Stafford defers on agreement linked to 5G testbed project until August

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors has deferred an agreement with the Center for Innovative Technology until August.

The agreement would allow the county to contribute funds to pilot projects to the Virginia Smart Community Testbed. While federal, state, and private contributions are currently being made to the testbed Stafford County has no such agreement that would allow them to contribute to pilot projects.

Pilot projects that Stafford County has shown interest in investment include the development of flood sensing monitors that could trigger information though connected signs regarding road closures. This would be of particular interest to the county because of the flooding issues on Brooke Road that have constantly caused traffic issues and cut off residents in that area from being able to leave their homes.

Other potential projects of interest to Stafford have been the use of artificial intelligence to analyze data that has been collected for use in what county documents are calling "smart tourism." The concept of "smart tourism" would be put to use in better targeting of visitor spending, such use of A.I. has also been considered in helping with making business expansions more efficient though the usage of multiple data sources.

The county is in the process of drafting an agreement that could create such a mechanism for it to invest in testbed projects of interest. The contract would require information such as the specific task order for each pilot project that outlines the scope of the work as well as financial contributions from the county, CIT, private partners, federal, and state agencies.

The Virginia Smart Community Testbed, which is also using newly-developed 5G cell phone technology, is located at the Stafford County Courthouse and was officially opened in late May. The testbed has made agreements with many private companies such as Verizon as other federal and state agencies to develop smart technology.

The testbed is the first of its kind in the Commonwealth giving Stafford County a chance to become a hotbed of emerging technologies.

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