Estonia’s Digital Affairs Minister: Switzerland never had a ‘burning need’ to go digital Estonia has become a global model for digital government. Minister Liisa Pakosta says Switzerland already has everything it needs to follow a similar path – except the sense of urgency that drove Estonia’s transformation. Estonia is widely regarded as one of the world’s most advanced digital societies, promoting itself with the slogan “0% bureaucracy and 100% digital services”. Citizens can vote, sign legal documents, access healthcare records and even divorce online using a national digital identity. Switzerland, by contrast, is still grappling with fragmented digital public services. The rollout of the electronic patient record has been slow and uneven across the country. Swiss voters rejected the country’s first national electronic identity (e-ID) in a referendum in 2021, largely due to privacy concerns and the role of private companies, before narrowly approving a fully state-run eID in 2025. How did the Baltic nation of just 1.3 million people become a global model for digital government? And what trade-offs come with building a state increasingly powered by artificial intelligence (AI)? According to Estonia’s Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa Pakosta, the answer lies more in history than in technology. “Switzerland is a very wealthy country,” she tells Swissinfo on the sidelines of the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva. “The only obstacle you have is that you haven’t had the burning need for change.” After regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia faced a deep economic crisis. Inflation surged and public resources were scarce. “We started not even from zero, but from a deep minus,” Pakosta says. “We had to find the cheapest, most effective and quickest way of governance,” she recalls. “When you are looking for the least expensive and most efficient way
Jul 9, 2026 · via swissinfo.ch
Figures Abstract The construction of smart cities has entered a new stage of industrial development in light of the industrial revolution. The aim is to create digital twin cities that integrate the dual systems of physical and digital bodies. The drainage system of a city forms the foundation and core of its digital twin, hence the need for a construction and simulation study proposed in this research. The study is based on the five-dimensional model of the digital twin. First, the research aims to develop a five-dimensional digital twin model that incorporates twin data and connections, building upon a three-dimensional model to improve its applicability. Second, the research looks to create a digital twin drainage system model using a lightweight framework, employing a dynamic scheduling algorithm and model-view-controller to facilitate intelligent scheduling of the drainage system and enable real-time data collection and transmission. The experimental outcomes indicate that in normal conditions, the overflow loss of the mathematical twin drainage system was 30m3/s, 34m3/s, and 25m3/s under the conventional fixed-priority scheduling algorithm and dynamic scheduling digital twin drainage system algorithm, respectively. Due to the ratio of the improved overflow loss to the pre improved overflow loss being called the improvement ratio, the improvement ratios generated by the mathematical twin drainage system in different situations were 48.67%, 48.1%, and 48.57%, respectively, which significantly enhanced the performance and durability of the urban drainage system. The model effectively transforms and enhances the current urban drainage system by increasing the efficiency of scheduling pumping station clusters. It also offers valuable reference for the implementation of digital twin concept and technology. Citation: Zhao Y, Yang M (2026) Modelling and simulation of smart city drainage system based on digital twin five-dimensional models. PLoS One 21(7): e0352787. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0352787 Editor: Erman Ülker, Izmir Katip Celebi University: Izmir Katip Celebi
Jul 9, 2026 · via journals.plos.org
Every summer, India's cities face a growing challenge. Heatwaves are becoming longer, more frequent and more intense. Temperatures crossing 45°C are no longer unusual, while dense urban neighbourhoods often feel even hotter because of the urban heat island effect where concrete, asphalt and built structures absorb and retain heat throughout the day. Against this backdrop, Bhopal has emerged as an unlikely pioneer. On World Environment Day 2026, the Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation Limited (BSCDCL), in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Smart Surfaces Coalition (SSC), released what is being described as the first citywide assessment in India of how urban surfaces can be redesigned to reduce temperatures at scale. According to the study, widespread adoption of “smart surfaces” could lower peak summer temperatures in parts of Bhopal by as much as 2.8°C and reduce citywide temperatures by up to 3°C. The findings are significant because they challenge the assumption that air conditioning is the primary solution to urban