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In Lagos IBM Smarter Cities Challenge is the
firm that has begun to push its potential to a
brand new market. Launched in 2011, the
IBM Smarter Cities Challenge is a three-year,
100-city, US50$ million competitive grant
program. It’s the IBM largest corporate social
responsibility effort through which the firm has
assigned a team of six top experts to each
key point identified by the City Government.
According to it, the best of IBM’s research,
software and services capabilities together with
industry expertise can be used to reduce traffic
congestion and resulting air pollution, digitize
health records to improve overall patient care,
improve access to education, enhance security
system to reduce crime rates, source and
manage power more intelligently and improve
quality, supply and access to water. The most
important source for this area. IBM call this
solution the Intelligent Operations Centre for
Smarter Cities.
The IBM team proposed technology-driven
strategies to make Lagos complex traffic move
in an easier way, managing different sectors
and layers of real life. Working with LAMATA,
the team proposed better coordination
between agencies responsible for traffic
management, police and fire dept. and medical
care, it drives to a more efficient decisionmaking based on data gathering and analysis
from a variety of sources such as smartphone,
call centers, CCTV and GPS.
Included in this proposal there was
an integrated e-ticketing system for all
transportation modes and an integrated
fare management, further to this there was
the introduction of the roadway toll rates for
the high-density traffic roads, that will also
encourage the public transportation use. The
Lags City State was also fostered to create
a single, powerful internet control platform
for all traffic and transportation-related data,
integrating all agencies and transport modes.
If Lagos State Government will accepts this
proposal, it would radically transform the
metropolis from a jam traffic, that is the current
experience, to a manageable, efficient urban
system.