Photo gallery: Techweek’s LaunchKC Top 100 Expo

Hundreds of Techweek Kansas City attendees converged on Union Station Thursday afternoon to explore dozens of startups part of the LaunchKC grants contest. Now in its second year,  the popular grants competition LaunchKC was again met with an enthusiastic response by applicants in 2016, drawing more than 400 applicants. The competition — which will distribute $500,000 via 10, $50,000 non-dilutive…

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Kansas City to become gigabit testbed with first-in-U.S. infrastructure

Since the arrival of Google Fiber in 2012, Kansas City has been buzzing with excitement about gigabit internet and how it can benefit citizens. Gigabit-fast speeds are convenient for individuals and businesses alike, but one question has remained unanswered: how does a community — especially one trying to build a smart city — take advantage…

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Deacon: Kansas City evolving into a digital laboratory

Cities have become veritable technology ecosystems where data is amassed from almost everything, from air quality and rainfall patterns to traffic flow and the availability of parking spaces. As we become more familiar with the all-encompassing term “smart city,” we can begin to experiment with the futuristic-but-practical applications for all this data, creating the concept of…

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Kansas City to play tech teacher again with gigabit conference

Kansas City’s years of experience with gigabit will once again allow it to play Internet instructor. Thanks to popular demand, non-profit organization KC Digital Drive announced that it will host the second-annual Gigabit City Summit May 16 – 18. The summit will welcome dozens of cities to learn from Kansas City’s experience with gigabit Internet…

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What’s a ‘smart city’ and why should KC care?

Aaron Deacon, managing director of KC Digital Drive, was instrumental in forming the Kansas City area’s Digital Playbook in 2012, which aimed to capitalize on the opportunity afforded by Google Fiber. His organization works on tech projects to boost Kansas City’s economy and is hosting a fundraising bash to further that mission. Smart phones. Smart…

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