CIT’s Kevin Desouza: New Tech Poses Challenges to Local Gov’t

Kevin Desouza, a nonresident senior fellow with the Center for Technology Innovation, has said new technologies are changing the way local governments perform their duties.

Desouza wrote in a blog post for Brookings Institution published June 2 that driverless cards, digital currencies, artificial intelligence and unmanned aerial vehicles are some of the technologies that lead this transformation.

“Local governments’ success in adopting and adjusting to these technologies will depend on their proactive efforts and preparedness,” he said.

Citing a Brookings Institution report, Desouza writes “driverless cars will fundamentally alter transportation, safety and infrastructure” while “artificial intelligence will enable robots to perform more complex tasks that could displace human workers” by 2035.

Desouza adds that drones will become difficult to regulate for local governments to help prevent accidents and protect privacy.

The report also predicts that government entities “might need to start purchasing data from private entities to conduct their operations,” according to Desouza.