IDC Smart Cities Awards: Edge Computing is Helping Virginia Beach Tackle its Flooding Crisis

Premio Banner Ad

 

In remote and disaster-prone areas, the rapid deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) has opened new vistas for emergency management and community safety in smart cities. These leading IoT deployments, highlighted at the recent announcement of the IDC Smart Cities Awards winners, solidified the role that edge computing is going to play in realizing some of the most important smart city projects of the era.

The yearly IDC Smart Cities North America Awards showcase some of the most innovative use cases & deployments for smart city technology on the continent, including the use AI-powered and edge computing-dependent IoT projects tackling different slices of the smart city ecosystem, from civic engagement, to public health, to transformation, and more.

One of the standout winners included a flood resiliency initiative in Virginia Beach, VA. FloodVISION-AI, a cutting-edge project in Virginia aimed at enhancing flood resilience, was made a winner at the IDC Smart Cities Awards for its innovative approach to water management. This initiative, part of the broader StormSense Project, employs machine learning to interpret water levels from advanced 4K web cameras with infrared capabilities, set up in 2022. The deployment of these cost-effective and energy-efficient sensors marks a significant advancement in water level sensing, complementing the active sensors maintained by USGS and NOAA. Critical to the success of this project was the use of edge computing solutions, which are allowing for data processing to be done close to where data is collected, including in extremely rugged environments and use cases like flood monitoring.

What makes this IDC Smart Cities Awards winning project and its use of IoT ecosystems such a success? How important will edge computing be, especially at the rugged edge, in these types of environmental insights projects for successful smart cities? Iain Murray, Ph.D., a pioneer and leading researcher in the field of IoT, and a John Curtin Distinguished Professor at the School of EECMS at Curtain University, explains why, for these kinds of mission critical operations in rugged environments, constant uptime to perform critical computations and make decisions in real-time without needing a continuous connection to the cloud is so paramount.

“Having the processing at the edge, absolutely crucial in disaster management where you can lose internet, but also crucial in many other instances where we have unreliable or very low bandwidth connections,” Murray said.

Article written by Daniel Litwin.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Exploring Desktop Virtualization for Education and BFSI Sectors
Exploring Desktop Virtualization for Education and BFSI Sectors
November 14, 2024

The education and BFSI sectors in India are embracing desktop virtualization to modernize their operations and reduce costs. In the latest episode of The Edge & Beyond podcast, Michelle Dawn Mooney hosts a discussion with key figures from Intel and INP, focusing on how their partnership is reshaping computing for these sectors through the Intelligent…

Read More
trusted adults
The Role of Trusted Adults in Student Resilience and Wellbeing
November 12, 2024

In this episode of School Safety Today by Raptor Technologies, host Dr. Amy Grosso speaks with Melissa Kree about fostering resilience in students. Kree shares insights from her role in student mental health and school safety. The discussion emphasizes the role of trusted adults in supporting students, exploring how resilience involves ongoing support from…

Read More
Exceptional Customer Service in Healthcare is the Cornerstone of Building Patient Trust
November 12, 2024

The significance of excellent customer service in every corner and industry cannot be overstated. This notion is especially crucial in healthcare, where patient experiences often influence their recovery and overall well-being. The topic of customer service in the medical field is always a priority in healthcare because providers strive to enhance patient satisfaction and…

Read More
eVTOL certification
Safran’s AI, Telemetry, and Data Precision Pave the Way for eVTOL Certification
November 11, 2024

The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) industry is set to transform urban transportation by addressing congestion and promoting sustainable travel options. Experts predict the global eVTOL market will surge to $39 billion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.8% over the next decade. This rapid expansion is fueled by…

Read More