AI is no longer the focus of the “smart cities” movement…

The “smart cities” suite of technologies, which relies heavily on the collection and analysis of sensor data, is changing rapidly in response to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.

“Smart cities has a new focus now,” one official said. “It’s not so much about the flashy technologies. Now it’s about creating efficiencies quickly so we can save money, especially as our budgets are starting to tighten.”

Issues of access in some communities are also preventing adoption of some emerging technologies, officials said.

“We still have too many parts of our community that lack access,” one director said. “If they can’t access our services, it doesn’t matter how much AI or [“internet of things”] we throw at a problem, they’re still missing out.”