Smart City FAQ

A Smart City uses technology and event collection to improve the lives of the residentsand visitors. The improvements to be gained are operational efficiency of the city systems, safety of the residents and visitors, sustained economic growth and improved environmental conditions. Communications technology is the foundation of a Smart City both to allow the data collection and analysis and the presentation of the results to be openly communicated to residents and visitors.

Winter Park specific goals are to improve parking conditions in the city, monitor lakes for water quality and flood conditions, improve automatic meter readings for water and electric, implement early warning for air quality or weather events, provide economic data to businesses ,like traffic flow or people counters, improve access to city forums and information, allow visitors to access parking, retail and service businesses through technology, and maintain the security of residents and visitors in parks and other public locations.

The Smart City initiative will allow the residents to find parking, avoid traffic jams, promote safety in public parks, be notified of utility outages and water leaks, be notified of city events, and improve communications with city leaders.

The Winter Park Smart City committee and other city leaders have engaged Magellan Broadband to develop a Connectivity Plan and a Smart City plan. Both of these plans are well underway and are being reviewed by city leaders. The Connectivity Plan addresses the city needs for improved networking between city facilities and improved ability for residents and visitors to access the internet in Winter Park. An initiative is already in progress and almost completed to connect city facilities with high-speed optic fiber internet. Feasibility studies for city owned wireless networks to connect sensors, utility meters, and informational displays are included in the Connectivity Plan. The smart city plan focuses on the use cases that can be developed on the foundation of the Connectivity Plan.