Infrastructure improvements in cities often feature clean energy or connected technologies

The most in-demand products and services in local governments fall into three interconnected buckets, says Matthew Britt, general manager of smart cities at Honeywell. The buckets, he says, are urban mobility, sustainability and resilience, and public safety.

“Urban mobility begins with road infrastructure and understanding how to move people around cities more effectively and sustainably. At Honeywell, we have analytics capabilities to optimize traffic flow so that citizens can move more effectively based on their needs at any given time,” he explains. He adds that his firm’s recent collaboration with Mastercard helps enhance the citizen experience with city services like public transportation and parking. “That makes their interaction with these services seamless through contactless payments.”

Regarding sustainability and resilience, Britt says the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) has provided increased access to funds to advance clean energy projects. He believes that gives cities the ability to move away from diesel generators and invest in renewables. “Our joint work with Duke Energy, for example, focuses on strengthening energy security, focusing on communities with pressing resiliency needs and developing scaled solutions to lessen the impact of power outages and other grid disruptions related to climate change.”

Britt believes that the federal IIJA legislation may help ensure that the importance of renewable projects will continue to grow. “The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has provided a $65 billion investment in clean energy transmission, helping communities make a move toward renewable energy with solar, wind and hydroelectric power. Of the three, solar energy is being embraced more.” Solar, says Britt, has been expanding its traditional popularity in sunnier cities, like Honolulu and San Antonio. Solar proponents, he adds are boosting installations in cities across the east coast of the U.S.

Lastly, public safety starts with better situational awareness, Britt believes. “With a smart city, there’s an opportunity to aggregate information from traffic, parking, emergency services, safety and security to not only gain situational awareness but also to use that data to make better decision-making, allocate resources and improve response times.” All these factors, Britt tells Co-op Solutions, help improve quality of life for citizens. He says these three interconnected buckets help administrators focus on creating better integrated cities that are easy to navigate, safer and more sustainable.

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