According to a recent announcement, US Ignite and ATIS have completed phase-one development of their Smart Cities Data Exchange framework, a project started in September 2018 to create a blueprint for the secure and interoperable exchange of data beyond city operational boundaries.
More than ten community partners and nearly a dozen companies reportedly have joined the project working group. The consortium has defined its area of focus and created an implementation plan based on the scenario of exchanging community and economic development data, with an emphasis on datasets that contribute to measures of mobility and livability across a region.
The industry partners include: AT&T, C Spire, Cisco, Fujitsu, Current by GE, iconectiv, Interdigital, Microsoft, Oracle, Qualcomm, Verizon.
Community partners include: Austin, Texas; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; District of Columbia; Independence, Ore.; Kansas City, Mo.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Portland, Ore.; San Diego, Calif.; Virginia Beach, Va.; Denver, Co.
Public data like municipal budgets and crime reports, in addition to new data from sensors, vehicles, and IoT-enabled infrastructure, can help improve decision-making processes related to housing, transit, and commercial development. However, for cities to benefit from this information, they need new data-driven tools to visualize development outcomes and effectively assess neighborhood impact. Cities also need to be able to share data in an interoperable and secure way with other cities, adjacent communities, federal/state government agencies, trusted partners, citizens, and application developers.
“Data sharing is critical to solving problems that naturally extend beyond municipal boundaries,” said Nick Maynard, Chief Strategy Officer, US Ignite. “Whether communities are tackling issues around accessibility, commercial real estate development, or equitable transportation, the solutions all depend on knowing where the pain points lie, and what resources are available for use. Unfortunately, that information doesn't reside in a single departmental database.”
The Smart Cities Data Exchange framework is set up to detail the processes for: taking data from community development source systems (such as traffic sensor data and affordable housing stock), creating a pipeline for data transformation into a common open schema, merging data from across multiple communities, and serving data through APIs, discovery systems, and visualization tools.
“Smart cities will be defined in the near future as much by their digital infrastructure as their physical structures,” said Mike Nawrocki, VP, Technology and Solutions, ATIS. “Only by unlocking the data available to them will communities be able to ensure equitable opportunities for economic growth and a higher quality of life for citizens.”
Edited by
Ken Briodagh
