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Global Cities are getting smarter and safer

What makes a city smart? It’s when the city unifies traditionally separate facilities, departments and processes to achieve better operational efficiency and increased effectiveness while maximizing resources

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Sanghamitra Kar
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Wilson Chin

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The popularity of the “Smart City” or “Safe City” is growing worldwide and not expected to slow down any time soon. In fact, research firm Frost and Sullivan recently estimated the Safe City market could reach $3.3 trillion by 2025 which is surely welcome news for those involved in infrastructure development, technology integration, energy initiatives or security.

So, what makes a city smart? It’s when the city unifies traditionally separate facilities, departments and processes to achieve better operational efficiency and increased effectiveness while maximizing resources. A smart city in action might integrate police response and reporting with transportation, energy and urban planning, public safety and more. Using a targeted and unified approach, city officials, first responders and residents benefit from proactive situation awareness and heightened information sharing.

In many cities, effective security networks exist but operate independently. Unfortunately, during an emergency, “siloed” information does little to help first responders, law enforcement officials and others to assess and react appropriately. That’s why today’s sprawling, bustling cities call for a relatively new concept in surveillance: the “Safe City” solution.

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Case in Point: Imagine if a major crime is committed during a city event. The perpetrator quickly leaves the scene, hops onto public transportation and heads to the airport. Police and first responders scramble to gather information; meanwhile, the criminal escapes undetected. In a smart city, integrated technology enables officials to detect the suspect quickly at the scene and to track his or her travels on public transportation to the airport.

Additionally, emerging applications such as crowdsourcing further help enable officials to tap into other social and corporate networks. Sharing information quickly with various stakeholders ultimately provides city and law enforcement officials with better odds of capturing the perpetrator before he or she leaves the area—or commits another crime. Safe cities integrate video surveillance data from disparate resources in a municipal area in order to help provide officials with a holistic view of their city and create more effective situational awareness during natural disasters, terrorist attacks, large events and even daily commutes.

In India, an example of a Safe City project is the city Surat in Gujarat known as the diamond capital of the world which has made waves in the world of security since announcing its “Safe City” project in early 2012. Verint helped Surat put its Safe City plans into action. The sprawling city, located in the state of Gujarat, is home to about 4.5 million people. The objective of the project is to better ensure the safety and security of residents while also protecting the many key industries that call the city home, including diamonds, textiles, engineering, and oil and gas properties.

In January 2013, Surat launched the first stage of its Safe City initiative, featuring a state-of-the-art 24/7 video surveillance and security command center that centrally monitors, aggregates and analyzes multiple surveillance feeds, all to support proactive physical security management of the city. The surveillance center also includes a city mapping capability that provides reports on physical security, fire alarm and water levels, along with evacuation and disaster recovery plans. In a short span of 10 months, the new surveillance system has already resulted in penalties for 109,000 traffic offenders in the coverage area. In recognition of the safe city initiative, Surat made to the shortlist of candidates eligible to receive the Indian Prime Minister’s prestigious award for excellence in public administration.

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With the Smart City concept gaining acceptance, it is expected to grow exponentially as cities and municipalities realize the benefits of these programs and put plans in action. Not surprisingly, surveillance technologies, video management software and ongoing innovation in communications and public safety will play major roles in the concept’s effectiveness.

The author is APAC Marketing VP, Video & Situation Intelligence Solutions, Verint Systems

The article was published in PCQuest June 2014 issue

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