Some cities already wanted the weather to boost their situational consciousness. Still, many do not have a system to interconnect them and take full advantage of, for example, video cameras installed by a city.
It is important for city leaders to start the planning process with the top in mind. Whatever information a video camera and sensor system could gather, how would they have to pull it together so that the information could be used to make accurate decisions at the right time?
The primary building block for the video part of such a system is a video management system. A VMS can aid in quick retrieval of metadata, video and forensic searches as well as search analysis on objects.
Other similar equipment from suppliers, such as Live Earth, incorporates Geographic Information System (GIS) data, vehicle surveillance data, and other video information, then ties it all together.
Such a platform may additionally pull information from license plate reader cameras and sensors, GPS sensors or police squad card trackers, and air high quality surveillance stations and other related sensors.
Benefits of real-time situational consciousness
There are many benefits to collecting, aggregating, and analyzing all those information feeds.
Emergency Administration and Transportation Operations Centers can detect that all cameras are in one location, and can also visualize on video walls where each police vehicle and ambulance is, allowing these assets to be deployed and coordinated in case of an emergency.
Cameras can be programmed to detect illegal left turns or drivers driving on the wrong path, with video information not used for enforcement speed but trivially for high street or visitors’ signing scheme. City officials can also use it to enhance their digital or physical signage to increase security.
The information can also offer an additional finer, real-time view into climatic conditions and visitors. Public safety and transportation companies can get an accurate and instantaneous view of how many automobiles have entered a certain location or left city limits.
Information dashboards can offer customizable information feeds in any case city officials need to monitor, be it vehicular visitors, pedestrians or situations captured through sensor data. Usually, executives don’t understand all the issues they’ll actually be keeping an eye on. When that information is combined into a citywide platform, it gives an extra-detailed view of what’s going on, and officials can drill down into the information that matters most to them.
The purpose of such a platform is not to allow cities to determine a particular individual or to put anyone in the database. As an alternative, they allow cities to use real-time video feeds and data, along with analysis, to get a bigger image of what’s happening in a city. This then allows city and IT leaders to plan and scale up services.
With precision imaginative and forethought and expertise, city leaders can get more value out of their current investments and make their cities safer and better to meet the needs of residents.