It's good to see an official mention of Costa Rica in the latest presentation in addition to the first mention of any activity in the country in the presentation of February 15th 2016.
When I first brought everyone's attention to an article I read about a 'huge network of on-street bay parking censors in the Costa Rican city of Cartago' in June 2015 citing an article that appeared in May 2015, I expected SPZ to make an announcement.
The lack of any announcement made me think it was another company using SPZ's name with a copied product, but thanks to the last two presentations I know that is not the case, thankfully.
The appearance of a single sentence in the latest presentation massively underplays the potential of what SPZ can do in Costa Rica as the presence of SPZ in that country opens up not only all of Costa Rica, but the whole of the Latin American market as well, especially in light of the contents of the article I originally posted which I have included below for anyone who missed it or may be in need of having their memories refreshed.
'On May 13, Cartago made history by becoming the first Smart City in Costa Rica.'
'The Cartago Historico Digital project will concentrate on the deployment of a huge network of on-street bay parking sensors with the first installation in Cartago which will aim to reduce traffic chaos.'
'Carlos Villaseñor, Director General for Costa Rica and Central America Sustainable Reference explained, "the difference between the new system of Smart Parking’s bay sensor technology and other methods is that, for the first time, drivers are able to check parking availability in real-time and pay for parking using smartphone applications."
'The launch event was attended by the heads of over 70 municipalities from across the country and saw the president of UST Global and former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox in attendance who had the pleasure of installing the first SmartEye sensor into the ground and discussed the importance of Latin American countries use of innovation and technology to support projects that improve the quality of life for Costa Ricans.'
'The Central Canton of Cartago lays the foundations for the country's first Smart City with the Carthage Historic-Digital project. This will showcase technological progress between Local Government and public and private institutions and will act as a precedent for the rest of the country.'
'Vicente Fox continued by inviting audience members to imagine the same technology being used nationwide, allowing it to empower its citizens, businesses, public institutions, etc. The result would be simply incredible. This project is just the beginning of something spectacular.'
'Witnessing the inaugural kick-off event with senior officials from the Costa Rican government, local government officials, multinational organisation representatives, nation media organisations, and hosts from Cartago, it was clear to see that Costa Rica truly believe that they can make a real difference to not only Costa Rica as a country, but towns and cities and most importantly the population as a whole, and having seen this day nothing is going to stop them delivering this vision.'
'Andy Bäcker, Sustainable Reference CEO rounded up the event, “We couldn´t have hoped for any better launch for the project than the one just witnessed in Cartago, Costa Rica. I was truly in awe in terms of all the effort that was put into it; getting Vicente Fox, former Mexican president, to kick off the event by installing the first sensor, the ample media coverage, the various presentations by high dignitaries at the city hall with a fully packed room, etc. ...simply a wonderfully big party. And rightfully so. We just witnessed the event that is going to be trend setting throughout Latin America. Mark my words.”
(20min delay)