from the what-could-possibly-go-wrong? dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Sensors distributed across the city will allow the collection of real-time data to improve services, says the council.
Using Internet of Things (IoT) sensors distributed around the city to provide data in real-time data, Hull City Council says it will be able to better control street lighting, refuse collection, parking and traffic congestion, with the goal of providing better services at a reduced cost.
The council is working with a local telecoms service provider, Connexin, which built on Cisco's Kinetic for Cities platform - a subscription-based software that lets city operators view and manage data from multiple sensors, and from a single panel.
Furqan Alamgir, founder of Connexin, told ZDNet: "We found that cities struggled to digitalise because they had lots of siloed systems. For example, they might have an LED management system and a traffic management system, but the two wouldn't link to each other.
"So, building on Cisco's platform, we built a central OS that normalises all the data into one language, so that all the sensors can speak to one another seamlessly."
The platform, called CityOS, pulls together and aggregates information from a range of different IoT sensors, before passing it on to city operators. This means the data is easier to visualise, and can then be used to better manage resources.
Councillor Daren Hale said: "The system pulls together information that currently sits within separate council computer systems that enable city-wide management of the city's public assets in real time."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Tuesday October 15 2019, @12:46PM (2 children)
So instead of hacking several different systems, attackers now just need to hack one system to gain full access to the complete city. Probably by hacking one of the many IoT devices connected to it.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 5, Funny) by FatPhil on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:25PM
Please please please host DEFCON, BlackHat, or CCC in your town next year.
Yours,
Everyone who's tech-savvy and has a wicked sense of humour.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @04:16PM
Sounds like a Hull of an OS.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday October 15 2019, @12:47PM
Yes it's like we need some protocol to facilitate the exchange of data between connected nodes. Clearly needing a solution at the OS level.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1) by Drogman on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:03PM
... What could possibly go wrong.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:07PM (1 child)
Just because you call a thing CityOS does not make it an OS.
Hull is using the same conceit here that Epic Games used when Unreal Engine was called UnrealOS. Unreal was not an OS either.
It's like words have meanings or something. Jhyfhuures dresghgj jkijh vhfhiiuuhf!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:15PM
But marketing! That's where the money is.
It's like you had this Debian thing. But it's shit, so you make this brand new OS called Ubuntu and people love it!
(Score: 1) by jon3k on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:11PM (3 children)
Do we need to ask what happens when they miss a payment?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:18PM
https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9s0oylfm21qz4w1go1_400.png [tumblr.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:26PM (1 child)
Nothing happens! Literally.**
Which really set into evidence the... ummm... disconnect between:
- "City Runs On Its Own Operating System" and
- "So, building on Cisco's platform ... called CityOS"
---
** even when, normally, something was suppose to happen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @05:05PM
i like the part where the payment lapsed and they could not report that the outstanding payment was made caus ... *NO CARRIER*
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday October 15 2019, @03:03PM (5 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @05:10PM (2 children)
a smart city doesnt "DO" anything. a smart city "IS"; like it IS built where it doesn't historically flood-plain-ify -or- has natural seasonal FIRES -or- endless BAD WEATHER coasts.
i am sure smart people will comment on more examples that make a city smart!
see, that was easy!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday October 16 2019, @01:04AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 16 2019, @11:56AM
thx k bai
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday October 15 2019, @05:59PM (1 child)
An actually smart city is one that engages in a constant effort to reduce corruption in their government, including regular changeover of politicians and political parties as necessary to make that happen. Dumb cities don't do that, and it costs them big-time.
If you're talking about all this IoT stuff: I could imagine a scenario where these sensors and such reduce the need for humans going around town looking for problems. I'm not sure it would help that much: For example, your best source of information on refuse pickup would be some sort of reporting mechanism for the people who are doing the pickup to pass back info like "this neighborhood right here consistently has a lot of trash, and we should adjust for that". But maybe they know something I don't.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday October 16 2019, @01:09AM
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Tuesday October 15 2019, @05:34PM (1 child)
Since when is spending big bucks on what is likely a boondoggle considered "smart"?
Here's what almost certainly happened: local telecom services provider Connexin found a way to get friendly with a city government - campaign contributions and potentially kickbacks to key people were almost definitely involved. Said key people were induced to repay the favor by coming up with work for Connexin to do. Connexin thought a bit about what they could sell that would keep them piling in the city dough for a long time, and came up with this "Smart City" initiative with all sorts of promises about the benefits to the city. The key people in question managed to make the changes a reality, possibly with the help of dupes who thought they were genuinely on to something useful. Whether the promised benefits are ever realized, of course, is entirely incidental to the whole scam.
And of course this article exists in an effort for Connexin to fish for other cities that might be dumb enough to fall for the same marketing schtick as the Hull city council members who weren't in on the scheme fell for.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday October 15 2019, @11:06PM
"Since when is spending big bucks on what is likely a boondoggle considered "smart"?"
Since forever? I started to look up a few for examples and was quickly overwhelmed.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday October 15 2019, @10:46PM
For the crime thriller about an entire city held hostage by (insert favorite terrorist, assassin, political party, insane teenager, you get the drift). Maybe throw in a nuclear shipment passing though or a convenient zombie apocalypse starting right then....
Might be able to fold it into the Marvel or DC universes....
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.