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Overview: Addressing Government Challenges
Governments face increasing pressure to accomplish more with scarce resources. Budgets are tight or shrinking, and citizens are more demanding. In a global economy, governments are challenged to encourage business growth and economic competitiveness while safeguarding the environment and preserving old ways of life. Safety and security are increasingly important, and the digital divide remains to be bridged.
Seeking to improve productivity and efficiency and make the best use of tax revenues, government organizations are turning to innovative technology deployments, matched by re-engineered business processes, to help them eliminate paper-based processes, enhance safety and security, bridge the digital divide, promote economic growth, and enable employees, businesses and citizens to access services and information with greater ease and convenience.
To help address these community needs, Intel has announced a new Intel® Digital Communities initiative to help communities use wireless technology and innovative applications to expand and improve services for municipal governments, businesses and citizens.
Under the initiative, Intel is leading a diverse group of high-tech companies to help 13 "pilot" communities design, develop and deploy comprehensive solutions and services to enhance government efficiency, promote economic growth, foster greater community satisfaction and bridge the digital divide. The applications range from automating mobile workers such as meter readers and building inspectors, to increasing the safety and enhancing resource management of first responders by remotely monitoring vehicle location, to enhancing parent-teacher collaboration for improved student success.
The Digital Community Solution
For cities, communities and regions, creating a Digital Community can be a crucial step to empower governments. To reach this goal in a scalable, cost-effective fashion requires building on existing infrastructure and ensuring that point solutions complement and reinforce each other.
A Digital Community is a connected community that combines broadband communications infrastructure and innovative services to meet the needs of governments, businesses, their employees and citizens. In a Digital Community, broadband technologies enable high-speed communication from virtually every corner of the community (Figure 1), and wireless, Internet-enabled tablet PCs and handheld devices enable field staff on the move—from meter readers to home health nurses to emergency response teams—to communicate with the office and access mission critical information.
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| Figure 1. Representative of Wi-Fi* technologies integration with WiMAX backhaul to integrate Digital Community fabrics, with outlying residential and hotspot areas. |
Citizens can access government services from civic kiosks or from the comfort of home via their Internet-connected PCs. While wireless infrastructure is a key element of Digital Community infrastructure, it is only a first step. The Digital Community may require hardwired broadband infrastructure, and it is much more than just the network. A Digital Community provides interoperable, Internet-based government services that enable ubiquitous connectivity to transform key government processes, both internally across departments and employees and externally to citizens and businesses.
Benefits of the Digital Community
The Digital Community delivers a compelling return on investment. In a Digital Community, government departments and employees can operate more efficiently and work more productively. Police, firefighters and healthcare providers can respond more quickly to emergencies and security threats. Citizens gain convenient access to new or streamlined government services and to more convenient sources of information about their communities. Businesses enjoy the technology infrastructure and economic environment to nurture growth and development. These changes produce a variety of benefits:
Increased government efficiency. Government employees can produce more in the same number of hours worked, because they have access to information. Workers can perform more inspections, repairs and visits per day while also providing colleagues with up-to-date information. Staff and officials can be more effective, and their services provide better value to the citizens who pay for them.
Better use of taxpayer dollars. With a Digital Community framework, IT investments lead to interoperable applications and integrated services that leverage previous expenditures. Information can be shared more easily between agencies, leading to further efficiencies. Investments in schools and communities can reinforce each other.
Greater economic vitality. Cities can't change their weather, but they can make themselves more attractive to businesses through advanced communications networks and services. Digital Communities can attract more of the burgeoning services sector, replacing lost manufacturing jobs and raising the standard of living. Tourism is enhanced as well, since visitors are more likely to spend more time and money locally when they can look up hotels, attractions and transport links from wireless Internet kiosks.
Improved safety and security. A Digital Community is better equipped to address crime, fires, severe weather, accidents and terror attacks. Services deployed under a wireless infrastructure make it easy to disseminate critical data rapidly. Access to real-time information from the scene can improve response times of the police, fire and medical services involved and ensure an appropriate level of response, potentially saving property and the lives of people caught up in the incident as well.
A shrinking digital divide. Digital Communities bring Internet-based communication and education solutions to the worldwide community. The community's computer literacy levels rise as people learn how to use wireless kiosks and public access points in civic buildings. This not only increases citizen satisfaction, but creates new job opportunities by raising the skills of the workforce and better equipping workers for success in the global knowledge economy.
Increased citizen satisfaction. Whether in obtaining a business license or helping their children with homework assignments; citizens of the Digital Community quickly see that government operates more efficiently and effectively. Citizens can pay bills, obtain licenses and access information about traffic, events and leisure activities. Schools, hospitals, city offices, libraries and community centers leverage each other's resources and infrastructure, enabling students and citizens to more easily contribute to their communities and communicate with their local governments.
