What will smart cities of tomorrow look like? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Zach Winkler, Zach is the Co-founder and CEO of Noonlight, on Quora:
The intersection of safety and sustainability is currently driving the development of smart cities. The conversation around increasing public transit use, for example, is intrinsically tied to a conversation surrounding safety on public transit. If commuters don’t feel safe riding public transit, it’s less likely that a city will meet their sustainable transit goals as people turn back to private vehicles or rideshare services.
The smart cities of tomorrow are going to be about measuring the impact of one aspect of the city’s operations upon another. For our public safety organizations, this means using available information from public transit programs, smart streetlights, crime monitoring technologies, and private companies such as Noonlight to craft better public safety strategies and improve emergency response.
For example, first responders are currently plagued by false alarms, increasing response times and diverting resources away from situations that need them. Imagine if first responders could effectively mitigate false alarms, or if they had the data to better predict emergencies within their cities – such as areas in a city where people feel the most unsafe. Factors like these would likely inform larger municipal initiatives, such as city lighting plans or sidewalk development.
With the help of companies such as Noonlight, these ideal scenarios could become a reality. The smart city of tomorrow is only as smart as the information flowing through its public organizations, and as our cities become increasingly connected, we need greater coordination between our smart devices/technologies and public safety organizations.
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