A case study of the City of Eindhoven; using big data intelligence, the Dutch authorities are able to make informed decisions on keeping the streets safe at night. In a trial of the CityPulse product, the digital product firm Atos with partners including the Dutch Institute of Safety and Security (DITSS) and Intel, has sought with the City of Eindhoven to manage the Stratumseind street in the centre of town. As the longest pub street in the Netherlands, more than 50 bars and nightclubs welcome up to 20,000 visitors of a weekend.
Bianca van Kaathoven, Vice major the City of Eindhoven, says: “The CityPulse pilot project is important to us since Eindhoven is an innovative city. We use public spaces to develop new, innovative ideas. CityPulse is helping us to make Stratumseind a safer and more enjoyable place for everyone. We are impressed by the first results and the work that Atos has achieved managing a consortium of various partners.”
Atos says that this project combines big data analytics and real-time analytics, with privacy guarantees (video data will be blurred at the source which excludes personal or facial recognition, the firm says). Besides analysing video data and sound data of the surveillance and CCTV cameras and microphones, social media is also used to create a ‘picture’ of the street.
Albert Seubers, Head of global Strategy & Business Development SmartCity at Atos, says: “The concept of using Big Data analytics for data that’s gathered from a variety of existing sources can be extended to include a number of other areas – for example giving citizens alerts when pollution, levels reach a certain threshold, or automatically redirecting traffic when parking or congestion parameters are reached. There are no limits to the challenges this solution can help your city address. We are proud to have lead this consortium that includes partners like DITTS, and look forward to be working on similar projects in other countries and sectors as this solution can be implemented and personalised anywhere, anyhow, while maintaining the strictest security and privacy levels.”
Rob Pols, CEO at Atos in the Benelux and Nordics adds: “Many businesses are considering how to extract value from big data. Atos adopted the CityPulse pilot because of its expertise in big data analytics, its investment in R&D and innovation and vast experience of analysing real-time data.”
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Data is captured from three streams: video, audio and social media analysis. Data gathered online helps the authorities to predict and respond to situations and de-escalate incidents. Five entrances to the pedestrian street carry cameras and microphones, which feed data in real-time to the police command and control centre in the city. Big data analytics use a 3D sound system by Sorama, sensors and cameras by Vinotion. Once data sources confirm an incident, the CityPulse dashboard alerts the first responders in the control room, whether to adapt lighting levels or add to police patrolling the street.