Building the Digital Community
Implementing a Digital Community is a four-phase process:
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 | Unwire Establish an infrastructure where government, business and citizens can enjoy basic wireless access throughout the city. In this initial phase, cities develop a public IT plan. | |
| Extend Expand the wireless network and integrate it with existing infrastructure. Basic network security technologies are implemented, and eServices are deployed to departments or workers as individual applications. | |
| Mobilize Provide full mobile roaming, deploying eService applications at multiple agencies, and enabling interagency data interoperability. | |
| Realize Seamless broadband access and extensive eServices, which enable users to enjoy on-demand services while moving seamlessly from wired connections to wireless connections from any corner of the community at any time. | |
Intel® Digital Communities Initiative
The Intel® Digital Communities Initiative brings together technology leaders and progressive cities worldwide to plan and deploy advanced digital services for communities. These services transform the way Digital Communities live, work, and play via a solutions framework that includes wireless broadband connectivity, core computing technologies, and interoperable applications. Benefits include improved government efficiency in delivering services, increased economic opportunity for businesses, enhanced safety and security for citizens, and easier access to information for everyone. Solution examples include police officers submitting reports from the field, parents collaborating electronically with teachers, and citizens renewing their driver's license without having to visit an office.
"As wireless technology continues to evolve, local governments are seizing the opportunity to address critical issues in their community including equal and affordable access to broadband and more efficient and effective government services," said Anand Chandrasekher, vice president and director, Intel Sales and Marketing Group. "We are working closely with these communities to help them take the next step and harness the benefits of wireless technology. The benefits include lower cost of operations, enhanced public safety and security, and a foundation for growth and competitiveness."
Digital Communities Worldwide The Digital Communities pilots span major geographies including the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Participating cities include Cleveland, Ohio; Corpus Christi, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Portland, Ore. in the United States, along with Mangaratiba, Brazil; Dusseldorf, Germany; Gyor, Hungary; Jerusalem, Israel; Principality of Monaco; Seoul, South Korea; Osaka, Japan; Taipei, Taiwan; and Westminster, United Kingdom (see map).
Intel is working closely with Cisco, Dell, IBM, and SAP to help communities around the world replicate the successful installments in the pilot communities, which span from small cities to major metropolitan areas.
The Digital Communities Consortium In addition to Intel, Cisco, Dell, IBM and SAP, many other companies are working in the Digital Communities program, including Accela, Airpath Wireless, Alvarion, British Telecom, CapGemini, CDW Government, Inc (CDW-G), Check Point, Civitium, EarthLink, iMove, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company, Pronto Networks, Szintezis Rt., Telindus, Tropos and Vertex.
Intel is also working closely with Muniwireless.com, an online site devoted to municipal wireless broadband, detailing the return on investment that local governments can realize from technology deployment. In conjunction with the Intel Digital Communities initiative, Muniwireless created a solutions library with case studies that highlights how applications can help governments increase productivity, save money and improve services.
Digital Community Success Stories
Cleveland, Ohio; Corpus Christi, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Taipei, Taiwan are among the worldwide pilot communities using technology industriously today. Here are examples of how two of those cities are deploying Digital Communities projects:
The City of Philadelphia (population 1,567,000) is planning a Digital Communities project to make wireless access available across 135 square miles over the next two years. City fathers expect the project to speed economic development and improve education through ubiquitous wireless access, help overcome the digital divide, and reduce the cost of service delivery. A pilot of an eService of building inspections for dangerous buildings and code enforcement violations identified $2.7 million in savings for that one project alone through saved inspector time and reduced telecommunication costs. The City expects to save as much as $2 million annually on telecommunication costs once the wireless network is deployed citywide.
The City of Corpus Christi, Texas (population 281,000) is undertaking a two-year, US$6.7 million Digital Communities project that's planned to cover 147 square miles. First steps include installation of an 18.5-square-mile mesh network in 2004, with automated meter reading capability for gas and water meters being piloted as the first mobile application. Some 70 percent of the city's 3,100 employees work in the field, and will benefit from dozens of planned mobile solutions, which will extend not only to these workers but also to county, port authority, state and federal departments. Citizens will be able to access many city services via the network. Solutions will cost less because their infrastructure is based on mass-produced, standards-based Intel® architecture building blocks. The city expects benefits in the areas of education, economic vitality and lower crime rates. The network is also extending broadband to areas where it was not available previously.
Summary
The Intel® Digital Communities Initiative brings together technology leaders and progressive cities worldwide to plan and deploy advanced digital services for communities. These services transform the way Digital Communities live, work, and play via a solutions framework that includes wireless broadband connectivity, core computing technologies, and interoperable applications. Among the numerous benefits are improved government efficiency in delivering services, increased economic opportunity for businesses, enhanced safety and security for citizens, and easier access to information for everyone.
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