Eccos Smart City Enablement Platform
The concept of a smart city is best defined as a vision of urban development using various information and communication technologies (ICT) in order to better meet the needs of citizens and improve the efficiency of city services.
The concept of a smart city allows city administrations to manage the city in a new, smarter way, using digital technologies, as well as better understanding of the needs of citizens and visitors (tourists). This means an optimal use of the existing resources, care for a safe and sustainable environment and provision of always available personalized information to all service users.
Some of the examples of application of this concept are:
– traffic: data collected via different sensors, video cameras, social networks and the like helps city administrations to better understand the traffic of vehicles and pedestrians in the city, and thus better traffic management (for example, redirecting traffic to areas with currently lower traffic density).
– parking: the implementation of smart parking technology allows directing drivers to vacant parking spaces, which increases parking revenue and reduces pollution and traffic jams,
– prevention and detection of crime: the use of video surveillance cameras for various purposes (traffic management, parking management, etc.) for security purposes ensures a reduced number of crimes, as well as easier identification of criminal offenders,
– emergency services: for example, the control of traffic light system allows faster arrival of emergency services to the site, and the use of different systems for e.g. evacuation, has been also enabled,
– etc.
In order to enable cities and city administrations to implement the concept of smart cities, Eccos has developed the Eccos Smart City Enablement Platform (ESCEP) that enables communication between the various participants in the smart city processes. The platform primarily ensures more efficient functioning of the city administration and raises the level of public safety.
ESCEP is a platform that enables universal connectivity and data exchange, i.e., it represents an interface for different (ICT) systems (program and machine solutions of various manufacturers) used by city administration, but well as by other process participants in the day-to-day city operations.
All interactions between connected systems run through ESCEP, enabling one of the key platform functionalities – a powerful reporting system. It is possible to create and display different types of reports in accordance with the needs and rights of a particular (city) service that uses the system or individual user. In addition to operating and service reports that facilitate the management of various systems integrated in the ESCEP platform, it is possible to draw up different financial reports, ensuring monitoring of financial data relevant to the work of individual city services.
One of today’s key requirements for city services and companies is to provide citizens and visitors (tourists) with high-quality information about city services. The implementation of the ESCEP platform enables quick and easy informing of any interested party through the implementation of various sales channels: internet portals, mobile applications, smart infokiosks, etc., allowing sales and billing of various services. Services sold through the ESCEP platform can be city services (utilities, parking, etc.), but the platform is not limited to the type and service provider.