heat. Instead, the study argues that the very surfaces that make up cities like roofs, roads, pavements, trees, open spaces and solar installations, can be transformed into a powerful cooling system. The report, titled Bhopal Citywide Smart Surfaces for Cost-Effective Cooling and Resilience, was supported by the MacArthur Foundation and developed using advanced satellite data, urban morphology analysis and temperature modelling. According to the project partners, it is the first effort in India to quantify the cooling benefits of smart surfaces at a citywide scale. The science behind urban heat is well established. Most urban surfaces have low reflectivity, meaning they absorb rather than reflect solar radiation. Dark roofs, asphalt roads and concrete structures store heat during the day and release it slowly at night. The Bhopal study found that the city's average albedo, or surface reflectivity,
Jul 9, 2026 · via indiawaterportal.org
Abstract The rapid growth of Internet of Things (IoT) deployments has made smart device discovery difficult in heterogeneous environments where devices differ in type, location, operational status, metadata structure, and communication interface. Conventional IoT search approaches often rely on keyword matching, static indexing, or predefined metadata fields, which limit their ability to interpret user intent in Web of Things (WoT) environments. This paper presents an intent-based WoT query framework for smart device discovery. The framework converts natural-language queries into structured search constraints by extracting device type, operational status, and geographic location. The prototype uses Flask, TextBlob for lightweight preprocessing and tokenization, Google Maps Geocoding API, and Apache Solr, with modular components for user interaction, robust intent extraction, geospatial resolution, query construction, retrieval, and multi-factor ranking. The evaluation was extended using a 380-query intent-robustness benchmark, a 10,000-record enriched WoT-like metadata corpus with controlled noise conditions, multi-factor ranking ablation, stronger lexical and semantic baselines, and external standards-backed validation on combined W3C Thing Description 1.1-style and OGC SensorThings-style metadata. Results show overall intent-extraction accuracy of 0.968, normalized noisy-metadata retrieval F1 of 0.978, NDCG@10 of 0.950 for full multi-factor ranking versus 0.446 for timestamp-only sorting, and clear superiority over keyword, BM25, fuzzy lexical, and TF-IDF baselines. External validation reached query success rate 0.946 and NDCG@10 0.905 on 55 labelled queries over a reproducible standards-backed corpus. Remaining limitations include spelling-error sensitivity, synthetic data constraints, the modest size of the external standards corpus, and the need to integrate the full ranking module into the live Flask/Solr interface. Similar content being viewed by others Funding The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, for supporting this work under Grant No. KFU263603. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding authors Ethics declarations Competing
Jul 9, 2026 · via nature.com
Smart City Solar Platform Solutions A Versatile ESG-Compliant Infrastructure Platform SUGARLAND, TX, UNITED STATES, July 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The term Smart Cities has been around for the better part of the last two decades. The concept of a smart city is desirable, but the implementation of it has been significantly more difficult. First, what is a Smart City? Jon Polly, Chief Solutions Officer with ProTecht Solutions Partners, a security technology consulting firm with a history in the Smart Cities space, defines a Smart City as this: âA Smart City is an ecosystem of interconnected technologies and unified planning across city stakeholders and public-private partnerships, championed at the highest levels, to increase the livability of the city.â At the heart of almost every smart city initiative are requirements around lighting, connectivity, and sustainability. Unfortunately, until recently, these were rarely complementary to each other.Introducing the Iluminar PowerStack modular pole. Iluminar Inc. (www.iluminarinc.com), a leader in infrared and white light illuminator manufacturing, in partnership with PowerStack, has released a U.S.-manufactured modular vertical solar pole built specifically for the demands of modern physical security. The Iluminar PowerStack consists of vandal-resistant glassless solar panels and is rated to withstand temperature extremes and up to Category 5 hurricane winds, and comes with a factory 10-year warranty. The Iluminar PowerStack modular pole is more than just a solar pole. It is an entirely off-grid vertically integrated energy platform. What does that mean? As a vertically integrated energy platform, the pole allows for the ability to mix and match technologies for up to 120W continuous power with five (5) days of no-sun battery backup using long-life batteries. Since it is off-grid, the Iluminar PowerStack is designed to be installed quickly with zero concrete or conduit work. Unlike other solar poles, the innovative square design of the Iluminar
