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Las Vegas - The U.S. Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg has praised smart city innovation. He expects cities to be built on connected technology and anticipates policies that encourage collaboration and are flexible to adapt as technology changes.

The U.S. Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg praised smart city innovation in a virtual address during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in early January, according to an article from Smart Cities Dive. Buttigieg said he anticipates cities to be built on connected technology and guided by policy that encourages collaboration.

"In our lifetimes, we could see truly smart cities built on the connected technology showcased at CES, where cars, buses and infrastructure all communicate with each other to plot safer routes and use less energy," Buttigieg said during his address.

Looking forward, Buttigieg outlined six principles the U.S. Department of Transportation is establishing to guide its work on transportation innovation. Innovation should support workers, allow for experimentation and learn from setbacks, the transport secretary said, and it should be guided by government policies that are ready to adapt as technology changes.

"The current decade is especially full of challenges and opportunities from developments in transportation technology," said Buttigieg. As an example, he cited autonomous vehicles, which raise "complicated, even philosophical questions about safety, equity and our workforce."

Overall, however, he is optimistic about the future for smart cities. Smart Cities Dive quoted him as saying: "We very much live in a time when innovation is shaping and reshaping how people and goods move to where they need to be."