As Smart Cities Grow, Data Consolidation Efforts Should Too

Source: Gov Tech Published: September24, 2020

Whether cities are managing a crisis, or just trying to get the buses running on schedule, bringing various data streams under one umbrella can lead to easier management and broader insights.

This approach has been taken by small cities as varied as Sioux Falls, S.D., and Peachtree Corners, Ga., where IT departments are using technology to set up platforms that use data streams to sharpen a view into city operations and how smart city systems can operate in concert.

“Cities’ data is very siloed. So if you were looking at this, just from a general smart city perspective, the lighting vendor doesn’t talk to the parking vendor, who doesn’t talk to the water vendor, who doesn’t talk to weather management. And imagine if you put all those assets and data together to drive very valuable insights,” said Aaron Simkin, vice president of strategic partnerships and alliances at Quantela, a maker of smart city technology.

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