Canadian Government Executive - Volume 27 - Issue 05

16 / Canadian Government Executive // September/October 2021 GOVERNMENT SERVICES A multi-technology approach provides the flexibility to securely scale a Smart City with plug-and-play connectivity, delivering ser- vices in many areas, including: • Smart energy (advanced energy metering) • Smart water (flow monitoring, flood and ice detection, energy metering) • Smart gas (pipeline/distribution monitor- ing, energy metering) • Smart mobility (traffic monitoring and management of electric vehicle charging, smart parking solutions) • Smart government (environmental moni- toring /air quality, refuse/waste collection) Bright ideas In many cases, the desire to move towards a smart city stems from the utilization of exist- ing assets. Consider the move from legacy street lighting / high-pressure sodium to LED which delivers energy savings of up to 50 per cent. Smart lighting enables a further 10 per cent savings because of better con- trols and the ability to dim the lights at cer- tain times. It also cuts down on maintenance costs as cities can monitor performance on a central management system versus tradi- tional methods of polling through vehicle, or waiting for customers to report an out- age. Volume deployments enable significant savings and once the network is in place, it can be used to deploy other smart city ser- vices which can be paid for out of the savings made on initial investments such as lighting. One example of this is the City of Cowans- ville, Que. Over the last few years, the City became interested in exploring the imple- mentation of smart street lighting as a way to not only improve public safety but to also simplify city maintenance, save energy and reduce spending. Cowansville made the decision in 2020 to first put a network backbone in place: an IoT platform and neighbourhood area network (NAN) technology. This allowed the city to prepare for smart lighting with the ability to control existing lights first in phase one; then, once the network was established, Cowansville could deploy LED lights allow- ing for additional controls or even expand its offerings to include more smart city tech- nologies such as environmental sensors that monitor air quality. Street lighting poles happen to make great IoT nodes (or access points) that can be used to monitor many areas municipalities are focused on such as flooding and charging infrastructure; they can even detect parking availability, and sense air quality. But this is possible only with a unified and interactive communications platform that can ‘talk to’ all these devices. A separate communications platform for each option is costly, inefficient, and unsustainable. Partnering with solution providers for both current and future plans is critical to success. Other considerations on the path to intelligence Along with choosing an open communica- tions platform, here are some additional is- sues municipalities should address to truly become smart: • Cross-Department Collaboration: Data flow is important to ensure you are making the most of your implementation, so the IoT sensors that provide information need to be able to talk with each other. Break down silos that exist by bringing data to- gether in a single view, ultimately enabling a more complete view of activity. • Connect IT systems: Cities must choose sensors and technologies that use propri- etary technologies to connect with each other. • Pay attention to cybersecurity: Hacking is a very real threat; avoid complete depen- dence on public cellular networks for the platform, and instead choose a vendor with experience and a secure, private platform that can manage local area networks using a variety of technologies. While it’s hard to predict the future, keeping these factors top of mind when developing a strategy can ensure cities are on the right path and will be prepared, no matter where they end up with their smart application plans. Steven Lupo is Managing Director, Can- ada at Trilliant. He leads Trilliant’s Ca- nadian operations and brings 20 years of successful business experience leading both early-stage and established Energy Management, Utility Services, and Smart Metering/Grid businesses. Steven has sig- nificant global Supply Chain, Manufac- turing, and Operations experience. With the right technological backbone and integrated communications platform, cities can create a connected system that supports both current and future needs.