Government

Hurricanes, global warming, pollution, overfishing and coastal development all threaten native coral species, which are vital to local ecosystems and economies. Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development is taking action, with One Million Corals for Colombia, a project to restore 200 hectares of reefs by March 2023, in part by growing coral fragments in dedicated nurseries and transplanting them. It’s the largest coral restoration project in the Americas—uniquely suited to a country that’s home to more than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of coral reef and boasts one of the richest ecosystems in the Caribbean Sea.

Miami has been called “ground zero” for climate change in the United States. Mindful of the threat posed by rising temperatures and sea levels, last year Miami-Dade County appointed Jane Gilbert to fill the newly created role of chief heat officer. She’ll co-lead the county’s Heat Health Task Force on a US$1.1 million project to develop a new system of resilience hubs that aim to ensure residents can stay safe during extreme heat events or power outages. The county partnered with the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center to develop a master plan and prototype for three hubs, to be completed by May 2023, that will distribute resources and house government services during extreme weather events. The initiative could potentially create a model of resilience for other urban areas facing rising temps.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with protecting public health, but reviewing the data and paperwork around new medications and medical devices is typically a time-intensive, manual slog. In late 2021, the agency completed a project to build an app-agnostic machine-learning platform that can automatically review the disparate files, forms and blurry pictures that used to fall to human eyes to handle. But the FDA’s tech pursuits won’t stop with AI. In the next iteration of the project, the team will implement the FDA’s existing citizen development workflow automation tools. Then it plans to tackle blockchain as a service.

When a man drove a truck into a crowded Stockholm shopping district in April 2017, killing four people and injuring more than a dozen, the Swedish Transport Administration wasted no time looking for ways to prevent such incidents in the future. In partnership with the Government of Sweden, the City of Stockholm, the City of Gothenburg and automaker Volvo, the agency launched a four-year research project to test targeted geofencing across urban environments. Using GPS-backed software, the team created pre-programmed or real-time triggers to control a vehicle’s speed and movements within a geographic area—say, automatically reducing a driver’s speed in a school zone or halting a vehicle when it enters a restricted area. Completed this year, the R&D project could also be a boon for improved pedestrian safety and traffic flow. Considering many cities around the world adopted the country’s earlier Vision Zero program to eliminate traffic deaths, it’s likely the project’s influence won’t end at Sweden’s borders.

The Belgian government is rewarding its country’s COVID-weary globetrotters with a new version of its national passport that marries trusted technology (including 48 distinct security features) with whimsical nods to Belgian pop culture. To turn that idea into reality, the project brought together more than 20 people across several organizations, including anti-fraud experts from the Belgium Federal Police, as well as French design firm Thales Group and Belgian tech company Zetes. The result? Travel documents that are way more secure—and way more fun.

The metaverse is real—at least in Seoul. In November 2021, the city’s government launched a five-year project to build a new communal virtual space where Seoul residents can interact. Part of a larger 10-year plan to recast the city as a hub for emerging tech, the Metaverse Seoul project is ambitious—even for one of the world’s most digitally advanced cities. A central goal: Connect citizens with government services and each other. People (or more precisely, their avatars) will be able to make reservations for city-run facilities, file complaints with government officials and visit cultural sites. The project will be rolled out in phases through 2026, with initial access only via smartphone, although compatibility with augmented reality devices such as goggles and controllers will follow.

The district of Salvokop in Tshwane, South Africa has weathered decades of turmoil. Once primarily a community for workers on a nearby train line, the area was racially integrated in 1994—but has never achieved full economic stability. Government leaders are hoping to instill a renewed sense of possibility with an ambitious construction project that will eventually house several agency headquarters. Launched by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in June, the ZAR18 billion precinct project will also include mixed-use buildings and a shelter for the vulnerable. This development could mark a strong step into the future, with the first phase alone creating more than 3,000 jobs.

Seven decades after the world’s fastest land animal was declared extinct in India, the cheetah is poised to make a comeback in the country. Three dozen African cheetahs are being relocated to a sprawling national park in India over the next five years. The US$28 million project—led by an expansive team, including the Wildlife Institute of India, the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change—marks the first time a large carnivore is being moved from one continent to another and reintroduced in the wild.

In Mexico, two-thirds of women have experienced some act of violence, according to government data—including more than 40 percent suffering abuse from a partner. And victims of violence can often be retraumatized when detailing assaults to authorities. To help make the reporting process less stressful, the city of Guadalajara is planning a pilot project that will use AI-based speech-to-text transcription technology to obviate the need for women to repeatedly tell distressing details to police and legal officials. The project is a collaboration between the government of Jalisco, the Inter-American Development Bank and Fair LAC Jalisco. The team launched the pilot’s planning phase in July, with implementation and documentation expected by May 2023. Among the challenges: ensuring the technology understands the nuances of local expressions, idioms and slang used in the narratives.

The highways, bridges and public transit networks that crisscross U.S. cities often served to underscore and codify existing segregation, further marginalizing historically disadvantaged communities of color. Now, the U.S. government wants to rectify the racism baked into past infrastructure initiatives with a five-year, US$1 billion program. In Birmingham, Alabama, funds will support a new rapid transit bus system. Other potential projects include dismantling highways designed to segregate communities in New Orleans and the construction of a new park above an Atlanta freeway. “Our focus isn’t about assigning blame,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg says. “It isn’t about getting caught up in guilt. It’s about fixing a problem.”