Do smart cities make safer cities?

According to the United Nations, two out of three people will live in urban areas by 2050. This increase in city populations will undoubtedly put an even greater strain on government service providers. 

Faced with the growing demand of residents for increasingly agile and efficient public services, cities must be able to adapt quickly and economically to not only solve current problems but also to meet future needs. In the long run, for cities to be safer and more resilient, they need to be smarter.

Solving problems the smart way

The smart-cities movement has been around for years now, and cities have made great strides in using information and communication technology (ICT) to deliver data, improve insights and solve specific problems. Examples include increasing the agility of emergency-response services, optimizing traffic and mobility conditions and improving sanitation and lighting services, to name a few. 

But too often, these have been one-off solutions for one-off problems, whereas in cities, problems are often interconnected. For example, consider the effects of traffic changes on ambulance response times or the impacts of street lighting on crime. Though each public service has its own requirements and particularities, there is often overlap and one problem impacts another. Recognizing and addressing the overlap is where smarter, safer cities are created.

The answer lies in integration and coordination

Thinking about a city or region in an integrated way can propel new processes and solutions. Often, departments and agencies monitor demand and manage services in isolation—each with its own systems—which reduces efficiency and agility, especially during emergencies and crisis situations. However, by accessing and sharing data from multiple sources in an integrated operational view, organizations can improve situational awareness, communication and coordination, enabling faster and more efficient responses from vital public services.

Integrated operations are an indication of technology successfully being deployed in a manner that provides intelligence to organizations in a city or state. One method is through collaboration among similar agencies.

DuPage County, Ill., is a great example of data sharing. Sixty-two agencies collaborated for a fully integrated, countywide solution consisting of computer-aided dispatch, records management, analytics and mobile applications. This collaborative approach has enabled faster response times, with examples of telecommunicators creating computer-aided dispatch (CAD) events and dispatching multiple agencies in less than a minute.

However, the benefits of integration go beyond like-minded services. Integration between different public and private organizations, NGOs and residents can take collaboration to a new level, eliminating communication barriers and simplifying processes. Providing a secure and effective means of accessing and sharing data with all stakeholders in a city can make public services more agile and efficient.

Taking collaboration city-wide

For example, the city of Manaus, Brazil, has established the City Cooperation Center, which houses emergency services, transportation and other agencies. The center’s integrated technologies deliver a real-time operational view of the city with automated incident detection and response for a variety of needs—from public-safety emergencies to parking violations to infrastructure repairs.

Leveraging assistive artificial intelligence (AI), integrated data from surveillance systems, weather stations, public applications and sensors located across the city is automatically analyzed and assigned to the appropriate department for response. The automated notifications and coordinated workflows will allow agencies to quickly identify and resolve problems and respond to emergencies faster.

The possibilities for the development of smart cities are many and the benefits to emergency and public services are endless. By employing data and technology to intelligently solve problems, cities ensure better use of their resources, provide better community services and build the foundations for a safer, more resilient future.

Kalyn Sims is the CTO for safety and security in Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial division.