HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019/12/10 - ADMIN - Agenda Packets - Community Technology Advisory Commission - Regular
AGENDA
COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMISSION
WESTWOOD ROOM
6:30 P.M.
DEC. 10, 2019
1. Call to order – roll call
2. Adoption of agenda
3. Public comment
4. Welcome Theo Pohlen, youth member
5. Approval of minutes
a. October 30, 2019
6. 2020 meeting calendar
a. Suggested dates: Feb. 12, May 13, Aug. 12, Nov. 10
7. Expectations for 2020
8. Committees
a. Community engagement committee (Bruce Browning, Cindy Hoffman, Rolf Peterson)
b. Technical committee formation (SmartCities)
9. Staff items
a. Update on cable franchise renewal
b. January focus groups
10. Communications from the chair/commissioners
11. Adjourn
If you cannot attend the meeting please contact Jacque Smith:
jsmith@stlouispark.org or 952.924.2632 by 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9.
Telecommunications Advisory Commission
Unofficial minutes
Oct. 30, 2019
1. Call to order at 6:02 p.m. – roll call
Present: Cindy Hoffman, Mare n Anderson, Rolf Peterson, Bruce Browning
Staff: Clint Pires, Jacque Smith
Absent: Mohamed Mohamud, David Dyer
2. Adoption of Agenda
No additions
3. Approval of minutes: Sept. 10, 2019
Browning moved, Hoffman seconded
4. Public comment – none
5. Presentation: A brief history of fiber and futures in St. Louis Park (Clint Pires)
Pires said he is trying to document some of the projects he’s undertaken while at the city. Budget
challenges have resulted in a slowdown in construction of fiber. He suggested that initiatives from
CTAC will drive the next wave of council support. The city has a very strong backbone to support a
number of initiatives.
Browning asked that we have three internet providers in town. He wanted to know what is
happening with CenturyLink. Pires responded that permits requested from the city have slowed
significantly. Levine stated that the overhead power lines are a vulnerability of the city.
Pires suggested that one project to consider is investment by USI in installing conduit where it isn’t
already located.
Browning asked about Comcast and franchise fees; Smith provided a brief update on legal action
from NATOA and that the city is participating in.
6. Update on transition to CTAC
Smith provided a brief update
7. Committees
a. Community engagement committee report (Bruce Browning, Cindy Hoffman, Rolf Peterson)
Browning presented information about the draft survey that their committee has developed. He
explained that they took questions from surveys in Tacoma and Seattle. He said some questions
pertain to entities over which we have no control, such as the county library and school district.
Levine said he is questioning whether or not this has anything to do with our new commission
mission. He said the basic question is how can technology make life in the city better. Anderson
asked if the city has the capacity or budget to even implement suggestions. Peterson said of the
five goals and objectives they started with equity and determining how people can access
technology.
Smith suggested looking at input from previous community engagement efforts to see if some
information might be relevant.
Anderson suggested finding out from the city what initiatives we’re close to and ask people
which would be most helpful to them, versus open-ended questions. Peterson asked if there
were some examples of things that don’t exist that would make life better. Levine clarified that
it doesn’t have to be new things, just things that haven’t happened in St. Louis Park. Peterson
suggested breaking it down into certain areas like transportation, etc.
Pires agreed with looking at other community engagement efforts that happen. He also
suggested that looking at sources like American Community Media may glean some of the same
information. He also mentioned that the city is planning to do a residential survey in 2020 so
perhaps some questions can be added to that.
Pires said first determine what you’re trying to learn, then figure out how you’re going to get
there. Levine said the first goal was to use engagement and input to figure out what the
commission should work on. Levine said a couple people should consider what pointed
questions are for input and to condense the questions. Browning asked if Levine would provide
some suggestions. Pires said the other approach is to develop a list of smart city initiatives and
ask people what’s important to them.
Levine suggested that either everyone does some research and puts some ideas down about
possible initiatives from other cities or a couple of people and Clint could get together and come
up with ideas. He asked that by Nov. 15 commission members have done their research and
sent some ideas to Browning, Peterson, Hoffman and copying Levine and Smith. Browning asked
if Smith could find information from Vision and other community engagement efforts and share
with the commission.
b. Technical committee formation
Levine said this was premature after hearing discussion from communications committee.
