The Smart Gate City
Greensboro, NC is leveraging a citywide fiber communication network, smart corridors, new connectivity services, and advanced sensors to attract entrepreneurial interest and improve community services across the region.
With an ‘outside of our normal’ approach, Greensboro is partnering with Segra, one of the largest independent fiber networks in the Eastern US, to design and build a mile-long fiber corridor connecting North Carolina A&T State and UNC Greensboro to innovation hubs along the main transit corridor. This new fiber link will help expand regional broadband availability and ensure homes and businesses in the surrounding areas get the connectivity they need while preparing a testbed for smart mobility and enhancing workforce development and innovation opportunities for local and regional business.
Feature: Prototype Self-Driving Shuttles
In February 2020, North Carolina A&T State University received $50,000 from Downtown Greensboro, Inc. (DGI) to prototype and deploy two self-driving shuttles. A&T’s TECHLAV Center of Excellence in Autonomy and the Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility provided resources and expertise to introduce advancements that make transportation in the downtown area more affordable and flexible for locals, students, and visitors. “This collaboration makes it possible to have Greensboro as one of the pioneer cities in the nation that is practicing deployment of autonomous vehicles as part of the roadmap to become a smart city with a smart transportation system,” said Ali Karimoddini, Ph.D., NC-CAV director, and COE associate professor.
