Get ready to be dialed in.
What does it mean to be a Smart City? While we’d love if this “smartness” pertained to every Average Joe on the corner, that’s not quite the case. Chicago is one of three new U.S. cities that will soon receive a major infrastructure upgrade, giving all of us a few new perks.
‘Smart Cities’ AT&T, the company behind the massive overhaul, places a system across the city that collects and acts upon data. Basically, it gives us an “internet of things” to work with in our daily lives.
“The Internet of things would be taking sensors or taking hardware and then using a very secure stable and scalable connectivity solution,” said ‘Smart Cities’ GM Mike Zeto.
So what does this mean for us? The system is capable of quite a few things.
For one, sensors will be able to detect how many people are involved in a shooting. It can help detect leaky pipes before they burst. It can make buildings more energy efficient. It can even notify people when to watch out for poor air quality.
The big question is, obviously, how it’s done, and that hasn’t been fully determined yet. AT&T is meeting with the city to discuss Chicago’s specific goals. Possibilities include water system sensors, a digital dashboard that monitors traffic & weather, digital signage that tells passersby where to find bikes or when public transportation will arrive, and connected street lights.
There’s also the option of a mobile app that people can download to look over any information that might pertain to them.
Chicago isn’t alone in this initiative, as both Dallas and Atlanta have signed on as well. AT&T plans on demoing some of the features during their upcoming summit. We’ll keep an eye on the initiative as it continues to draw closer.