Smarter cities offer citizens greater safety
Smart cities could benefit people all over SA because they offer improved citizen safety, write Gavin Holme and Rudraksh Bhawalkar
As technology evolves at exponential pace, and increasing numbers of individuals live in urban areas, the concept of smart cities is gaining momentum. Smart cities rely on massive volumes of data being gathered by sensor-based technology and fed into intelligent networks. If developed cohesively, these networks can integrate with one another, sharing data and forming a super network that pulls in every aspect of a smart city – from energy management and smart grids, to public transport, traffic management, healthcare, information services, ubiquitous connectivity, intelligent buildings, and refuse and sanitation. But a lesser-known benefit of smart cities is the ability to reduce crime. This is achieved in several ways: Surveillance: Though this sparks lively debates around where the lines of personal privacy should be drawn, there’s no doubt that surveillance footage from networks of IP-connected cameras are very useful to authorities when tracking down suspects With metro police a...
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