IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Winter 2013 - 17

OPINION

The Future of Outdoor
Media Systems

RON HARWOOD

merican cities are run by mayors, city manSince cities in general are focused on reducing
agers, and councils who are endeavoring
their energy consumption, one of the largest areas of
to reduce energy costs, provide enhanced
conservation has been through improved light emitpublic safety, and improve their commuting diode (LED) street lighting. LEDs promise to cut
nities, all with reduced revenue streams. It seems an
energy consumption for lighting by least 40% from
impossible task. Adding to this challenge, the U.S.
current levels, and pay back the cost of new installaform of civic government has been divided or partitions over a reasonable time. Additionally, the notion
tioned into segments to distribute tasks toward experts
of controlling the new street light's output through
in their fields. These divisions compete regularly for
wireless controls, monitor when lights are out, and
funding, creating a never ending and sometimes politsave additional energy by dimming "after hours" is
ically charged situation.
being tested or deployed to varying degrees of sucThe police and fire chiefs run the public safety
cess. when well thought out and deployed, wireless
areas along with road commissioners who try to give
street lighting controllers can save up to 30% more
their officers fast access to informaenergy than simple on-off systems. Coution. Environmental planners and water
Acquiring data pled with a good LED light engine (light
resource commissioners deal with water,
source), a controllable, dimmable wireis expensive;
earth, and air quality and are always in
less system can save up to 70% of the
making sense
need of much more data to monitor and
current energy used by the old systems.
out of the data This has caused a bit of a flurry of activcontrol their systems. Public lighting is
concerned with keeping the lights on,
ity from some cities to test the feasibility
and creating
paying for the energy, and maintaining
of wireless controls.
an action
vast amounts of equipment. Any major
Concomitantly, police, fire, Homeland
once data is
U.S. city has between 50 000 and 200 000
Security, and environmental agencies are
validated is
lights. Lights have several components
installing wireless methods of gathering
besides the lightbulb, which triple the
information for their own purposes, such
even more
repair and replacement needs. Therefore,
as cameras and gunshot detection. In
expensive.
there has been a major focus on wireless
most cases, each unique system is develmethods of monitoring lighting mainteoped with its own software and wireless
nance requirements.
network with no notion of interoperability. InteroperAcquiring data is expensive; making sense out of
ability is a fancy word for the ability of computer and
the data and creating an action once data is validated is
mechanical systems to talk to each other and provide
even more expensive. The cost of improving our infraa common operating platform. Imagine that each city
structure in these areas, coupled with the high cost of
is deploying its own information networks indepenenergy, has caused governments to look towards energy
dently of the cities next to them; each county is doing
conservation to help pay for improvements, in addition
the same, and each state - likewise. what a growto paying for current overhead and debt.
ing mess such haphazard growth will create. Under
Britishrule in India, the English language was forced
onto the Indian population that spoke more than 100
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2013.2286428
languages at the time of occupation. Ironically, if not
Date of publication: 9 December 2013
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

wINTEr 2013

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