8. Workplan follow ups
9. Communication from the chair/commissioners
Levine reminded commissioners that attendance at meetings is important. Attendance records are
showing some members with several absences for the year. The chair is empowered by the bylaws
to have discussion with members who have had numerous absences to determine their intent for
serving on the commission.
The commission agreed on four meetings, one per quarter, for 2020. The commission felt much of
their work will take place at subcommittees. Pires suggested reports from the committees should be
sent ahead of time to be included in the commission packet.
Smith let the commissioners know that the boards and commissions application period would be
Jan. 2-Feb. 29; three commission members have terms expiring May 31, 2020 – Bruce Browning,
Maren Anderson, Cindy Hoffman – who should be thinking about whether or not they plan to
reapply.
Smith also asked the commission members to put Feb. 24, 2020, on their calendars for the annual
boards and commissions events.
10. Staff items
a. Theo Pohlen student application received; will be on Nov. 4 council agenda
b. Update on cable franchise renewal; needs assessment
c. Next meeting: Dec. 11 (host in council chambers and broadcast?)
Motion by Peterson, Anderson seconded adjournment. Meeting adjourned 7:55 p.m.
List of Smart Cities and Smart Buildings Potential Projects
More URL’s about Lighting: https://www.intellistreets.com/
Green City Solutions’ CityTree
Green City Solutions wants to help cities “combat economic loss by becoming smog free.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), urban smog is becoming worse, with
over 80% of the urban population worldwide breathing air polluted beyond safe limits. The
agency said that this contributes to more than 3 million deaths annually, with health issues
caused by smog resulting in an economic loss of $1.6 trillion per year in the EU alone.
One answer would be to plant more trees, right? Unfortunately, cities’ limited free space means
this is rarely a viable option. Green City Solutions’ has come up with a workaround that
addresses the space issue, bringing together plant life and IoT technology to improve air quality
without requiring vast amounts of land.
The company’s CityTree is a bioengineered vertical stand that reaches 4 meters high. The
stand is able to purify the air around it with capacity equivalent to 275 trees, while taking up 99%
less ground space.
According to Denes Honus, CEO and co-founder of the startup, the CityTree is able to scour the
air clean of harmful city pollutants including nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and particle matter
including fine dust, which can be hazardous to the lungs of residents and workers.
The CityTree is based on biotechnology and utilizes a special moss culture that attracts
pollutants and converts such toxins into its own biomass. The executive said that each CityTree
installation is able to reduce pollution levels within 50 meters up to 30%, and as each CityTree
takes up so little ground space, the products are “95% more cost effective” than relying on more
natural, leafy means.
“The moss literally eats the air pollution,” Honus said.
While the moss is doing its work, IoT technology comes in to support the CityTree by monitoring
for any operational problems and alerting users when maintenance is required.
Since 2014, the startup has launched CityTrees in Oslo, Norway; Dresden and Klingenthal,
Germany; Hong Kong; and Paris.
ShotSpotter on the streets of New York
Law enforcement agencies are turning toward technology and science in droves in the fight
against crime.
Last year the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) committed $35 million
in funding for programs that utilize technology and science to reduce crime rates, and in some
cities, private firms are already working with the police to put smart solutions at work.
In New York City, the NYPD is collaborating with ShotSpotter, a gunfire detection system
“optimized for civilian applications.”
The technology is being tested in the U.S. city as part of a two-year pilot program, and
ShotSpotter systems have been installed in seven Bronx precincts as well as 10 in Brooklyn,
covering a range of 15 square miles.
According to the firm, the gunfire detection system can not only detect different types of
weaponry as it is being fired but is also able to monitor an area 250 times bigger than standard
point protection sensors used in the military can – the equivalent being 3,000 times the
coverage of a typical counter-sniper sensor.
ShotSpotter say they help law enforcement “do more with less,” and the “intelligence-led
policing” solution reduces wasted police time by helping the force respond more effectively to
true emergencies and shootings.
In addition, data collected by ShotSpotter sensors can also be used to analyze and discern
trends, patterns and criminal hot spots in urban areas.
Verizon: Envision Charlotte
U.S. telecommunications provider Verizon is another company keen to expand into the IoT and
smart city space.
Verizon touts machine-to-machine (M2M) learning technologies as a way for city officials to
control and improve urban transport, resource management, energy usage and public safety.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, the firm’s Smart City Solutions are being utilized through
the Envision Charlotte scheme, a project designed to help businesses in the city to reduce
greenhouse gases and increase energy efficiency through Internet of Things technology.
