Cities have been called a repository of possibilities. What they haven’t been called, at least until recently, is smart. These days, however, the term “smart city” is everywhere, pimped by tech giants like IBM, Google, and Cisco, and embraced by various mayors, city managers, and chief innovation officers from Silicon Valley to Rio to Dubai. … Continue reading “Your Smart City Is Stupid”
Author: Mark Modzelewski
Mark has had an eclectic career at the junction of technology, policy, and entrepreneurship, focused on taking companies and products from concept to launch to exponential growth. He has co-founded five venture-backed companies, with three successful exits. Mark helped to launch beacon industry leader Estimote, going on to serve as COO. He also started started the NanoBusiness Alliance and the Water Innovation Alliance, which led to multi-billion dollar US programs in emerging technologies in these sectors. Mark also has served as an advisor to global corporations (Apple, Daimler, and GE), as well as to IoT start-ups such as Platform Science, Silvair and Avimesa.
In addition, Mark has had stints as a CNBC technology commentator and co-host, advised US Presidents and foreign leaders on technology policy, and taught entrepreneurship at RPI and Tufts. He has also lectured on emerging technologies at the World Economic Forum, Milken Institute, EmTech, the US Senate and US House, and at numerous leading conferences, universities and corporations.
He is currently the general manager at Treeline, a US-based technology development and advisory firm. Treeline has spun off two venture backed start-ups---Platform Science and Avimesa---as well as launching Start-up as a Service (SUaaS), a system for allowing corporations to move at start-up speed. He’s an active angel investor, and chairs Democracy Labs, a smart city platform for re-imagining and transforming our communities, culture, and political institutions to forge a more open, just and equitable society.
Mark lives in Los Angeles and is at work writing “Everything Everywhere,” a book on the future of connected technologies and communities, focused on the pathways and pitfalls of IoT in our governments, cities, industries and homes. He is a graduate of the University of Denver College of Law and Boston University.
Evicted from the Smart City: No Citizens Needed
Tech vendors know when they knock on the doors of local politicians to pitch smart cities technologies and promising billions in savings, they are going to find a receptive audience. Big Tech promises what politicians desperately want to hear: that we can address deep-seated, structural urban problems through business-led technological innovation and somehow sidestep the … Continue reading “Evicted from the Smart City: No Citizens Needed”
Building a Smart City Upon a Hill
In my Los Angeles neighborhood there is a gnarly 5-way stop. It’s all stop signs, and because of the number of accidents, the city is considering switching to traffic lights. I receive letters from the street department giving me updates and inviting me to comment. There have been multiple neighborhood meetings. Officials have gone a … Continue reading “Building a Smart City Upon a Hill”
The Answer, My Friend, Is Certainly Not Blowing in the Wind—or the Corn
This is the last of my articles taking cleantech investing to task sector by sector (keep the hate mail coming, hippies!). The next few will focus on some areas I really like, including storage, solar thermal, water, and others. But first, a bit more constructive bludgeoning. This is a bit of a “two for one … Continue reading “The Answer, My Friend, Is Certainly Not Blowing in the Wind—or the Corn”
The Solar Hype Cycle: Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
The other day the Boston Globe had a piece on solar technology coming of age in which Caltech chemistry professor Nathan Lewis stated: “We’re not in a hype cycle…If you go to Silicon Valley and around Route 128, everyone and their brother who used to make computer chips are now trying to make thin-film solar … Continue reading “The Solar Hype Cycle: Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”
Cleantech Down and Dirty (Part One)
I feel the need to start off with a disclaimer, because when you start pouring A-1 sauce on sacred cows people tend to get a wee bit irrational. Let me state for the record that I do indeed believe that global warming is a real threat. I also think that our over dependence on foreign … Continue reading “Cleantech Down and Dirty (Part One)”