Since Alphabet (the company formerly known as Google Inc) launched Sidewalk Labs last year, everyone has been wondering what exactly this "lab" does. Aside from a general description on the website stating it was "building a platform and a set of urban applications to accelerate innovation in cities", there were no specifics. Until now.
Tech website the Information reports on Sidewalk Labs’ intention to create an entire “digital district” in a US city. This district would be built from scratch and kitted out with Google self-driving cars, broadband from Google Fiber, and other high-tech infrastructure for the urban experience of the future as well as data gathered from Google’s urban mobility project comprising anonymised snapshots of historical traffic statistics from various cities around the world.
With a former deputy mayor of New York City as Sidewalk chief executive, perhaps this district will follow suit after TriBeCa and SoHo and call itself GoTeCi (Google Tech City).
