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real-time monitoring of the condition of weapons and equipment.
The paper also addresses security and other concerns. Security recommenda- tions include encrypting important IoT data at every point when the cost aligns with the risks and value, while any IoT deployment “must be supported by a business case,” the paper states.
CITIES AS INNOVATIVE
TEST BEDS
NASA and U.S. intelligence agencies have also been using connected sensors for many years. The Energy Depart- ment, meanwhile, has promoted the use of smart buildings, and the General Services Administration has pushed for federal buildings to convert to smart IoT technologies.
However, most government adoption remains at the city level, with vendors such as IBM, Oracle, Cisco Systems and Microsoft pushing smart-city technolo- gies. The leading IoT adopters include San Francisco, which has deployed smart traffic management technologies; Washington, D.C., which tracks the ca- pacity of garbage containers in parts of the city; and Kansas City, Mo., which uses real-time data to show available parking spots and traffic flow.
But cities should not adopt tech- nology for technology’s sake, said Daniele Loffreda, state and local gov- ernment adviser at network strategy vendor Ciena.
He added that he has recently noticed a major philosophy shift in the smart- city movement.
In recent years, cities have focused on technology such as sensors, video cameras and meters without a clear goal. “CIOs are realizing this is flawed logic and that in order for these initia- tives to be successful, they must focus first on identifying citizen issues that are best solved with technology,” Lof- freda said. “A lot of cities are having to hit the reset button on their smart-city initiatives.”
Still, there’s plenty of potential for
the IoT in city governments, said Felicite Moorman, CEO of IoT vendors StratIS and BuLogic. Traffic management and measurement are common uses of IoT technology at the city level, but they are far from the only things the technology can do.
The focus on transportation “kind of cracks me up because it’s such a small piece of what a city is and does,” she added.
Cities could install smart thermostats in its buildings and achieve huge energy savings. Door locks in public housing could be controlled via a smartphone app to help residents feel more secure. People misplace and share keys, “but nobody shares their phone,” Moorman said.
She foresees cities and other govern- ments connecting more and more de- vices to the IoT, with sensors, devices and databases all linked and, in many cases, talking to one another. All those connected systems will help cities track information, analyze data and make better decisions, she said.
“Almost everything will be IoT short- ly,” she added.
A QUESTION OF LEADERSHIP
City governments appear to lead other levels of government in IoT adoption be- cause they have more flexibility to inno- vate, Moorman said. Cities have direct control of their budgets, and they “have the fastest return on their investment for that innovation,” she added.
Rosa Akhtarkhavari, CIO for Orlando, Fla., said city governments are often a test bed for other agencies. Several years ago, she was the lone city representative to join federal officials in a panel discus- sion about technology in government. “I asked, ‘What am I doing here?’” she re- called. “The answer was, ‘You cities are our proof of concept.’”
Under the leadership of Akhtarkha- vari and Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orlando has embraced the IoT. The city uses con- nected sensors to view traffic patterns and connected lights to manage traffic
in some neighborhoods. The city also relies on connected supervisory control and data acquisition systems to auto- mate its wastewater treatment plant during parts of the day, and it has in- stalled an automated air control system in many city buildings.
Since 2015, Orlando has saved about $1 million a year in deferred utility costs, with a larger annual cost savings projected in the coming years, Akhtarkhavari said.
The city has also installed smart park- ing meters, started to dabble in environ- mental sensors to measure stormwater flow, and is planning to outfit police of- ficers with connected video cameras.
Although they are enthusiastic about IoT technology, officials are thought- ful about where they deploy it. For ex- ample, they have been cautious about turning over traffic signals to automa- tion because traffic control is an art, Akhtarkhavari said.
The city is also sensitive to surveil- lance concerns from some members of the public. Officials think carefully about “which information we can col- lect without impacting the privacy of our citizens,” she said.
Even with concerns about security and privacy, many IoT experts see huge growth for the technology in the coming years, though some say the next wave is hard to predict.
IoT is “in nearly everything we do,” said Donald Hasson, director of product management at secure access solutions provider Bomgar. He views the lack of adoption at government agencies as a leadership issue rather than a security one.
Agencies will need to look for the right vendors and find the right people to deploy and maintain IoT systems, he added. And although IoT has great po- tential, it is not the answer to every gov- ernment need.
“IoT is a buzzword; it’s not a solution,” Hasson said. “What you have is a prob- lem. You need a solution. In some cases, that’s going to be an IoT device.” •
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