IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

If your phone dies in downtown West Palm Beach while you’re using GPS, the city’s got your back.

City commissioners approved a plan Aug. 5 to install up to 20 electronic wayfinding kiosks throughout downtown — at no upfront cost to the city. The city will be working with IKE Smart City, a Columbus, Ohio, company, to set up and oversee the kiosks.

Want to get a child interested in seeing a doctor? Show him or her a kiosk.

It's not as crazy as it sounds, says Andrew Hertz, MD, a pediatrician with Cleveland-based University Hospitals. The high-tech cubicles are comfy, they're packed with cool gadgetry, and the doctor is right there on a video screen, like something out of Star Wars. That makes kiosks much more inviting to children than the crowded waiting room in a doctor's office or the controlled chaos of an emergency department waiting room.

Cities struggle to launch and fund smart projects that have the necessary components citizens want. The solution to both concerns can be found in an old piece of technology that has been repurposed for today’s needs.

Over the past five years, “smart cities” have become a consistent talking point in hundreds of state-of-the-city addresses. Each one has a unique mayoral vision, but all share a common trait: every mayor is convinced that their community can be a smart city.

As New York City replaces payphones with high-tech hotspots that deliver targeted ads, some concerns are being raised.

The streets of New York City are one step closer to super-fast public Wi-Fi. LinkNYC, a public-private partnership between the city and a consortium of technology companies, has debuted its first two payphone-turned-tech kiosks in Manhattan. These gleaming aluminum "Links," as they are called, contain Wi-Fi beacons, mobile device chargers and informational tablets that include an app allowing free phone calls to anywhere in the country. The city plans to roll out 500 more of them by July and to have at least 4,550 spread across the five boroughs by 2020.

Downtown Partnership of Baltimore is today launching seven IKE Smart City kiosks to help find directions and downtown destinations.

Those large kiosks appearing on downtown Baltimore sidewalks are designed to provide info on getting around in Baltimore — and offer a way to take a selfie to remember the visit.

A new Interactive Kiosk Experience (IKE) by IKE Smart City was installed this week on the new sidewalk in front of Cross Street Market at Light St. and E. Cross St. in Federal Hill. The installation of IKEs around Downtown is a collaboration between Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, Baltimore City officials, and IKE Smart City.

Additional Baltimore IKE locations include Pratt and Light Plaza, Power Plant, E. Pratt St. and Commerce St., Charles St. and Saratoga St., E. Pratt St. and Market Pl., Cathedral St. and Mulberry St., and Camden Yards at Paca St.

Digital kiosk provider Soofa is working with Boston Environment Department to implement an air quality widget that provides access to vital health information.

The US city of Boston is able to provide citizens with information on air quality via a new feature on its Soofa digital kiosks.

New generation of private telemedicine kiosks are popping up at Kaiser Permanente, Rite Aid pharmacies, giving pathology groups opportunities to do consultations

Coming soon to a pharmacy, school, retail store, or employer near you is a new generation of walk-in telemedicine kiosks. These kiosks are specifically designed to allow consumers to have private medical consultations with physicians. For that reason, pathologists and their medical specialty associations may find it timely to engage the company offering these kiosks with the goal of incorporating pathology consultations in the service mix offered by this new generation of telemedicine kiosks.

This week at the 2011 ATA (American Telemedicine Assn.) conference in Tampa, Fla., MedApps, www.medapps.com, and Phoenix Kiosk, www.phoenixkiosk.com, took this trend a step closer to mainstream by announcing a cloud-integrated kiosk and smart card system that will allow consumers to upload health data taken at home to their personal EHR (electronic health record) at convenient locations, including retail stores.

You might have seen people huddling around giant kiosks around the city, playing games, checking transit options, or even posing for selfies. They are touchscreen, interactive and made to connect users to important information.

Through a partnership between IKE Smart City and the Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP), the interactive Digital Wayfinding Kiosks — also called Digital Information Kiosks and Technology Hubs — are located in downtown Detroit and across the entire city.

The initiative comes from Downtown Detroit Partnership, the City of Detroit, and IKE Smart City

Accessing important information in Detroit is becoming a little easier with a new initiative from Downtown Detroit Partnership. The nonprofit community organization, in collaboration with the City of Detroit and technology company IKE Smart City, unveiled the first of up to 30 new digital wayfinding kiosks in the city during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Cadillac Square earlier this week.

As New York City's Internet-connected kiosk program stumbles, Kansas City's is rolling along smoothly.

Last week, New York City officials decided to remove Web browsing capabilities from their public Wi-Fi-spreading kiosks because some people were reportedly using them to watch pornography.

Kansas City is not having those problems.

St. Louis visitors and residents can now learn about local attractions and services at Smart City kiosks that went live Wednesday in historic Old North St. Louis and downtown, according to a press release. St. Louis has partnered with the St. Louis Development Corporation and its Downtown St. Louis partners. IKE Smart City plans to install more than 50 kiosks around the city by the end of this year with more planned in 2021. The kiosks are being paid for by advertising and have not been subsidized by taxpayers.

Last year, the Nebraska Administrative Office of the Courts and Probation completed the test phases of a new kiosk that includes an Internet payment system application that allows the public to pay traffic tickets and citations. The kiosk also includes applications to search the multi-court case calendar and the Nebraska Supreme Court website’s forms page, according to a state report.

The kiosk was first tested from March to June 2010 in the Franklin County Courthouse, said Bill Miller, Nebraska deputy state court administrator for IT.

The first two LinkNWK kiosks in Newark, N.J., have been activated.

Plans to place 45 kiosks offering free gigabit Wi-Fi, mobile-device charging and other services on sidewalks across the five wards of city were first announced in April.

24 free Wi-Fi kiosks that have been rolled out across the city have been successful at providing residents, college students, and small business owners with a reliable internet connection, both city officials and users have told TAPinto Jersey City.

The kiosks are located in neighborhoods from Newport to Journal Square and fall in line with the Fulop Administration’s desire to improve connectivity and provide support for the city’s overall smart city initiatives.

The city of Charlotte will install 30 interactive kiosks in busy spots. IKE Smart City will provide these units at no initial cost.

Each unit offers free internet access and street directions on touch displays. Users can find local shops, check safety alerts, and stay current on city happenings. The screens work for people with special needs, show content in several languages, and display ads that create income.

The next time you travel near Five Points Plaza, you'll notice something new. The City of Charlotte installed its first of 30 interactive digital kiosks at the intersection of Beatties Ford Road and West Fifth Street — more than any other city in North Carolina — in partnership with IKE Smart City.

"This is about more than having the most kiosks in North Carolina. It's about creating opportunities for our corridors and our small and minority-owned businesses," Mayor Pro Tem James "Smuggie" Mitchell said during the city's ribbon cutting.

The City of Raleigh will debut new interactive kiosks in the downtown area in hopes of improving the way people navigate the area.

The city will unveil 8-foot tall black boxes called IKE or interactive kiosk experience.

Each one has an interactive touch screen and when activated they'll help users get directions, find information about upcoming events in Raleigh as well as community and social service resources.