With smart city and building technology on the rise, to make our urban infrastructures data-driven, efficient and more liveable, there has been a focus on the place of video technology. Peter Greener, the Key Account Manager at Milestone Systems reports that the uses of video and sensor tech go beyond security. Its efficiency for other purposes is growing, mainly due to new infrastructures and pressure on city services.
Investing in video and sensor technology
When developers invest in video and sensor technology for their smart buildings and cities, they have the potential to achieve so much more than simply protecting their assets.
Technological innovation has expanded the remit of what video technology can be used for and with the increased bandwidth that 5G gives connected devices, more and more interlinked devices can be added to the internet, known as the Internet of Things (IoT).
Video technology use in monitoring smart cities
With this in mind, video technology can be used to monitor a vast variety of elements that are critical to a successful smart city or building. This can range from air quality measures and safety solutions, to the prevention of vandalism, autonomous cars and traffic management.
Investing in video and sensor technology to enact these types of controls enables those managing smart cities and buildings to act on societal changes in a new, much more effective way, which is informed by accurate and real-time insights, collected by video technology systems.
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) can be embedded into transport infrastructure
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) can be embedded into transport infrastructure, in order to improve mobility and safety. Cameras and sensors installed into roads and bridges will collect real-time traffic information, which is then fed back to local government authorities, who can analyse long-term traffic trends, so as to take informed decisions on strategic transportation plans.
In addition to this, video technology can plug into electronic signs, in order to manage processes, such as the opening, closing and merging of lanes, or changing speed limits.
Video tech solutions that ensure data privacy
Using video for surveillance can be controversial and none of us likes a camera in our face. The good news is that there are plenty of video tech solutions, with the ability to anonymise data, through metadata aggregation, privacy masking, data purging and much more, and thereby, they can help keep people safe and cities running smoothly, without compromising on data privacy.
Emphasizing this is crucial to more public acceptance of video technology investment in smart cities, buildings and workplaces.
Video technology can plug into algorithms
Video technology can plug into algorithms, which can then be fed back to other smart elements, to make cities and buildings as efficient as possible. For example, using video technology in traffic management has a bigger, more positive impact on congestion reduction, in comparison to building new roads.