Where the curb meets the cloud: urban innovation in the digital age

Cities have benefited from the three greatest technological innovations of the past 200 years: the steam engine, electrification, and the automobile. But each advance has created its own challenges, including pollution, overcrowding, sprawl. As the digital revolution transforms cities once again, how can we make sure it improves quality of life while minimizing the downside? With population density comes the possibility of deploying network connectivity and wayfinding at lower cost, but density also increases complexity of deployment. How can digital technology reduce the bad friction of urban environments, such as congestion, cost, and complexity, while increasing good friction, such as all of the serendipitous interactions that cities encourage? Underlying all this change is ubiquitous connectivity and mobile technology, from the phones people carry with them to the supporting devices and network endpoints embedded in the urban infrastructure. Sidewalk Labs is an Alphabet company that works with cities to develop new technology that can improve urban life. We will discuss some of our discoveries and beliefs, and talk about our plans to use mobile technology to help cities take full advantage of the digital revolution.