While the latest smart gizmo tends to grab headlines, industry experts are urging urban leaders to focus more on smart city challenges with their citizens, rather than the technology, said attendees at the VERGE 16 conference in Santa Clara, Calif. where leaders in the smart cities space gathered. A key sentiment that emerged from the conference was that leaders in government and industry need to stay focused on the larger smart city picture and not get caught up in the latest gee-whiz technology

If you envision the Chicago of the future, complete with sprawling skyscrapers, delivery drones, and automated cars cruising down brightly-lit streets, you probably aren’t imagining the same city as some of Chicago’s government officials. In recently-proposed legislation, the city of Chicago may well ban automated vehicles entirely. Aldermen Ed Burke and Anthony Beale proposed the ordinance in a city council meeting this past Friday

People may be wondering what is leading automotive giant Ford to acquire ride-sharing shuttle service Chariot. The app-based service is well suited to Ford’s mobility goals. It already uses Ford Transit Connect vans to shuttle people around the city and accelerates the company’s vision of a ride-sharing platform in major cities by 2021