As we celebrate 150 years of the Chamber, you all keep asking us the unreasonable question, what will the next 150 years look like for Colorado? Our answer is based on our history, where we’ve gone from using carriages to seeing driverless cars, from handwritten notes to smartphones, from the Pony Express to instant messaging. We can guarantee one thing: Our future won’t look anything like our world does today. And, technology is the driving force for those amazing changes.
It’s because of that pace of change that we have proposed a new way to identify what the best transportation investments are. We are bringing together cutting-edge technologies and advancements being used in the private sector to support the plans being developed by public sector agencies, ensuring we make the right investments to meet the future transportation needs of our entire region.
Bold and innovative investments are nothing new for the Denver metro area. From FasTracks and DIA to a $6 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve mobility and safety, we are always on the lookout for opportunities to improve our region.
And, we know you will want learn more about some of the most exciting technology advancements coming our way. Myself and Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation CEO J. J. Ament will join Mayor Michael B. Hancock, Councilman Albus Brooks and Colorado Department of Transportation Executive Director Shailen Bhatt to talk about the smart cities effort here in Denver at the Digi.City Connects Roundtable starting at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25.
You will learn how we can make our roads and vehicles smarter, how we can make commuting easier and faster and how our neighborhoods will get smarter, too. (And, if we do this right, each of us will leave a little smarter as well.) Consider Panasonic’s development at Peña Station Next where they are creating a highly connected community (a smart city) that is greener, healthier and more mobile for everyone. And, cooler (if that is possible) is that we will be home to Panasonic’s smart city lab where they will test new technologies to be ultimately used in cities around the world.
Join us to hear more about how we can work together to shape our future today.
Kelly Brough is the president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber.