What Canadian municipalities need to know about Cisco Kinetic for Cities
3 min read
Recently we introduced the Cisco Kinetic platform, but didn’t discuss in-depth how Cisco Kinetic helps municipalities better serve constituents.
So I’ll give it a shot.
To start, what is Cisco Kinetic for Cities?
Cisco Kinetic for Cities is the Universal Remote for Smart City Solutions. Kinetic for Cities securely aggregates data from multiple sources, normalizes it, and presents it in a common data model so the city can take meaningful actions and control their Smart City Solutions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLfuogZxi6s
Why is now the time for Cisco Kinetic for Cities?
Cities globally are starting to digitize services, using IT Solutions to deliver services, reduce costs, engage citizens, improve city operations and reduce harmful environmental impacts.
Consider an example shown in the above video. By applying sensors to waste bins that can detect when they are full, city personnel can more accurately determine pick-up routes during the week. This decreases resources costs, eliminates unnecessary vehicles on city roads, and ensures high sanitation standards.
But for most cities, this digital transformation is complex. There are many challenges they will face, such as working across siloed city departments and budgets, integrating new and legacy IT systems, data privacy and vulnerability concerns, and extracting data to transform it into meaningful insights. In short, our cities need help to make this happen.
How does Cisco Kinetic for Cities help municipalities in their transformation?
Cisco Kinetic was developed to address the evolving challenges cities face. Formerly the Smart + Connected Digital Platform, Cisco Kinetic for Cities is an application-enabled platform that helps improve service delivery to communities and their constituents. The platform aggregates and organizes data from city infrastructure sensors and other data sources in a consistent, easy-to-use format and optimizes services delivery to engage residents and improve overall quality of life.
Put another way, Cisco Kinetic for Cities helps city planners collect data from disparate functions to create new, high-value services and experiences for residents. Imagine knowing that one area of the city was experiencing higher-than-normal pedestrian volume because of the number of sign-ins to the free municipal Wi-Fi network. Imagine being able to pair this data with data from transit services that confirms the routes most residents took to get to the location. With Cisco Kinetic for Cities, these data sets – and many others – are combined so that constituents have better experiences. In this example, rerouting transit vehicles to meet demand.
For IT staff…what are the technical benefits of Cisco Kinetic for Cities?
Cisco Kinetic for Cities includes open APIs for many Smart City solutions, including outdoor lighting, urban mobility, traffic, parking, crowd, and environment. Our extensive ecosystem of validated vendors providing Smart City Solutions, as well as open API’s, enables new, best of breed vendors to integrate their solution into the digital platform. This gives municipalities the power to choose the solutions which meet their needs today, and far into the future.
The greatest value Kinetic for Cities delivers is the aggregation of data from multiple Smart City Solutions into a single, shared view so decisions and control can be made with greater coordination, insight and confidence.
Why should municipalities start making their digital transformation?
We’ve helped 34 municipalities around the world through the Cisco Kinetic for Cities platform. This includes some of the world’s best known: Paris, Las Vegas, and Copenhagen (to name a few). These cities, and others, have realized the value in their data. We see value in it, too. In fact, we believe that the roads of the future will be paved with data – and that it will be those who best prepare that will thrive.
Our approach to Smart Cities has evolved over a number of years, but one constant remains. We are in the business of moving, securing, and analyzing data. There is no one better. And I’d love the chance to prove it to you.
To learn more about Cisco Kinetic for Cities and read case studies, visit our website.
If you’re ready to explore what Cisco Kinetic can do for you, email us now.
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1 Comments
This really shows how and why for an end user. I find myself breaking explaining the break down a lot. This will be an excellent resource to refer to.