Jul 9, 2026 · via einpresswire.com
The City as a Living System: Navigating the Era of Agentic AI AI is moving beyond generating insights or supporting decisions, executing tasks, and interacting with complex environments with increasing autonomy. This session inquiries into what that shift means in practice, examining examples of how agentic AI systems are already being deployed across real-world settings and what their growing capabilities could mean for cities, institutions, and urban services. From autonomous systems, algorithms, LLMs, VLMs, to emerging forms of machine reasoning, the conversation will consider both the opportunities and the implications of AI that does not only assist but increasingly acts. Stage: AI X CitiesAI is moving beyond generating insights or supporting decisions, executing tasks, and interacting with complex environments with increasing autonomy. This session inquiries into what that shift means in practice, examining examples of how agentic AI systems are already being deployed across real-world settings and what their growing capabilities could mean for cities, institutions, and urban services. From autonomous systems, algorithms, LLMs, VLMs, to emerging forms of machine reasoning, the conversation will consider both the opportunities and the implications of AI that does not only assist but increasingly acts. Parent Session - Agentic AI Tuesday 03, 10:15h - 11:50h | Stage: AI X Cities All Passes
Jul 9, 2026 · via smartcityexpo.com
Cities as Living Laboratories: The Smart City Projects of Amsterdam, Singapore, and Barcelona
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Jul 9, 2026 · via archdaily.com
JULY 9 — For the past decade, we’ve been sold a seductive vision: the “smart city.” Gleaming control rooms, traffic lights that talk to each other, trash cans that tweet when they’re full, and a seamless digital utopia managed by benevolent algorithms. The narrative has been overwhelmingly technocentric—as if the city were a sluggish operating system merely awaiting a software patch. But a new systematic literature review by Yuxi Dai, Sandra Hasanefendic, and Bart Bossink delivers a much-needed bucket of cold water. After sifting through the evidence on the smart city transformation process, their findings point to an inconvenient truth: technology is not the lead actor. It’s a supporting prop. The real drama—and the real bottleneck—is the human one. The review’s central argument is deceptively simple: smart city transformation isn’t a linear technical process. It’s a messy, political, multi-actor negotiation. Dai and colleagues demonstrate that the role of stakeholders—citizens, private firms, public agencies, utilities, universities—is not peripheral. It is constitutive. Most smart city failures aren’t due to buggy sensors or insufficient bandwidth. They fail because of stakeholder interaction breakdowns. Consider the typical pattern. A multinational tech vendor (say, Cisco or Siemens) partners with a forward-thinking municipal mayor’s office. They deploy an integrated platform for energy, mobility, and data. The technology works beautifully in the pilot zone. Then comes the scale-up. Suddenly, the mid-level public works director resists because the system bypasses his legacy authority. The privacy-conscious citizens revolt over data collection they never consented to. The utility company refuses to share grid data, seeing it as proprietary. The project stalls. The vendor blames “local politics.” The mayor blames “legacy systems.” The review by Dai et al. Would call this what it is: a failure to design for interaction, not just integration. What’s particularly sharp in their analysis is how they
Jul 9, 2026 · via malaymail.com
How cities can adopt AI without sacrificing public trust By Motorola Motorola Solutions APAC’s Vice President of Sales for Video Security and Access Control, Jason Tan, highlights the importance of investing equally in the governance, transparency, and accountability frameworks that give AI-enabled security tools their legitimacy. One of the significant shifts that modern AI security enables is from reactive incident response to proactive threat management. Image: Canva What does it mean to keep a city safe without making it feel watched? For city governments in Asia deploying artificial intelligence (AI)-powered video security systems, the question sits at the heart of policy decisions. Rising urban density, surging tourism numbers, and growing demand to do more with less have pushed AI-enabled video security to the top of the smart city agenda. Yet, adoption remains uneven. But this is not because the technology isn't ready, but because public trust in how it is used often isn't. Motorola Solutions APAC’s Vice President of Sales for Video Security and Access Control, Jason Tan, sees this tension play out in the region. "Cities must strike a careful balance between implementing visible security measures and fostering a welcoming environment that doesn't deter residents with excessive restrictions nor discourage tourists,” he says. That balance is exactly what governments are struggling to find. The security overreach problem When cameras proliferate without clear governance, residents reasonably ask: who is watching, what are they looking for, and where does the data go? At the same time, governments in high-density cities and tourism-driven economies tackle the consequences of mismanaged security. On one hand, too little security erodes public confidence and drives visitors away. On the other hand, too much security invites political and regulatory backlash. The answer, Tan notes, is not less technology, but more deliberate governance. “Cities that are transparent about
