How Smart Cities Can Improve Response

Smart cities are all the rage due to their ability to leverage real-time data to enhance decision-making, but an added or perhaps even more important benefit is the ability of smart technology to help first responders accelerate recovery efforts and save lives. 

Benefits of Smart Cities for First Responders

The technology behind smart cities largely revolves around sensors.  Here are some examples:

• Smart traffic lights can interface with GPS platforms to help responders avoid traffic congestion and arrive on the scene faster.
• Structural sensors can detect unsafe building situations, allowing responders to avoid entering or working around buildings that are structurally questionable. 
• Motion sensors could be used to identify people trapped in a burning building.
• Damage sensors can help responders assess damage remotely, improving the speed of damage assessment and increasing the speed with which responders can be deployed to critical areas.

And these benefits are really just the tip of the iceberg.  As the technology evolves, benefits we can’t even imagine right now will become reality. 

Of course, irrespective of the benefits, creating a smart city is easier said than done; the 2 most challenging elements of deploying smart technology are figuring out what information to collect and how to utilize it, and integrating the new technology with existing platforms.  If these two elements are not properly thought out on the front end, information overload could quickly ensue, minimizing the usefulness of the collected data.

So, how can cities become smarter?  According to this article, there are a few techniques:

• Start coming to grips with physical and cybersecurity requirements.  The structure of the security ecosystem will provide the framework for everything else.
• Find a technology partner to navigate the intermingling of smart platforms and legacy systems.
• Start small in order to learn in an incremental fashion, before authorizing large, risky investments. 
• Involve the community via proactive communication and continuous feedback loops.

In the final analysis, there is no doubt that smart cities can help improve response, recovery and safety, but it’s a long and winding road to get to the ‘benefits realization’ stage.  In the end, if done properly, it’ll definitely be worth it.