At first I thought this was about Palantir leasing vast amounts of office space, as they did in Palo Alto. But NYC? They're not that big.
Take a look at the top 10 US government contractors.[1] Most of the top 10 make weapons systems. But two are in information processing: Leidos (used to be SAIC), and L-3 Communications. Palantir isn't even in the top 100. Maybe they're more into state and local customers.
There's lots of potential for innovation in the state and local government space. A smartphone app for building inspectors, for example. One that involves lots of picture taking and GPS tagging. There are building inspector apps, but they're basically paper forms reworked for tablets.
An ambitious project would be a system which takes the video and audio from a cop's body cam and does most of the paperwork. Show it a driver's license or a face, and it's in the record and understood by the system. Cops hate paperwork, yet have to document much of what they do. Automate that and cops will be glad to wear a cam. Difficult and controversial, but useful.
It might be easier to sell in countries where local government is more standardized. In the US, you'd have to customize a system for every police department.
Haha, my first thought was about Palantir leasing all of PA downtown as well. But your point is very interesting. I agree that there's a lot of value a company like Palantir can deliver to the traditionally luddite government.
Take a look at the top 10 US government contractors.[1] Most of the top 10 make weapons systems. But two are in information processing: Leidos (used to be SAIC), and L-3 Communications. Palantir isn't even in the top 100. Maybe they're more into state and local customers.
There's lots of potential for innovation in the state and local government space. A smartphone app for building inspectors, for example. One that involves lots of picture taking and GPS tagging. There are building inspector apps, but they're basically paper forms reworked for tablets.
An ambitious project would be a system which takes the video and audio from a cop's body cam and does most of the paperwork. Show it a driver's license or a face, and it's in the record and understood by the system. Cops hate paperwork, yet have to document much of what they do. Automate that and cops will be glad to wear a cam. Difficult and controversial, but useful.
It might be easier to sell in countries where local government is more standardized. In the US, you'd have to customize a system for every police department.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_100_Contractors_of_the_U.S...