Jul 9, 2026 · via govinsider.asia
Study: Only Protected Bike Lanes Cause a Real Increase in Cycling "The best bang for your buck is protected bike lanes... That's how you grow ridership. That's how you diversify ridership." By Roger Rudick 3:36 PM PDT on July 8, 2026 Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org. More from Streetsblog San Francisco How to Save 8 Million Lives in 20 Years We get it, cars and trucks are awful. But if we are going to have them, they need to be electric. July 7, 2026 Environmental Justice Group Sues Over California’s New Cap-and-Trade Rules The challenge might be procedural, but if successful it would return billions of dollars in funding for transit, housing, and other programs that fight climate change July 7, 2026 Albany Approves Plan with Protected Bike Lane on Solano Avenue Safety advocates score a win on Albany's main street, despite a few speakers and one politician's obsession with convenient parking over life and limb July 7, 2026
Jul 8, 2026 · via sf.streetsblog.org
Price movement over the last 24 hours Enact Holdings Inc vs EHang Holdings Ltd - ADR — how do they compare? Enact Holdings Inc trades at $44.96 (market cap $6.35B), while EHang Holdings Ltd - ADR trades at $5.62 (market cap $417.53M). The key difference: Enact Holdings Inc is far larger — about 15.2× EHang Holdings Ltd - ADR's market cap, and Enact Holdings Inc pays a 1.91% dividend while EHang Holdings Ltd - ADR pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals. | ACT | EH | | |---|---|---| | Market Cap | $6.35B | $417.53M | | Sector | Technology | Industrials | | 52-Week High | $45.71 | $19.99 | | 52-Week Low | $34.39 | $5.52 | | Enterprise Value | $6.55B | $357.19M | | Dividend Yield | 1.91% | — | Trailing returns across standard periods Enact Holdings is a leading private mortgage insurance provider in the U.S. It partners with lenders to offer credit enhancement and risk management solutions, helping more borrowers achieve and maintain homeownership. Read more on ACT →EHang Holdings Ltd is an autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) technology platform company. It focuses on making safe, autonomous and eco-friendly air mobility accessible to everyone. EHang provides customers in various industries with AAV products and commercial solutions: air mobility (including passenger transportation and logistics), smart city management and aerial media solutions. As the forerunner of cutting-edge AAV technologies and commercial solutions in the global Urban Air Mobility industry, it continues to explore the boundaries of the sky to make flying technologies benefit life in smart cities. Read more on EH →
Jul 8, 2026 · via pluang.com
The global low voltage switchgear market size was valued at USD 59.8 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow from USD 63.84 billion in 2026 to USD 107.65 billion by 2034 at a CAGR of 6.75% during the forecast period (2026–2034). Asia Pacific dominated the low voltage switchgear market with a market share of 45.3% in 2025. Low voltage switchgear is electrical equipment used to control, protect, and isolate low-voltage power distribution systems, typically operating at up to 1,000 V AC or 1,500 V DC. It safeguards electrical circuits from overloads, short circuits, and faults while ensuring reliable power distribution. The low voltage switchgear market demand is driven by increasing urbanization, rising electricity consumption, and the growing need for reliable and safe power distribution systems. The shift toward smart grids, renewable energy integration, and the modernization of aging electrical networks are significantly contributing to low voltage switchgear market growth. Growing demand for efficient power management drives the transition from conventional switchgear to smart and connected systems. Industries increasingly adopt digital switchgear integrated with IoT sensors and monitoring platforms to enable real-time data tracking and predictive maintenance. According to International Energy Agency (IEA), global electricity demand continues to rise due to electrification and industrial growth, pushing the need for intelligent distribution systems. This trend results in improved reliability and reduced operational downtime. Rising energy efficiency regulations and sustainability goals drive the adoption of advanced low voltage switchgear solutions. Governments and organizations promote efficient electrical systems to reduce power losses and carbon emissions. According to US Department of Energy, improving electrical distribution efficiency can significantly lower overall energy consumption in buildings and industries. This leads to increased demand for energy-efficient switchgear with advanced protection and control features. For example, commercial buildings install energy-optimized switchgear to comply with green building standards. The
