In a continued effort to develop an innovative, forward-thinking environment in Wilson, Greenlight has adopted new Smart City technology to benefit the community. A Smart City uses sensors and technology to enhance the performance of public services. This enhances the quality of life for citizens and reduces waste, resource usage, and overall expenses. Three ways that Greenlight is implementing Smart City technology are through smart waste, automated meter infrastructure, and real-time drone data collection.

 

Smart Waste

After recent improvements were made at Lake Wilson Park, the City of Wilson needed a better solution for the increased waste generated at the park. Once a 1,000-foot pedestrian bridge was constructed, the park saw an exponential increase in visitors, and an increase in waste. We also saw a need to add a recycling option as part of the city’s continued commitment to decrease landfill waste. The solution was a new smart waste and recycling receptacle that combines a compactor with a cloud-connected platform that signals when the receptacle needs to be serviced.  

 

Automated Meter Infrastructure

Wilson Energy began deployment of automated meter infrastructure several years ago, reaching full deployment in 2017. AMI allows the city to maximize efficiency throughout the power grid, enabling real-time outage management and expanded options for customers to manage energy use. Additionally, requests for service can be managed remotely, creating a streamlined customer experience. Wilson Energy’s reliability measures have continued to climb with full AMI deployment. When outages occur, Unified Communications staff can target the issue often within seconds, and send crews to the precise area needing repair. A highly skilled workforce coupled with the latest technology has allowed Wilson Energy to become one of North Carolina’s most reliable electric utilities.

 

Real-Time Drone Data Collection

Greenlight Community Broadband has provided countless benefits to the Wilson community through expanded access to broadband. But how can city operations maximize the strength and efficiency of the network? Real-time data gathering obtained by drone image footage is one way the city is creating additional value from the Greenlight network. Collaborating with Triangle UAS, a start-up technology services company, Wilson created new data modeling to assist with several core city services. Now, the Wilson Police Department is using drone imaging at accident scenes to minimize the amount of report writing required for officers at the scene, allowing a quicker recovery. And the city is using similar technology to monitor conditions when flooding is a concern, bringing together IoT, analytics and public information best practices to keep first responders, city employees and citizens safe at the most critical times. This work was possible through grant funding provided by U.S. Ignite and administered by N.C. Next Generation Networks.