At ASU’s fourth annual Smart Region Summit, held virtually last month, the university convened a diversity of partners – including Cox – and more than 550 participants to focus on the application of new human and technological innovation strategies that put into action the concept of the smart city and region. This year’s conversations revolved around the intersection of smart cities and digital equity, and highlighted valuable conversations and collaborations that will help us narrow the digital divide.
Cox proudly supported two of the Summit’s sessions: Connected Public Safety and Transportation and Partnerships for a Smarter Region. Explore how these two areas are valuable when creating smarter, more connected communities.
Keeping the roads safer, together
As a co-convener of the 2022 Smart Region Summit, Cox supported the event’s Connected Public Safety and Transportation session, during which local leaders discussed how smart technology can be used to keep local and state communities safer. “Often transportation is overlooked but it’s really a foundation for connections,” said moderator Marisa Walker, Senior Vice President, Infrastructure at Arizona Commerce Authority. “In many ways, the first internet is our road systems and the ways that it connects people.”
Mailen Pankiewicz, Principal Planner of Pedestrian Safety for the City of Phoenix, shared how Phoenix is using smart technology intersections to reduce the number of accidents specifically with traffic signal detection of vehicle speed. “Our main focus has been to go a step beyond and think about just basic human behavior and how we are wired, coupling that with socio-economic factors that lead to a lot of the collisions that we’re having,” said Maile. “Before we think about technology, we think about the special user groups that will be impacted by our decisions.”
Expanding to statewide road safety, Susan Anderson, Assistant State Engineer at the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), discussed initiatives that are being implemented at a state level to help keep Arizonians safe, like evaluating the use of equipment and increasing detection to allow for faster notification to law enforcement partners. “So often people think of transportation and infrastructure literally as concrete and asphalt and forget how much tech is layered [in the system],” said Anderson. Watch the full recording of this engaging panel.
The value of partnership
When it comes to traffic safety on the ASU campus, the Cox Collaboratory has been researching and implementing ways to keep the streets and sidewalks safer. To date, the Collaboratory has:
- Tested video analytics to improve bike parking on campus
- Started a project to create smart solutions to improve on-campus transportation
- Explored Cox2M’s smart tech for curbside management at ASU
- Launched a data pilot to help ASU transition to a smarter vehicle fleet
In addition to presenting the Connected Public Safety and Transportation panel, Cox also participated in the Summit’s closing session: Partnerships for a Smarter Region. Susan Anable, VP for Cox Communications, echoed Dr. Michael Crow’s thoughts in the Summit’s Welcome, saying that “there is no success without partners because we all depend on each other to create the ecosystem.” She continued: “We need local leaders, we need commitment from the community, but we also need the education community and the non-profit community. Because without all of those groups collaborating together for smart solutions, no one of us can make these things happen.”
ASU CIO Lev Gonick recognized the importance of the university partnering with corporations like Cox to help students have an opportunity to solve problems that communities need through collaboration and partnership. “Susan and her colleagues at Cox have been hugely important to us in our collaborative efforts,” said Gonick, specifically recognizing the Cox Collaboratory and its smart traffic efforts.
Watch the full recording of the Summit’s closing session: