The Smart City Movement and Security

June 18th, 2024

Governments have begun to integrate data and technology in an attempt to bolster efficiency and response for citizens in Houston TX and other cities throughout the country. The Smart City movement is about enhancing these processes and improving these efficiencies. A Smart City objective is to improve the quality of life for the residents which means maintaining a clean and sustainable environment.

Today, cities all over the world have begun to harness the information, communication, security, and sensor technology that is available so they can make better decisions regarding urban planning while improving public safety and other aspects for the residents of the city.

Therefore, the Smart City movement has made strides toward the security of each city in several ways:

IP Based Video Surveillance. Having this security surveillance allows footage to be accessed and shared at any time of the day or night. The entire system can be controlled and maintained with web-based software as well-from any location in Houston TX.

Access Control Systems. These systems are centralized and ensure that only people with prior authorization can gain access to the security system and footage. It also limits the areas in which unauthorized people can enter or visit.

Automatic License Plate Recognition. This technology combines cameras with other back-end software to allow the capture of license plates. Having the ability to capture the license plate numbers allows the city to take a closer look at who is there. The information from the plate once captured is easily matched with the driver databases.

Gunfire Locator. This security technology enables small microphones to listen for sounds of gunfire. Once the sound is picked up, the location of the sound can then be traced to find the shooter and track their movements. Having this kind of technology in place also allows for panic buttons and allows the authorities to be notified of an event much sooner than before.

What Does Technology Help Within Cities?

So, how does all this technology benefit a city and how do you bring all of it together? Each city department will have its own surveillance and access control systems to take care of and monitor. Patchworking physical security for visibility and manageability is important to make the entire Smart City security movement come together more cohesively.

It will only take one dashboard per city to unify the system, and there will only be one simple way for the right authorities to view and share the information they need when they need it. The technology chosen for each city may also differ based on the individual needs of the city. Once the basic foundation is in place, that technology can then branch off into other categories of security such as integrated traffic control systems or even a computer-aided dispatch system-further making the monitoring and managing of the security system easier and more streamlined.

Additional Support

Once the decision has been made and these technologies begin to get implemented in each city, it is important to also have a support system in place to make sure that everything is operating at optimal performance levels and achieves the objective of making the city a safer place to live.