Jul 8, 2026 · via straitsresearch.com
Bhavya Kukrety has joined Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG) as Managing Director of Asia Pacific WATG welcomes Bhavya Kukrety as the new Managing Director of Asia Pacific, where she will focus on strengthening WATG’s integrated approach across the region, embedding sustainability, ecology and resilience into the firm’s built-environment work. Her leadership will enhance design intelligence, project delivery, and long-term value, while keeping human experience, cultural context and place at the heart of every project. Bhavya will draw on 22 years of experience in the industry where she has delivered sustainable, high-quality solutions to complex land planning problems. As Managing Director at Meinhardt Group, she led over 20 large-scale projects, from bid strategy to execution, and unified delivery teams across its urban development, infrastructure, sustainability, and digital verticals. Bhavya also served as Director of Urban Development, where she was responsible for urban infrastructure planning and design projects and smart city development initiatives. Bhavya holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from IPS Academy and a master's in urban and regional planning from the School of Planning and Architecture. She was recognized as a Top LinkedIn Voice 2024 for insights on urban infrastructure, sustainability, and digital transformation. She has been a keynote speaker and panelist, including SCULPT @ SMU (Singapore Management University), Future Cultures Hong Kong, RICS Smart Buildings Summit, and GITEX Smart Cities Forum.
Jul 8, 2026 · via hospitalitynet.org
Ministry of Commerce & Industry NICDC’s Logistics Arm NLDSL and Government of Punjab Sign MoU to Strengthen Digital Logistics Ecosystem ULIP-Enabled Partnership to Enhance Transparency, Logistics Efficiency and Data-Driven Decision-Making in Punjab ULIP Connects 46 Government Systems Across 12 Central Ministries Through 142 APIs Posted On: 08 JUL 2026 5:22PM by PIB Delhi NICDC Logistics Data Services Limited (NLDSL) and the Directorate of Industries & Commerce, Government of Punjab, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on July 7, 2026, to support the digital transformation of Punjab's logistics ecosystem through the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP). The collaboration aims to enhance logistics visibility, improve operational efficiency, strengthen inter-departmental coordination and enable data-driven decision-making through the seamless exchange of real-time logistics data. The initiative is expected to benefit industries, MSMEs, exporters and other logistics stakeholders across the State. Through this partnership, NLDSL will support the Government of Punjab in developing a digitally connected logistics ecosystem by enabling seamless data exchange across departments through ULIP. The initiative is expected to improve transparency, facilitate faster policy and operational decision-making, enhance logistics efficiency and strengthen Punjab's competitiveness as a manufacturing, agricultural and export hub. ULIP serves as a unified digital gateway for logistics-related data from multiple government systems through API-based integration. The platform currently integrates 46 systems across 12 Central Ministries and Departments through 142 APIs, covering more than 2,000 data fields. It has enabled the development of over 260 applications and facilitated more than 450 crore API transactions, demonstrating its scale, reliability and robustness. Following the signing of the MoU, an interactive ULIP workshop was organised for senior officials from key State departments, including Transport, Warehousing, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Public Works Department, Civil Aviation and other stakeholders. The workshop focused on identifying State-specific use cases for ULIP to address logistics challenges,
Jul 8, 2026 · via pib.gov.in
Dive Brief: - The New York City Council last week approved Int. 31, a bill to expand commercial organics diversion requirements. The bill is set to become law without Mayor Zohran Mamdani's signature. - During a hearing last week, New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Gregory Anderson was supportive of the bill, which could require more food-related businesses to divert organic materials from disposal starting next year. - The city continues to debate ways to bolster its organics diversion requirements. Sponsors reintroduced another bill, Int. 396, that would set minimum composting capacity for each borough, and the measure has the support of new sanitation committee chair Justin Sanchez. Dive Insight: New York is one of several states that have enacted a commercial organics diversion requirement for large generators. In 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law that gradually increases the number of businesses