When George Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four in the 1940s, little did he know the quote, “Big Brother is watching you” would resonate the idea of smart connected communities.
Although somewhat controversial, video surveillance and digital tracking have proved useful in protecting communities, ensuring public safety, and lowering crime rates.
Bold business looks at what digital transformation can do for public safety in an ever-evolving 21st century.
There’s no doubt that cities are expanding at rapid rates, technology is advancing daily, and threats are becoming increasingly more evident.
Social, political, and economic influences have all helped shape the landscape in which we live, and the requirements necessary for protecting citizens has changed accordingly.
Infrastructure developments and smart connected communities are highlighting the need for discovering new bold ideas for our rapidly urbanizing planet.
According to Cisco Systems, protecting a city is a fundamental part of protecting the people, but is also a significant political capital when running for office.
Keeping communities safe not only protects the city but also boasts “trade, investment, commerce, and talent, which are all vital to the quality of life” and “maintaining sustainability and growth success.”
However, implementing a digital transformation is not an easy task. There are many factors to consider, from different agencies and departments to external stakeholders, businesses, and most importantly, cost.
Governments are shouting out for a cost-effective and comprehensive approach to public safety solutions, which are evident, secure, and manageable.
Cisco Systems recently announced the launch of their Smart+Connected platform which is a “unifying, cloud-based tool that provides a centralized mechanism for addressing the need to manage streams of data in a reliable, secure and effective way.”
This platform supports and allows cities to be a smart connected community to “capture, analyze and share data across various organizations – with residents, tourists and businesses.”
Based on Cisco systems, integrating smart video surveillance “enables automated alerting and connects agencies for faster and more effective emergency response.”
Smart video surveillance can reduce crime, allows for optimizing resources, and enables officials to plan for threats or disasters.
Smart connected communities can lead to ground-breaking solutions for ensuring public safety and a better society for all.
