Ventures / Verizon Smart Cities
The Verizon Digital Kiosk is built on a singular belief: every city has a unique story to tell. VDK was designed to bring communities together so they can connect, discover, and celebrate the places, people, and stories that make each city special.
People can interact with the VDK to find just what they’re looking for—their next favorite store, a delicious new restaurant, the latest local news, or to check and see when the next bus is coming. Along with free Wi-Fi, phone calls, and community resources, VDK changes the way people see their own backyard.
We wanted VDK to empower citizens—to help them understand what’s happening in their neighborhood and reconnect to their cities. We accomplished this through intuitive apps built on a custom fork of Android OS, custom firmware, and environmental and security monitoring systems along with a set of dynamic messaging platforms, access to local emergency services, and robust accessibility features.
Alongside our partners at LQD Wifi, we built the original VDK software in three months. As the project progressed, LQD Wifi was acquired by Verizon and grew into a $60 million project. We worked from the acquisition through the installation of the first VDK units in the Spring of 2018. With the arrival of Covid-19 in 2020, the idea of keeping communities connected took on greater significance. VDK kiosks were updated to provide information regarding CDC guidelines and local regulations. And so we’ve seen that the system is more than capable of keeping pace in dynamic, real-world environments—and helping people along the way.