subject to the requirements: those that generate one ton per week were subject to the law as of January of this year, while the threshold ratchets down to those that generate half a ton per week in January 2028. Businesses subject to the law are required to donate edible food, and must also recycle scraps if they are within 25 miles of an organics recycler. New York City has also looked for ways to incentivize increased organic waste diversion. While all residences were required to separate their organics as of April 1, 2025, the capture rate for the curbside collection program has been low. The city also looked to incentivize more businesses to separate organics by requiring haulers in the commercial waste zone program to provide a discount for the separated organics stream, with limited uptake. Int. 31 allows DSNY to require a wide swath of commercial businesses that handle food to divert scraps
Jul 8, 2026 · via wastedive.com
Brightline Florida’s day of reckoning with its lenders may be coming soon. The privately owned, 235-mile railroad connecting Miami and Orlando, Florida, faces a July 15 deadline to make a payment on $985 million in “commuter” bonds, according to The Bond Buyer. The Florida Development Finance Corp., which issued the bonds, previously agreed with bondholders to defer payment from Feb. 17 to July 1, and then to July 15. If Brightline or its affiliates default on making the required payments, it could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation, according to a Feb. 5 FDFC memorandum. The company’s total debt stands at $5.5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. In Brightline Florida’s 2024 and 2025 combined financial statements, its independent auditors wrote that “substantial doubt exists about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Brightline Florida’s problem isn’t ridership: The railroad carried nearly 1.5 million passengers from January to May this year, a 16% increase over the same period last year. But ticket and ancillary revenues aren’t covering operating expenses and debt interest, according to its latest financial statement. “Brightline continues to need additional liquidity to address operating requirements, as well as upcoming debt service payments,” the company said in its May 2026 revenue and ridership report. Discussions around debt restructuring or bankruptcy are underway, according to multiple news reports. A railroad entering bankruptcy is different from an airline, which can sell and transfer its aircraft, gates and other assets, Ivan Reich, a bankruptcy attorney at Florida-based Nason Yeager, told Smart Cities Dive. Reich does not represent any of the parties related to Brightline Florida. A railroad can’t be picked up and moved, he explained, making bankruptcy more likely. “Generally, what happens when you go into bankruptcy is you get a pause, and then you try to restructure
Jul 8, 2026 · via smartcitiesdive.com
Dive Brief: - The Federation of American Scientists on Tuesday released its State and Local Heat Policy Agenda outlining what’s needed to protect residents and communities from extreme heat, with a searchable database of more than 400 evidence-based policy solutions and case studies from all 50 states. - Endorsed by nearly 150 organizations and government officials representing more than 40 states, the agenda complements FAS’s federally oriented 2025 Heat Policy Agenda, “recognizing the growing importance of state and local leadership on climate-related extreme weather events such as extreme heat,” according to an FAS news release. - FAS built a coalition of government officials, policymakers, advocacy and community-based organizations and other contributors to promote the 2025 Heat Policy Agenda, Grace Wickerson, FAS senior manager of climate and health, told Smart Cities Dive. But “so much change has happened at the federal level,” she said. “Much of what we put in this document still aspirationally and principally needs to be done, but the capacity to do it has been severely diminished.” Dive Insight: Nearly 150 daily high-temperature records fell across the U.S. between June 30 and July 5, and another heat dome is developing this week. “As America celebrated its 250th anniversary this past weekend, over 185 million Americans — over half the population — were under an extreme heat alert,” FAS Associate Director of Climate and Environment Hannah Safford said in a statement. “The State and Local Heat Policy Agenda helps communities adapt to this new normal, by providing easy access to the solutions that science shows can effectively curb the worst impacts of dangerously hot temperatures.” Wickerson spoke with state and local government officials in all 50 states during her research for the agenda. “There’s a lot of rising concern about how hot this summer is going to be and
Jul 8, 2026 · via smartcitiesdive.com
