October 12, 2009 By News Report
A concept in use in the Netherlands has arrived in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward, site of severe flooding during 2005's Hurricane Katrina. A 1,000-square-foot house that floats (pictured) has been constructed for the Make it Right Foundation. The 46,000 pound "chassis" of the house is constructed of polystyrene foam covered with a shell of reinforced concrete. In the event of catastrophic flooding, the house will rise on the water as high as 12 feet. Pilings tether the house, while allowing it to rise vertically. Designed by Morphosis Architects and Morphosis founder, Thom Mayne, construction was assisted by UCLA architecture graduate students.
"The immense possibilities of the Make It Right initiative became immediately apparent to us," said Mayne in a release,"how to re-occupy the Lower 9th Ward given its precarious ecological condition? The reality of rising water levels presents a serious threat for coastal cities around the world. These environmental implications require radical solutions. In response, we developed a highly performative, 1,000-square-foot house that is technically innovative in terms of its safety factor -- its ability to float -- as well as its sustainability, mass production and method of assembly."
This Digital Communities white paper highlights discussions with IT officials in four counties that have adopted shared services models. Our aim was to learn about the obstacles these governments have faced when it comes to shared services and what it takes to overcome those roadblocks. We also spoke with several members of the IT industry who have thought long and hard about these issues. The paper offers some best practices for shared government-to-government services, but also points out challenges that government and industry still must overcome before this model gains widespread adoption.
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Digital Communities (DC) is e.Republic‘s local government program. The particular strength of DC is its focus on encouraging collaboration and creating productive relationships between and among cities, counties, regions and select private sector companies uniquely positioned to help improve the delivery of public services.
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