CITY OF MESA buzzwords , acronyms , government-speak and translating that into something that is more appropriate for their audience .
“ Traditionally a government is very siloed but we ' ve worked really hard to knock down those silos and empower departments to come to the table with ideas , because we don ' t want to be the centralised communication office on the hill dictating
35th largest city in the US
500,000 population of Mesa , Arizona
US $ 3mn city of Mesa investment in digitally transforming to a smart city
4,000 employees work at City of Mesa
2,280 acres of parkland are in the city limits - the largest is Red Mountain Park which spans 1,146 acres what needs to be done . We want individual departments to have a voice because when they do , then they ' re speaking to the true needs of the citizens .”
Saving lives through technology One important aspect of a smart city is improving the response time of the police and fire crews . NextGen 911 has been designed to improve upon the systems to take and respond to emergencies with Text to 911 and new ways to get data from mobile users with E911 . The new computer-aided design ( CAD ) system under construction will allow emergency dispatch to use all the data to direct help where it ’ s needed .
NextGen 911 will enable first responders to have priority to communications channels , in order to streamline their communications across departments across cities . One of the things that law enforcement will have available in the future is the ability to change the colour of street lights when they are en-route to an emergency . It will work in a similar way to a garage door opener as it will be on the dashboard of the patrol car and they click it and the light will change .
One of the ways this will be possible is by using FirstNet which is the first high-speed , nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety .
According to Cutright , the City of Mesa ’ s Fire and Medical has partnered with the Transportation Department to improve response times by giving emergency services priority at traffic lights - automatically changing the lights to allow quick access . “ We have a program that is in place where the GPS of our public safety vehicle interfaces with our traffic controllers to preempt the lights to change colour so they can continue through the intersection safely .”
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