The city of St Louis, Missouri has completed working with the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology (DHS S&T) Directorate and local software development company Coolfire on a successful smart city pilot related to emergency response capabilities.
For the pilot, Coolfire connected first responders, work crews, an operations center, and citizens to improve situational awareness and enable them to respond faster and more effectively. Their real-time interactions were combined to create a common operational picture (COP) that is considered to be an essential step toward asserting command and control over high-stakes scenarios. In critical situations, making the right decisions relies on a three-dimensional understanding of the strategic environment. For military commanders, first responders, civilian administrators, chief operating officers, and supply chain managers alike, having robust situational awareness over real-time events is essential.
The pilot focused on flooding in downtown St Louis. The test scenarios included river monitoring, flash flooding, assisting vulnerable citizens, fires in buildings, and accident incident response.
“Coolfire has served commercial and military markets for many years,” added Don Sharp, CEO at Coolfire. “This pilot demonstrated how the same technology keeping soldiers safe on the battlefield can dramatically improve a city’s response during emergencies, as well as streamline daily operations.”
“Finding the types of new technologies included in the pilot is central to our smart city strategy,” said Dr Robert Gaskill-Clemons, chief technology officer for St Louis.
“Coolfire successfully demonstrated how the capabilities included in the pilot could enhance city operations and enable the city to respond to events as a city – instead of individual departments – with potential life-saving implications, thereby improving the quality of life for the residents and businesses.”