How to become a Smart City

 

 

5 ways to achieve “Smart City” status

According to the Worldwide Smart Cities Spending Guide, up to 30% of smart city IoT projects will fail because of poorly organized frameworks for deploying new technologies. 

Michael Sullivan, a BBC analyst and author of the report Smart Cities: Growing New IT Markets, agrees: “the downside is that there is a lot of economic pressure on cities that don't have the financial resources to add smart city technology.”

Even when making technological investments, some municipal officials and agencies struggle to move public safety and smart city initiatives forward. Their challenges often stem from a few common trends: data overload, demand for transparency, and departmental silos.

So, how can large and small cities continue to enhance urban life and protect their evolving communities? How can cities take steps to become “smarter”? We’ve identified five steps to building a safer and smarter city below. 

1. Identify your city’s goals

To implement an effective smart city framework, it’s important to bring together all stakeholders to discuss immediate concerns and identify long-term objectives. This includes law enforcement, transit agencies, public safety teams, traffic departments, IT leaders, city planners, etc. The discussion weighs the opinions of citizens and businesses to better align with community priorities and get more buy-in.

The first phase of your safer city initiative focuses on installing security cameras and access control at critical locations. The second phase could expand the program to include automatic license plate recognition. 

Ultimately, the goal is to have a comprehensive, intelligent solution that helps your agencies collect and share data for informed decision-making. It’s also important to consider how projects can be implemented to avoid creating security gaps. This is where smart technology can shine. 

2. Set up a good foundation to adopt new technology

Gaining visibility helps to identify areas for improvement. Making data-driven decisions can drastically impact how your team works with the systems you have in place. For example, data collected from IoT devices can improve everything from traffic congestion and public safety to street lighting and air quality. The possibilities are endless, but it all starts with a comprehensive strategy and a security platform that makes sense of all the information.

3. Centralize your operations under one platform

It's vital to consider everything from network and IT infrastructures, to cloud services, and fixed and mobile broadband. Also, the platform from which your agencies will manage video surveillance, analytics, ALPR, and sensors. This architecture or backbone of technologies can either facilitate and optimize new cutting-edge city initiatives or hold your city back.

Investing in a unified security platform seamlessly integrates new applications and technologies, so your city can scale as your needs evolve. A unified platform provides a centralized view of the city. It can then be accessed by authorized personnel from a single location and used to make data-driven decisions. This approach allows you to make the most of existing infrastructure and build on existing successes.

4. Implement data security protocols and offer transparency

City agencies must come together to map out a data protection strategy and leverage the power of data analytics to protect citizens’ data. Privacy should be a top priority when implementing these technologies to remain compliant.

A solution based on privacy by design can help your city stakeholders gain complete control over the data you collect, handle, and share. Relying on trusted technology vendors and smart city experts can bolster data protection methods. This ensuring all possible lines of defense are optimized, and the right systems are in place. It’s also important to inform the public about how your city collects and uses data.

5. Share information across entities and leverage data for better insights 

To have a proactive instead of reactive approach to public safety, it's important to consider how to attain true collaboration. This means being able to easily and securely share data with city officials, law enforcement, and department managers. The collective data will allow all to gain deeper insights into their operations and identify opportunities to serve your community better together. 

Your city can take collaborative efforts further by fostering connections with private businesses and other public institutions. From restaurants and retailers to schools and hospitals, all types of organizations can work with law enforcement. Expanding surveillance coverage of multiple sites plays an integral role in your city’s safety plan.  

For example, this benefit of interconnectivity was exemplified by Detroit’s Project Green Light. This program led to a 50% decrease in crime as a result of the collaboration between private gas stations and local law enforcement.