March 15, 2004

Balky Old New York Embraces Technology

It's really nice, to read an article about how the "big" city is using technology to save money and be productive.

NY Times reads: It may not seem like much, but at $34 a ton, even ordinary street salt can break a budget in a city that slathers 300,000 tons a year on its roadways. So New York's Sanitation Department dispatched a new generation of salt spreaders this winter, loaded with satellite tracking devices and sensors that can measure precisely how much salt is dropped per mile and report back when there is any waste.

Similarly, city environmental officials are using technology to conserve their resources in monitoring the city's reservoir system in upstate New York. Last year, they deployed their version of the Mars rover - known as R.U.S.S., for Remote Underwater Surveillance System - to take readings once done by inspectors in boats.

The Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications is also rolling out an interactive three-dimensional map of the entire cityscape this spring that could someday all but eliminate the need for on-site surveys. It is expected to be used for everything from collecting property taxes to bolstering security at big events to developing architectural plans for the city's 2012 Olympic bid. (full story)

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