roads.
“We are locally inspired. We are not Silicon Valley, we are not New York City. We are Philadelphia,” SmartCityPHL Director Emily Yates said. “We have a lot of amazing assets and resources that we want to leverage to make sure that the work we push forward is representative of Philly and the needs that we have. We also want to make sure that we’re collaborative, innovative and, most of all, equitable.”
MORRISVILLE – How smart is Morrisville’s plan for a smart-city future? Could be an award winner.
The Town submitted two projects as a part of their application, and is the smallest municipality in terms of population and the size of the local government workforce, according to Rick Ralph, the Town of Morrisville’s CIO.
The selected park to pilot the project is Cedar Fork District Park, said Ralph in an interview with WRAL TechWire. The town plans to install flood sensors, ground moisture sensors, electric gates, and digital signage at the park, as well as feed the data to a central dashboard that can be viewed in real-time by residents, guests who hold reservations, and town staff.