The US city of Conway which is located in the state of Arkansas has formally announced it is set to introduce an Internet of Things platform in its efforts to become a leading 'smart city'.
In a statement released by Conway Corp it officially confirmed that it will install the Landis+Gyr IoT platform which it claims will add intelligence to the city's utility services.
Conway Corp is the entity responsible for the city-owned multi-service utility system which serves the entire city. It will install Landis+Gyr's RF Mesh network in order to support and facilitate advanced metering for electric and water customers as well as its smart street lighting initiative which it plans to embark on later this year.
In addition to this, it was disclosed by a representative from Conway Corp that the utility aims to leverage the IPv6 communication capability of the network to streamline back-office management of multiple systems and expand consumer offerings in the future.
Conway Corp will present and outline its smart city vision at DistribuTECH which is a utility industry event that will be hosted next week. The utility currently provides electric, water, wastewater, street lighting, and telecommunications systems including video and internet services to city residents.
Conway Corp CEO, Bret Carroll said the decision to install the IoT platform was to expand the services it already offers in order to enhance and improve the customer service experience for all residents in the city of Conway.
He said, "Our goal is to manage city services and expand future offerings to residents in a way that improves both efficiency and the customer experience. The Landis+Gyr smart grid network provides support for our metering and system modelling initiatives, while providing the opportunity to expand sensing and home energy management technologies in the future."
Landis+Gyr's connected platform of devices helps utilities manage and monitor energy from the substation to the home. The company's success with smart city deployments globally includes the largest IPv6 network in the world at TEPCO.
Senior VP of product management and marketing at Landis+Gyr, Gary High expressed his delight at the continuation of the partnership between the two organizations and claimed it represented a shining example of how its platform can transform traditional utility services.
The VP said, "What's happening at Conway is an exciting example of how utilities can use distributed intelligence for a variety of urban management applications. With the foundation of a multi-purpose, standards-based network, utilities can expand applications to not only manage energy, but also keep up with the changing needs of consumers."