Georgia Power, Current by GE, AT&T, and Intel are working together to transform the city of Atlanta, Georgia’s existing street-lighting into a sensor-enabled data network. In this pilot project, Current’s CityIQ sensor nodes have been installed on 200 street-lights in five locations across the city to create a connected digital infrastructure.
Each node houses multiple sensors – including optical, acoustic, and environmental sensors. The sensors use Intel’s CPU, 0.5-terabyte hard-drive storage, a communications modem, and Bluetooth, USB and Power Over Ethernet (PoE) ports. An AT&T SIM card transmits the data and Intel technology helps extract metadata. Multiple datasets can be collected – such as traffic, pedestrian, bicycle, parking, etc., to enable the design of solutions in areas such as improving mobility, public safety, traffic management, digital signage, stormwater detection, flood monitoring and more.
“Our customers are changing and where they live is changing,” stated Christine Primmer, Smart Cities Strategy Manager, Georgia Power. “In the heart of Atlanta, we’re expecting another two million people over the next two decades, which is going to put a dramatic strain on infrastructure on top of the issues we’re already dealing with.”
Atlanta’s Chief Technology Officer, Tye Hayes, said: “Atlanta is experiencing large increases in urban population, visitors and the number of businesses developing in or relocating to the city. This creates new challenges in handling street, foot and data traffic, as well as ensuring a safe and sustainable environment for the city’s residents and businesses. At the same time, the expectations of our residents, visitors and businesses are undergoing a massive shift toward greater demand for connectivity, immediacy, sustainability and safety. The constant demand to be innovative while marrying the citizens’ needs with the municipality’s duty to provide efficient and effective services is a top concern when prioritising smart city initiatives. Public safety, public services and overall public experience are the things that drive how we look at technology innovation for our infrastructure, and ultimately for the future of the city.”
