IBM decidido a hacer una ciudad "Inteligente" en Iowa

ORIGINAL: NYTimes.com

I.B.M. Sets Out to Make a City in Iowa ‘Smarter’ By STEVE LOHR

A command center for a citywide security system that I.B.M. developed with the city of Chicago. The company will introduce programs in Dubuque, Iowa, to monitor water, electricity and transportation systems.

I.B.M. is providing more evidence on Thursday that its “smarter cities” program is more than a marketing campaign. The company is starting a project with Dubuque, Iowa, that over the next several years will use sensors, software and Internet computing to give the city’s government and citizens the digital tools to measure, monitor and alter the way they use water, electricity and transportation.

I.B.M. already has a number of computer-services projects with cities around the world, from traffic management systems in Stockholm and London to a smart-grid electricity system in Amsterdam, to water management in Shenyang, China. A goal in each is to conserve resources and reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

The Dubuque effort stands out not only because it is in the United States, but also because it marks I.B.M.’s most comprehensive approach to these digitally enhanced public services — water, electricity and transportation. “We’re trying to make Dubuque into the first integrated, smart city,” said Robert Morris, vice president of services research at I.B.M.

The benefits, Mr. Morris added, could well extend beyond water, electricity and transportation. For example, housing development and traffic management could be modeled and policies adopted for other goals like “making sure you have a walkable city.”

Dubuque, according to Mr. Morris, was selected partly because its size — 60,000 people — makes it easier to roll out projects than in a large city. The company was also familiar with Dubuque as it chose the city earlier this year as the location for a new technology services support center, which will employ up to 1,300 workers by the end of 2010.

The Iowa city also has a local government that has been moving toward using technology to conserve resources in recent years. The mayor, Roy D. Buol, ran on a “sustainability” platform when he was elected in 2005. Mr. Buol said sustainability was as much about generating jobs and growth as being green. He said he hoped the technology and know-how developed in the joint project could be used in other regions and perhaps countries.

“We want the smart-city work to be a replicable model for other cities,” Mr. Buol said.

The first phase will involve installing digital water and electricity meters in 250 homes and businesses. The smart water meters include special low-flow sensing technology from a local manufacturer, A.Y. McDonald, that will help the public works department and residences reduce water use and detect leaks. An estimated 30 percent of households use water unnecessarily because of undetected leakage in faucets and toilets.

The smart electric meters will help households track their energy use and conserve. They will be able to tap into a Web site and, for example, set household temperatures a few degrees cooler in the winter or warmer in the summer — and model the savings in energy use and monthly bills.

“You need citizen buy-in for these programs, and to do that you have to show them the benefits,” Mr. Buol said