Google has announced the launch of Sidewalk Labs, a company geared towards developing new technologies to transform and improve the quality of lives in cities all over the world.
The company is led by Dan Doctoroff, former CEO of Bloomberg LP and deputy mayor of New York City for economic development together with the Google CEO Larry Page.
Although Google Maps is convenient in navigating through cities, Sidewalk Labs plans to create a more flexible framework that speak to the trends of our digitally-enhanced environment.
Sidewalk Labs will also introduce new opportunities for urban transformation that are affecting all areas of city life, from transportation to costs of living.
In an announcement, Larry Page said that many cities have already made progress in city life - like developing dashboards to measure and visualize traffic patterns, and buildings that let the residents provide feedback on city services.
"But a lot of urban challenges are interrelated - for example, availability of transportation affects where people choose to live, which affects housing prices, which affects quality of life. So it helps to start from first principles and get a big-picture view of the many factors that affect city life," Larry Page said.
According to TechCrunch, Larry Page said that the company's investment in Sidewalk Labs is relatively modest, but he is confident that it can solve urban living issues and provide more comfort to those living in these areas.
Together with the announcement of the new company, Doctoroff said that this is the beginning of a historic transformation of cities to become more efficient, responsive, flexible and resilient.
"We hope that Sidewalk will play a major role in developing technology products, platforms and advanced infrastructure that can be implemented at scale in cities around the world." Dan added.
Doctoroff also explained that the technology can open various, extraordinary opportunities in business and in overally improving a person's quality of life.