Human Longevity Global and Smart Cities Council Launch the Healthspan Scorecard⢠Healthspan: The New Framework for Human Capacity, Strategic Position Paper by Dr. Melissa Grill-Petersen, Founder of Human Longevity Global Dr. Melissa Grill-Petersen, DC, MS, BCHH, Founder of Human Longevity Global and creator of The Healthspan Index™ a globally recognized thought leader in longevity science, healthspan design, and human flourishing. New partnership makes healthspan a core city-design metric alongside connectivity and mobility, with a documented $38 trillion economic opportunity at stake. LAS VEGAS, NV, UNITED STATES, July 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Human Longevity Global (HLG) and the Smart Cities Council (SCC) today announced a global partnership to advance healthspan as a measurable standard for city, government, and organizational design. At the center of the collaboration is HLGâs proprietary Healthspan Indexâ¢, an integrated measurement system designed to evaluate the conditions that build or erode human capacity over time, and the Healthspan Scorecard, its assessment and reporting tool for governments, cities, and organizations. Through the partnership, the Smart Cities Council becomes the first global smart cities organization to integrate the Healthspan Index⢠into its broader urban readiness and development ecosystem. The collaboration marks a significant evolution in how smart communities are defined: moving beyond measuring infrastructure performance alone to assessing the vitality, resilience, and capacity of the people living within them. For the first time, healthspan can sit alongside mobility, connectivity, energy efficiency, sustainability, and economic performance as a measurable consideration in the design, evaluation, and improvement of communities. By the numbers: $5.3 trillion â U.S. healthcare spending in 2024, equal to approximately $15,474 per person and 18% of GDP, with spending projected to exceed 20% of GDP by 2034 $38 trillion â the estimated economic value to the United States of adding just one healthy year to average life expectancy, according
Jul 8, 2026 · via einpresswire.com
Gasgoo Munich-Faraday Future presses ahead with its Middle East strategy for commercializing EAI robotics. On July 8, it announced accelerated rollouts via strategic partnerships. These span the UAE, GCC, and eventually the broader MENA region.
Image credit: Faraday Future
Faraday Future Mobility Trading L.L.C. signed strategic MOUs with the Chinese Entrepreneurs General Association and Action To Action Trading LLC. It is also exploring opportunities with Ibtikar Robotics, a UAE-based AI solutions provider.
The partnerships mark a critical step for Faraday Future's robotics framework in the Middle East. The collaboration spans market entry, channel development, deployment, and support. This framework aims to move the company from rollout to long-term commercialization.
The CGCC tie-up connects Faraday Future to commercial networks in the UAE and GCC. The Action To Action partnership focuses on system integration and government projects. The Ibtikar Robotics collaboration centers on education, covering STEM learning and robot leasing.
The Middle East's focus on AI and smart cities offers opportunities for Faraday Future's EAI robots, the company stated. These partnerships will support its 'trinity' ecosystem strategy. Powered by hardware, data, and the EAI brain, it prepares for scaled deployments.
Jul 8, 2026 · via autonews.gasgoo.com
Faraday Future is Bringing Rental Humanoid Robots to the UAE Best known for its electric cars, the Nasdaq-listed company has signed cooperation agreements with regional partners covering education, hospitality, healthcare, smart cities—and rentable robots. Best known for its electric cars, Faraday Future - the California-based, Nasdaq-listed Embodied AI company - announced that it is moving ahead with its Middle East robotics plans through a set of cooperation agreements spanning the UAE and GCC, with the possibility of reaching the wider MENA region. The push runs through Faraday Future Mobility Trading, the company's Dubai-based regional hub for intelligent mobility and robotics products. The agreements include memoranda with the Chinese Entrepreneurs General Association and Action To Action Trading, alongside cooperation opportunities with Ibtikar Robotics, a UAE-based company specialising in intelligent automation, educational robotics and service robotics. Together, the partnerships are expected to cover market access, distribution, system integration, government and enterprise projects, and after-sales support—the practical scaffolding needed to move humanoid robots from showroom curiosities to working machines across education, hospitality, retail, healthcare and smart city settings. The most intriguing detail sits in the Ibtikar arrangement, which points towards robotics curriculum distribution, STEM programmes and rental-based deployment—meaning UAE schools and businesses could eventually hire a robot rather than buy one. It all feeds into Faraday Future's larger strategy of building what it calls a Three-in-One ecosystem of devices, data and an EAI Brain, with the Middle East positioned as a key testing ground for putting Embodied AI to work in the real world. - Previous Article Beit Al Sharbatly Launches Summer Debate Camp in Jeddah - Next Article XP Conversations: Autostrad Trending This Week - Jul 02, 2026
Jul 8, 2026 · via cairoscene.com