African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data | MIT Technology Review
Researchers at IBM, using movement data collected from millions of cell-phone users in Ivory Coast in West Africa, have developed a new model for optimizing an urban transportation system.
The IBM model prescribed changes in bus routes around the around Abidjan, the nation’s largest city. These changes—based on people’s movements as discerned from cell-phone records—could, in theory, slash travel times 10 percent.
Fixing South Africa’s Water System, With Citizen Inspectors | Co.Exist
WaterWatchers is a new tool from IBM that lets mobile users, even ones without smartphones, report issues with the water in their communities. Can it help clean up the country’s dirty water?
This App Warns You When You’re About To Get A Parking Ticket | FastCompany
Parking, in short, can be confusing. And, if you get the sign wrong, expensive. Which is why something like Park.IT—an app that tells you whether it’s safe to park, and sends you reminders when you’re time is up—could come in useful.
City of Eindhoven looking to improve traffic flow and road safety using connected car technology
Africa May Leapfrog the World in Big Data | ReadWriteEnterprise
Africa is already well known for leapfrogging the rest of the world in use of mobile money, but African countries now have another big leapfrogging opportunity: big data analytics.
Across the continent, there’s a tremendous potential for using data analytics in powerful new ways in a wide range of industries and domains, from telecommunications and banking to transportation and healthcare.
“Going forward, data is going to be THE source of competitive advantage” - IBM Chairman and CEO, Ginni Rometty at the IBM CIO Leadership Exchange in Johannesburg, South Africa
Raising the IQ of School Buildings
Schools across the U.S. are discovering that bringing greater intelligence and connectedness into a building’s operations can go a long way toward creating more efficient, sustainable and profitable campuses.
Honolulu: Citizens Building a Smarter City
People globe-wide are flocking to cities, where, the thinking goes, they’ll be able to live nice, robust lives more efficiently and emit less planet-killing pollution. But city living is only really a solution to woes like climate change and resource overconsumption if 1) a city actually helps its residents use resources more effectively and 2) people decide to keep living in them.
Which is why developing state-of-the-art mass transportation systems is considered such an important part of the equation.

You think cities are crowded now? By 2030, more than 5 billion people will live in urban settings. But before we get to that kind of population density, we have to optimize our cities. We need to make them smarter and better; technology can help.
Cities all around the world work with developers and contractors to make city living better, whether it’s improving the timing of traffic lights or creating a useful app, which becomes more powerful as smartphone penetration continues to increase. Apps and well-implemented technology can help cash-strapped governments save money and, be more efficient. Check out this list of 25 Technologies Every Smart City Should Have.
App offers stranded passengers stories based on delay time
Public transport users in Brazil looking for entertainment while they travel have already been offered 24×7 Cultural’s pay-what-you-want book vending machines located in subway stations. For travelers who weren’t planning on taking a lengthy journey however, the Netherland’s VertragingsApp now offers stories organized by the time it takes to read them for those stuck on a delayed service. READ MORE…
