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BY IKE SEÑERES
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Thursday, January 5, 2017
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IT HAS BEEN predicted that cities will become bigger in the future, but no one is sure whether they will become safer or not.
Notwithstanding that, many companies are already staking their future in the “Internet of Things” (IOT) technologies, which in simple terms is all about installing and using sensors that are connected to machines.
Technically, since both sides of the equation are considered as machines, the terminology used is “machine to machine” or M2M for short. Although that may sound like a one to one relationship, that is not really the case, because it is more of a relationship between networks, and there are always servers in between.
For those who have not caught on to these technical terms, IOT is actually a relative term, i.e. it is relative to the term “Internet of People” (IOP). The theory behind this is that IOP is already a “done thing”, meaning to say that there is not much to do anymore when it comes to the interconnection of “people”, therefore the new challenge now is how to interconnect “things.”
However, this appears to be just a matter of semantics, because it is still “people” who are causing the interconnection of “things”, and that “people” are ultimately the direct or the indirect beneficiaries of whatever it is that these “things” could do while these are interconnected.
As of now, many Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies have already developed their “Safe Cities” frameworks. Although that might sound like a really big thing, what is really behind that are the little things in the form of sensors that would be embedded all over the cities, all of them either feeding data to several servers or sending instructions to all kinds of machines situated in the fields, the streets, the homes and the buildings, among others.
As it is in the case of IOP, the internet is a “network of networks” and that is still how it is going to be in the case of IOT. The bottom line here is that IOT will merely supplement IOP, and not supplant it.
To a large extent, it could be said that “Safe Cities” is actually an understatement, because ICT in general and IOT in particular could do more than just keeping cities safe. Generally speaking, it could be said that these technologies could also make cities more efficient in its overall operations, and more effective at that. In simpler language, it could make everything better, if not cheaper. Just to clarify, not all of ICT uses IOT, but all of IOT uses ICT. IOT does not have a “world” of its own inside the internet, because would have to use the internet cloud.
On the other hand, it is already certain that IOT is going to be the most active contributor to Big Data inside the internet. Outside the internet however, IOT could have a “world” of its own, having its own non-telco frequencies.
In theory, it could be said that sensors could be used for reading, measuring, monitoring, reporting and analyzing anything that has a value. That could include motion, moisture and temperature, among others.
Some experts might remember that these are also the functions of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) that are often used in conjunction with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controllers. I do not think that SCADA and PID will become obsolete. On the contrary, I think that there will be a convergence of ICT, IOT, SCADA and PID, in the same way that I think that there will be a convergence of ICT, IOT, Building Management Systems (BMS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).
Just to put this discussion in the right perspective, all technologies are merely just tools that would be useless if we do not know how to use these. That is the situation now in terms of using ICT and IOT to bring about the “Safe Cities.”
The tools are already available so to speak, but we still need the master carpenters to build whatever it is that we would want to build. What do you think we should do? Should we elect bright Mayors who will become our master carpenters? Or should we elect bright Mayors who will act as the master architects who will then put the master carpenters to work? And when do you think this will happen?
As of now, many mayors in other countries have already made “Safe Cities” a reality.
Seeing the possibility that not too many bright Mayors will show up in the horizon, the citizens who are bright enough to appreciate the need to build the “Safe Cities” should already take the lead in moving this advocacy forward.
For many decades now, the citizens have allowed their Mayors to take the lead, but with not much happening where they are, they should start taking the lead. These citizens need not run for public office either, because there are enough provisions in the Local Government Code (LGC) that would allow the citizens to actively participate in the Municipal Development Councils (MDCs).
So there you go, the tools are available and the venues for active participation are also available. What else is needed?/PN
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