Le patrimoine culturel et touristique des États-Unis est peuplé de villes fantômes, abandonnées depuis longtemps par leurs habitants. Aujourd’hui, ce sont des industriels qui ont décidé de créer une ville fantôme près de la frontière mexicaine, pour en faire une city-lab. CITE (Center for Innovation Testing and Evaluation) n’aura aucun habitant. Située sur une zone d’essais nucléaires près de la frontière mexicaine, cette ville fantôme servira aux industriels, aux agences fédérales de transport, de l’énergie, aux ONG, aux universités et organismes de recherche qui voudront tester de nouveaux protocoles et technologies en conditions réelles. Pendant la journée, CITE sera peuplée par les 35 000 employés de ces organismes et la nuit, la ville s’éteindra. Pourtant, elle sera construite sur le même modèle qu’une petite métropole, avec un centre, une banlieue pavillonnaire, un quartier d’affaires, une mairie, une église, un commissariat, une autoroute et un petit aéroport. Autour de ces 39km2 de zone urbaine, on trouvera même des complexes industriels et des zones agricoles. Ce laboratoire urbain devrait permettre de progresser dans les domaines de la ressource en eau ou de la production d’énergie verte à partir de différentes sources grâce à de nombreux tests en conditions réelles. Mais peut-on réellement parler de conditions réelles dans un environnement vide d’habitants et d’imprévus ? Le débat est lancé. Notons également que c’est la société de télécommunication et de transport Pegasus Global Holdings qui est chargée de la conception de ce projet, qui devrait voir le jour dans les mois à venir. The Center for Innovation, Testing & Evaluation (CITE) Pegasus Global Holdings has proposed to locate a privately financed owned & operated Center for Innovation, Testing & Evaluation (CITE) in the State of New Mexico. With the support of New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, Pegasus has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the state’s Department of Economic Development. Goal CITE will serve as an open operating test, evaluation and commercialization facility for next-generation innovations and technologies. It will provide a proving ground for technologies arising from the federal laboratories, universities, not-for-profit technology centers, federal departments and agencies, and the private sector. The facility will be designed to allow new technologies to integrate into the nation’s urban, suburban and rural « legacy infrastructure, » and provide detailed measurable results on their impact to the economy and its many sectors, e.g., energy, transportation, telecommunications, security, and agriculture.CITE will consist of a fully integrated physical facility modeled on a medium-sized American city, including its urban, suburban, and rural areas, built with standard roads, buildings, power, water, telecommunications and operating systems. Representative of today’s modern cities, CITE will allow clients to test the benefits and costs of their proposed next-generation innovations and technologies, hardware and software.Development, construction, and operating costs of CITE will be funded by the private sector. CITE will create 350 new direct jobs and it is expected to create more than 3,500 new indirect jobs through construction of the facility, supporting industry, and contractors. Due to the large impact that this facility will have on the economy of the State of New Mexico, Pegasus Global has built strong relationships with local and state government representatives, state universities, and federal laboratory leadership to help develop efforts to create a strong sustainable workforce. Benchmark Test & Evaluation Facilities Green Energy One of the fastest growing segments in energy production is focused on green technologies, but challenges still exist in the integration of these technologies into existing out dated infrastructure. CITE will provide unique opportunities to drill down into the cost of introducing solar, wind, and Smart Grid technologies in a real world setting to help determine the next steps to success. Intelligent Transportation Systems CITE will be home to a transportation highway/road network consisting of both high-speed, urban canyon, suburban and rural roads permitting testing and demonstration of new Intelligent Transportation System technologies, which are advancing rapidly in Europe and Asia. CITE will provide a highway infrastructure that will allow clients to test and evaluate unmanned vehicle technologies, traffic management systems, and vehicle-based applications without endangering other drivers. Homeland Security Homeland security is a key component of the plan for CITE, which will include a secure testing area for first responder technology with the benefit of proximity to the civil and commercial infrastructure. Next Generation Wireless Infrastructure A next-generation wireless infrastructure – terrestrial and satellite – is planned to serve CITE, permitting the development, installation, testing and commercialization of high speed broadband technologies across all sectors of our economy, e.g. energy, transportation and security, as well as extension of such services to underserved communities. Source : lumières de la ville.