Insight Demonstrates IoT Solution Accelerator for Public Safety

Open-source technology for improving responses in an emergency is now easier to develop, customize and deploy

At Microsoft’s IoT in Action event in Santa Clara, California, Insight Enterprises conducted a live demonstration of Project Edison, a solution accelerator developed by Insight’s Digital Innovation division that will help clients bring IoT-enabled public safety solutions to market faster.

Microsoft has encouraged partners to design Azure-powered solution accelerators, which are a collection of products and projects developed independently by various providers to decrease the complexity of producing an IoT solution, shorten time to market, and to help clients address specific industry and societal needs. The solution accelerators are meant to kick-start an IoT project to the point of 80 percent completion, with the remaining 20 percent being customizable for each unique use case.

Using Insight’s solution accelerator, clients and customers have the potential to provide innovative solutions that address communication challenges in situations in which there are threats to the public, by running safety mechanisms through an IoT-enabled response system.

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“When incidents occur in public places, communication of what’s going on needs to happen as quickly and accurately as possible,” said Amol Ajgaonkar, chief architect, Digital Innovation, Insight. “Project Edison is a powerful building block for public safety that shows what’s possible when first responders can break through the noise of a chaotic situation, using critical, real-time information from ground zero to intelligently assess how best to respond. We’re creating a framework that helps emergency workers react swiftly while more effectively letting the public know what to do to stay out of harm’s way.”

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Project Edison integrates on-site human reporting with IoT-based data sharing through these technologies:

• An application that acts as the central hub for capturing data being transmitted from sensor-based technology and provides individuals the ability to share real-time information. For example, when sound sensors detect abnormal noises, an alert can be automatically sent to security personnel to monitor the occurrence
• Buttons that can be pressed to send an alert to the application if someone feels threatened
• Color-coded smart lights that can automatically illuminate to warn of an emergency based on proximity to the possible danger and help people identify safe zones
• Real-time communications to on-site security and emergency services with different alerts or action plans based on the information being shared with the central system
• Direct lines of communication for people involved in the crisis via a navigation-based mobile app to provide updates and safety instructions in real time

“While the idea of Project Edison is about tapping into the power of Microsoft Azure and IoT technology, it isn’t just about connecting devices to make them intelligent. It’s also about providing clients the ability to create a solution that will connect them, security personnel and the general public with faster and more accurate information in crisis situations,” said Stan Lequin, vice president and general manager, Digital Innovation, Insight. “The Project Edison solution accelerator has widespread implications for public safety, as it is open source, available to both the public and private sector, and can be used to develop either a standalone solution or integrated into an existing safety system.”

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