Swaminathan did not reveal pricing for the Smarter Parking Starter Kit, though he said it would be willing to work with cities to arrive at creative financial terms. He argued that the system would pay for itself as cities make more money by monitoring and managing their parking spots. They could also use it as the basis for providing more advanced services later on, such as the ability for users to extend parking time through an smart phone app.

IBM found Streetline through IBM's SmartCamp program, where startups around the world can compete to partner with IBM and provide technologies for Big Blue's SmarterPlanet-themed system offerings. Streetline was the 2010 winner of the SmartCamp World Finals, besting over 600 other entries.

"Streetline was a young startup company with no major funding but it had a very robust solution," said Claudia Fan Munce, who is the IBM managing director of the company's venture capital group. It was a good example of a new technology showing "how to use IT to enable better, smarter ways of people to live," Munce said.

The IDG News Service