Colorado Springs gets “smarter” with new tech-focused city projects
As Colorado Springs’ downtown continues to transform, several exciting new initiatives will soon turn the budding millennial hub into a “smart city.” These changes will take place thanks to the development of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum and a new city partnership with Panasonic called SmartCOS.
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum is slated to open in downtown Colorado Springs in 2019. In partnership with Panasonic, the museum will feature interactive displays and exhibits about Olympic and Paralympic athletes and events with audio, video, interactive mobile and virtual solutions. Panasonic will also provide guidance on content delivery, data management, security platforms, and overarching sustainability for the museum. Construction is already half-way completed – and in addition to the interactive exhibit space, the $85 million project will include a hall of fame, theater, gift shop, café, broadcast studio and more.
The area surrounding the museum in southwest downtown is also where SmartCOS – a city initiative to install IoT public technologies – will implement its first round of projects in the coming months. Projects will range from LED streetlights that can detect snow levels and watch traffic flow, to “smart kiosks” with wayfinding capabilities, to new parking solutions that include garages that can tell visitors how many spaces remain and technology that allows people to feed their meters remotely. The city is also considering projects around electric vehicles, community Wi-Fi, water-efficient parks and more.
The SmartCOS Implementation Strategy is led by Mayor John Suthers and his joint task force, including the Colorado Springs City Council, Colorado Springs Utilities, and Panasonic CityNOW. The coalition is finalizing 12 projects that will make up SmartCOS, each of which will fall within one of these four categories: energy and utilities, buildings and sustainability, transportation and mobility, and city services.
With these exciting new developments around the corner, Colorado Springs is gearing up for a new era of smart city technology. To learn more about these initiatives, follow our Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC Twitter for timely updates on project developments and announcements.