The hurdles to municipal adoption of these technologies — often referred to generally as the “internet of things” (IoT) — were a topic of conversation at the Internet of Things Consortium conference in New York on Tuesday. Here’s what’s slowing it down.

1. Pilot purgatory

• Most cities wade into smart-city applications slowly with “proof of concept” trials to test out a technology before signing a longer-term contract.
• But those pilot project phases are getting longer across the board, per 451 Research. That leads to a state of limbo a lot of IoT firms call “pilot purgatory.”
• Pilot projects are useful for getting a project or idea off the ground, says Beverly Rider, Hitachi’s SVP and chief commercial officer. “But there’s rarely a plan for what happens when the trial phase is over.”

2. Data silos

• "A city isn’t one entity, it’s a collection of agencies working autonomously,” said Samir Saini, former chief information officer for New York City.
• Big city governments in particular are prone to communication breakdowns between departments. When data isn’t shared between agencies, efficiencies are lost.

3. Security fears

• Data security concerns are still the top hurdle to the adoption of initiatives involving connected devices, including smart-city deployments, per 451 Research.
• According to research released this week by Parks Associates, 63% of the general public are concerned about cybersecurity, and 71% of people with smart devices are concerned about cybersecurity.
• Skepticism over how companies working with city governments are using citizen data can slow down the process of getting public buy-in for projects that involve data collection.

4. Worker shortage

• City governments have a hard time attracting workers with data science and back-end technology skills, because they’re competing for that talent with Big Tech firms that pay much more.
• New York City faces a perennial staff shortage for smart-city projects. “After a company installs the thing, workers need to maintain it,” said Commissioner Gregg Bishop of NYC’s Department of Small Business Services.

The big picture: Adoption will accelerate as cities replace or upgrade aging critical infrastructure, such as bridges, with sensors embedded into the construction, Saini said.

• Sensors and energy-management technologies in buildings are likely to become more common as cities adopt aggressive emission-reduction goals.

Go deeper... Special report: The human hurdles to smart cities

“The number one thing we want to do is create or preserve more housing. But I think what we’re realizing [is] that our greater impact may be creating on-ramps or tangible new vehicles for other companies to figure out how to play in this space. It may be through investment capital, philanthropic capital, or advocacy.”

The big picture: Seattle residents last week elected a super-progressive City Council that may try other initiatives to address the housing and homeless crisis, such as a per-employee tax on businesses that drew significant opposition from Amazon.

In Seattle, the business community has focused on targeted projects, including Microsoft's commitment and homeless initiatives from Amazon, Starbucks and tech billionaire Paul Allen.

• Seattle residents have been more open to zoning changes for more density, a different dynamic than the San Francisco Bay Area, where there is more resistance to new development.
• "There was a period of transition with a more project-based focus," said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, who is assembling a regional plan to address housing for Seattle and the surrounding communities, including setting goals for low- and middle-income housing.
• "We have to go big as a region, and we won't be able to get there without the strong help and support from the tech industry and other businesses, and state and local governments working together," Durkan told Axios.

How it works: There are government and financial tools that make low-income housing possible for certain income brackets, but most of that assistance is spent within Seattle borders. That means there's very little low-cost housing available in surrounding job-centered communities such as Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Renton and Issaquah.

• Middle-income housing — needed by teachers, nurses and public safety workers — is much harder to finance because there are no government or tax incentives at that level, and developers can't make money on the projects.
• That's where Microsoft is trying use its own balance sheet to design loans at below-market interest rates (around 1%).
• In September, Microsoft announced a $60 million loan to King County Housing Authority, combined with $20 million in low-interest debt by King County, and $140 million in bonds issued by the housing authority — totaling $245 million to acquire and preserve 1,029 affordable rental housing units.

Microsoft's Broom said other local companies want to be involved, but aren't quite sure how, "so we need crisp roadmaps and direction for how we can make a difference. We are going to learn and share as much as we can so we can get more businesses involved.”

• “It’s flexible capital that can be used innovative ways," Broom said. "I do think it’s a perfect place for business and philanthropy to play and take on the risk that a lot of governments simply can’t do.”

Go deeper: Big Tech's hyperlocal fights

"We are guests on the streets of the cities in which we operate. And we have to make sure that our growth is always in concert with the regulators, etc. ... More cars is not the answer."

The big picture: In many places, Uber is the face of the gig-economy and all the baggage that comes with it — like tensions around driver pay, lack of benefits for workers and, in terms of transportation, increased congestion. (Khosrowshahi points out drivers are making more and like the schedule flexibility.)

What's next: Uber wants to be the "operating system for your everyday life, anyway you want to get around or anything that you want delivered to you."

• Uber Eats is a model that will expand to grocery and other items like medicine. Even taking the subway (though that won't make money for Uber) may be part of that network.
• "Using Uber for us means that we become an everyday use case and we can help you depending on what you need and want, not depending on what makes us money," Khosrowshahi said.

Reality check: Uber essentially wants to be a platform for moving around your city. But it's becoming a tougher time to be a massive platform company as the anti-Big-Tech climate persists.