San Diego has accelerated its efforts to create the world's largest 'smart city' IoT sensor platform, by announcing that it has partnered with GE Current and Inseego Corp to deploy 3,200 new intelligent sensor nodes across the city.
The deployment of the intelligent sensor nodes specifically aims to optimize traffic and parking in the city, where mobility has been a growing issue for its residents. In addition to this, it has been claimed that the intelligent sensors will also enhance public safety, promote environmental awareness and improve livability for San Diego's inhabitants.
The project has been labelled large-scale and the deployment will involve Current's CityIQ sensor nodes being housed in San Diego's new LED street lights. San Diego is aggressively pursuing its ambition to establish the world's largest IoT senor platform in an effort to make it a world-leading smart city, and this collaboration is seen as the next step towards that objective.
In addition to this, it has also been disclosed that the collaboration between Current and the software-as-a-service (SaaS) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider will see Inseego's Skyus DS 4G modem integrated into Current's smart cities platform already deployed in the city.
EVP of Internet of Things and Mobile Solutions at Inseego, Ashish Sharma, expressed her excitement at the collaboration between both entities, and claimed that the innovative project could completely transform how many residents in the city live their lives. Sharma said, "We are excited to partner with GE's Current business on such an innovative IoT use case and to help bring industrial internet to city applications. Since the early days of IoT, the industry has been talking about providing end-to-end visibility into city infrastructure. We are now making this a reality through an efficient and innovative deployment."
GE also stated that it will continue to integrate Inseego's modems as cities mobilize and scale municipal digital footprints through network partner AT&T. It has claimed that the integration of the 4G cellular modem will enable for real-time transmission of critical meta-data and analytics which are key components in the make-up of a smart city like San Diego.
Austin Ashe, General Manager of Intelligent Cities at Current said the collaboration was exciting and represented an opportunity to connect 'smart cities' to industrial internet. While he also highlighted the deployment of the intelligent sensors would address mobility concerns and help deploy first responders in a much more efficient and effective manner.
He said, "The CityIQ sensor node provides the opportunity to go beyond the limits of basic energy measurement and actively engage a community by evolving how we find parking spots and deploy first responders. Inseego's Skyus DS 4G device solution fits really well with our intelligent cities platform and provides a reliable and innovative solution. We are excited to collaborate with Inseego to connect these cities to industrial internet." Current said additional CityIQ deployments are in progress in Atlanta, Georgia as well as other municipalities.