“Dozens of firms,” including multinational General Electric Co., are “seeking to become vendors” in Columbus’s implementation of a $40-million-dollar grant the city received from the U.S. Department of Transportation,” Columbus Business First reports. Columbus won “the highly competitive” Smart City Challenge grant in June 2016 and “added $90 million from area businesses an organizations to be spent over the next four years testing transportation and mobility technologies,” according to the article. So far, only one corporate partner, Vulcan Inc., has signed with the city, according to Jeff Ortega, assistant public service director for Columbus. More than 50 companies have expressed interest in working with the city. General Electric said its “‘ecosystem of partners,’ which includes Intel Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., Oracle Corp. and AT&T Inc., can easily be plugged in,” specifically noting that it can “help Columbus make its street lights ‘intelligent.’” Bosch USA “has worked with automated and connected vehicles, electric-powered vehicles, parking and other aspects Columbus will explore as part of the grant,” and has offered software, in-kind services and staff expertise. For more, read the full article.
Columbus’s $40M Smart City grant draws interest from companies around the world
