Westminster City Council recently unveiled a hugely challenging series of new initiatives in what is now the forward-thinking body’s fourth term of Civic Renewal – helping to revolutionise the way in which the Council conducts its business while, as a by-product, ridding the Capital’s streets of petty crime and anti-social behaviour.

A central focus of the Council’s plans is The Wireless City, whereupon all communication and security systems are banded together to provide a better, more efficient service at substantially reduced costs.

The pilot project in Soho Square (‘The Wireless City’, pp18-21) currently allows CCTV cameras and noise monitoring equipment to be operated over a wireless network, meaning that the system is flexible enough to respond to new outbreaks of criminal activity, while additional cameras and equipment may be installed at extremely short notice. That said, the project’s potential extends much further.

Already, the pilot allows Westminster operatives – Street Wardens among them – to link-up with the Council’s network from the street (via PDAs and laptops) such that they might access vital information immediately and thereby resolve problems. The technology could soon be applied to the entire range of Council services at a fraction of the usual cost. According to the official publicity, Westminster would then offer “the most flexible public services of any local authority”.

The pilot scheme – early details of which were first mooted in April – is being supported by a group of global leaders in the IT field, including Intel, Cisco Systems and network integration specialist Telindus. These firms are lending their latest technologies to the project, and helping to facilitate The Wireless City. Indeed, Intel has worked closely with the Council in an advisory capacity on the definition, development and roll-out of the entire programme.

All parties involved are to be congratulated on what’s already turning into a groundbreaking project. None more so than Westminster’s enlightened networks manager Andrew Snellgrove. A client with foresight, ambition and the desire to share his IT networks with those of the security team.

As one of London’s crime ‘hot spots’, Soho is undoubtedly a tough proving ground for IP surveillance. If ‘going wireless’ is successful here, there should be no barrier to its progress.

Source

SMT