Feature: Inside the Smart City Revolution
Credit: iStock
By Paige Townley
Many cities around the globe are utilizing smart city technology and its real-time data to provide first responders with information that not only improves emergency response, but also has the potential to prevent emergencies from happening in the first place. “Smart cities are evolving every day,” said Ian Pitts, president and CEO of Syn-Apps, during the Intrado webinar “Leveraging Smart City Data to Deliver Safer Outcomes” in late 2021. (Syn-Apps is a subsidiary of Intrado.) “We believe they will give us the ability to have safer and more functional futures in our cities.
“Oftentimes, the systems that organizations put in place never found their way to 911 operators or first responders. In the next few years, I see data coming that is more consolidated, with descriptive data points that really can be leveraged to respond to these situations,” he added. “Now we’re seeing data and the ability to interact with devices can be tremendously valuable to first responders, whether they’re in the PSAP or the responder is actually onsite. I think of telematics in vehicles, which gives us a tremendous amount of data.”
McKinsey & Company defines a smart city as one that puts “data and digital technology to work to make better decisions and improve the quality of life.” McKinsey also reported that cities that utilize smart technology could reduce fatalities (from homicide, road traffic, and fires) by eight to 10 percent and lower incidents of assault, robbery, burglary, and auto theft by 30 to 40 percent. The organization also found that smart technologies potentially allow cities to reduce the time it takes emergency personnel to respond by 20 to 35 percent.
More and more cities are incorporating smart tech: A June 2021 report by What Works Cities and the Monitor Institute by Deloitte found that the percentage of cities with platforms to process and release data to residents jumped from 18 percent to 67 percent in just six years.
Among the technologies that smart cities utilize is smart lighting, which offers the ability to turn street lights into a smart asset by hosting sensors that collect data. Many cities have also turned to IP audio, replacing traditional analog audio. “When we went to an IP system, it becomes much more dynamic and elastic,” said Kevin Taylor, segment development manager, smart cities, for Axis Communications, during the Intrado webinar. “You can scale it up and down to be as targeted or as broad scale as you need, and you can do this on a software basis so it’s very efficient.”
In addition to giving first responders greater visibility into emerging situations, smart tech can also be used for mass notification systems in the event of incoming disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes. “One of the things we learned early … is that the more devices and modalities you can engage people on for a mass notification, the more quickly we could inform people and ultimately the more positive the outcome was,” said Pitts during the webinar. “As we look to the future and our ability to deliver to the public more rapid notification about things happening around them, or share data from our cars, or drive greater awareness in the 911 operations center, these are all things that will significantly transform how we interact as a society.
“How can we use communication technologies to not just be in our buildings but go beyond those buildings and get the relevant and valuable data in the hands of our first responders so they can make more informed decisions as we have this data available?” he added. “There are a lot of things that can make the life of our first responders much more streamlined and give us the ability to really impact our communities in a much more positive way, ultimately driving a more positive outcome to these situations.”