Today, with some of the largest cities in the United States of America on the verge of becoming smart cities, the heavy integration of various technologies throughout city infrastructure has been sizable. With a variety of proposals considered and implemented into the diverse framework of the modern smart city, it has become paramount that the utilization of these advanced technologies creates a safer and more engaging environment for citizens.
Responsive to the needs of citizens, smart city technology can be integrated into real-time communication that allows civilians to reach the services they need when required with no downtime. This simple and efficient service was stimulated by the needs of citizens during the worst of the pandemic when communication services were often over trafficked by isolated individuals requiring information on Covid figures or various city services.
“The global pandemic was a huge wake-up call to leaders responsible for the health, safety, and well-being of residents, especially in large cities like New York, Miami, Dallas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles,” said Kim Jones, AVP Digital and Solutions Marketing, Kandy Communications, a company acquired earlier this year by American Virtual Cloud Technologies. “We saw our already deep relationship with the IT teams that run systems in LA continue to grow, as it was more important than ever to ensure their UCaaS platform continued to keep employees connected, as they were forced to work from home like so many other millions of Americans. Applications for citizen engagement made keeping in touch easier to do at a very chaotic and difficult time.”
With the US Senate having recently approved the largest US infrastructure bill in decades, the $1 trillion investment will see multi-millions put toward building smart city infrastructures featuring real-time communications from companies such as Kandy.
Working in unison with one of the largest cities in America, Kandy will be providing embedded real-time communications throughout the smart city infrastructure by introducing multiple advanced technologies, including interactive voice response AI.
“Investments in real-time communications innovations have a very positive ROI,” Jones said. “The more cities can automate services, the more convenient those services can become for the end-users, and the more efficient those services can become for many departments across cities, from public safety to emergency response, and the same platform that serves the employees of cities can be continually leveraged for external interactions. Smart cities are safe cities – smart cities resilient cities. Digital infrastructure that is improved along with physical infrastructure will also reduce carbon emissions, address traffic congestion, and ensure taxpayer dollars are delivering everything promised, from trash collection to police protection, reducing crimes and saving lives. Real-time communications are being transformed and contributing to simply better places to live.”
While smart cities are at the forefront of technological advancement and integration, smaller smart communities have also benefited massively from large-scale initiatives. With funding for rural broadband, small villages and communities outside of the larger metropolis have also undergone digital transformation promoting broadband-enabled applications within broadband networks that rural communities can leverage to foster innovative economic development, education, health care, and other vital services. These networks stimulate growth and create various opportunities within the communities while providing quick, reliable, and efficient connectivity that an increasingly online world has necessitated.
“While we are extremely proud to be supporting some of the largest urban areas and government agencies located in cities,” Jones said, “we have also been serving many small towns across rural America for years. Given the advances in technology, and the opportunity to reduce operating costs with more automation, smaller municipalities, especially with the support of the infrastructure bill, can more than participate in digital transformation – they can lead. Access to the Internet, and the bridging of the digital divide in the US and around the world, means more people have more opportunities to work from home, learn from home, and contribute to their communities than ever before. After an incredibly difficult year, it is encouraging to see money flowing into small towns and big cities that will change the course of how people and government agencies and educational organizations move forward.”
With heightened investment and large-scale projects already in place, the positive benefits of smart city infrastructure and large-scale modernization are likely to persist as more advanced technology is integrated.
Edited by
Luke Bellos