The project, running from July 2015 to July 2018, utilizes interactive kiosks and monitors placed
strategically around the city that gather information relating to energy usage.
Envision Charlotte has already achieved an energy reduction level of 8.4%, saving businesses
an estimated $10 million.
Over 70 buildings, including the Bank of America Plaza, City Hall, the County Courthouse and
Federal Reserve Bank, host these systems, which monitor energy use and provide statisti cs in
real time through 4G LTE.
What Is The Array of Things? https://arrayofthings.github.io/
What if a light pole told you to watch out for an icy patch of sidewalk ahead? What if an app told
you the most populated route for a late-night walk to the El station by yourself? What if you
could get weather and air quality information block-by-block, instead of city-by-city?
The Array of Things (AoT) is an urban sensing network of programmable, modular nodes that
will be installed around cities to collect real-time data on the city’s environment, infrastructure,
and activity for research and public use. AoT will essentially serve as a “fitness tracker” for the
city, measuring factors that impact livability in cities such as climate, air quality and noise.
What is the Goal of the Array of Things?
AoT will provide real-time, location-based data about urban environment, infrastructure and
activity to researchers and the public. This initiative has the potential to al low researchers,
policymakers, developers and residents to work together and take specific actions that will make
cities healthier, more efficient and more livable. The data will help cities operate more efficiently
and realize cost savings by anticipating and proactively addressing challenges such as urban
flooding and traffic safety.
Because the data will be published openly and without charge, it will also support the
development of innovative applications, such as a mobile application that allows a resident to
track their exposure to certain air contaminants, or to navigate through the city based on
avoiding urban heat islands, poor air quality, or excessive noise and congestion.
Array of Things also serves as the flagship deployment of an innovative new type of
cyberinfrastructure -- a distributed, programmable system of nodes that can be used to answer
critical research questions across different settings and fields of study. AoT is based
upon Waggle technology, an open platform for edge computing and intelligent, wireless sensors
developed at Argonne National Laboratory. In addition to AoT and other urban research
initiatives, Waggle software and hardware supports environmental and atmospheric science in a
variety of environments, from the Chicago Botanic Garden to the Atmospheric Radiation
Measurement Research Facility in Oklahoma.
What Data is Collected?
The nodes will initially measure temperature, barometric pressure, light, vibration, carbon
monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, ambient sound intensity, and pedestrian and
vehicle traffic. Continued research and development is using machine learning to create
sensors to monitor other urban factors of interest such as flooding and standing water.
The Array of Things project is interested in monitoring urban environment and activity, not
individuals. In fact, the technology and policy have been designed to specifically minimize any
potential collection of data about individuals, so privacy protection is built into the design of the
sensors and into the operating policies.
What Can be Done with this Data?
Potential applications of data collected by the Array of Things include:
• Sensors monitoring air quality, sound and vibration (to detect heavy vehicle traffic), and
temperature can be used to suggest the healthiest and unhealthiest walking times and
routes through the city, or to study the relationship between diseases and the urban
environment.
• Real-time detection of urban flooding can improve city services and infrastructure to
prevent property damage and illness.
• Measurements of micro-climate in different areas of the city, so that residents can get
up-to-date, high-resolution "block-by-block" weather and climate information.
• Observe which areas of the city are heavily populated by pedestrians at different times
of day to suggest safe and efficient routes for walking late at night or for timing traffic
lights during peak traffic hours to improve pedestrian safety and reduce congestion -
related pollution.
Array of Things data and technology will also be available for educational purposes, engaging
local students and training them on important job skills. Read more about our educational
initiatives and curricula
More to see: https://www.nominet.uk/list-smart-city-projects/
From Maren Anderson:
I am not sure of the difference between a SMART City and one that uses apps, but here are a few things
I'd find useful:
Has my garbage come yet?
Is my street plowed yet (can I park on it)?
How close is my kids school bus (supposed to be released this year)
Track emergency responders after dialing 911 - how close are they?
App to send quick messages to teachers
App to report my kids school absence
Better Metro Transit app - it's hard to use downtown with high concentration of buses
Track park shelters - are they reserved on given days so I know if I can use for a few minutes without
reserving
App for communicating with Council members/City staff