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 Citians, Techweek study entrepreneurship, communism in largest U.S. tech envoy to Cuba

Only 5 months after President Obama re-opened diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba, a group of Kansas Citians joined the largest tech delegation ever to visit the communist country. Five area entrepreneurs joined leaders and other innovators involved with the national tech conference Techweek in an exploratory visit of Cuba’s tech and entrepreneurial community.…

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Cisco makes KC Smart City leadership change

The local man leading Cisco’s efforts with Kansas City’s Smart City project is moving on to a startup firm. Isaiah Blackburn, chief strategist for Connected and Innovative Kansas City, has departed Cisco to serve as chief strategy officer at Xaqt, a Kansas City-based data analytics firm, according to a report from the Kansas City Business Journal.…

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Education innovation puts KC on the map

Kansas City and education don’t always receive positive press, but this week, the tides have changed. Kansas City is one of 27 “education innovation clusters” worldwide recognized by digital publication Education Week. Included for multi-district efforts to improve education, Kansas City was recognized by Education Week in particular for partnerships among the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Think…

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