If a citizen of Lagoa finds a water leak in a public garden in the municipality, he will be able to communicate this problem immediately, and in an “intelligent” way, to the competent services of the City Council.
For this, you will only need to use an application that you can download for free to your mobile phone, take a georeferenced photo of the problem and forward it immediately.
The information sent by the citizens, but also other information collected, in real time, about the municipal water supply network, as well as the collection and management of solid waste, will then be processed in a control room that is being installed in the building. of the Fatacil Secretariat. It is anticipated that, "within two to three months", all this will be working.
These innovations, which allow Lagoa to become the first smart city of the Algarve, are the result of a protocol that the Lagoon City Council signed this Tuesday with NOS, within the scope of the «Smart Cities» project, which in Portugal already covers only one other city, Oeiras.
Manuel Ramalho Eanes, executive director of NOS, said, however, that the management of the water and solid waste networks is just a first step in this partnership between the company and the municipality of Lagoa. "The possibilities are many, since the arsenal at our disposal is very large", he guaranteed.
Therefore, there are other areas that could be covered in Lagoa or in other municipalities, such as «intelligent video surveillance, monitoring and optimization of all human resources teams, electricity distribution and public lighting networks, fleets automobiles".
"Lagoa now has integrated visibility of the problems reported by citizens and now has technological mechanisms to respond to them quickly and efficiently," added Manuel Ramalho Eanes.
Francisco Martins, mayor of Lagoa, considered that the innovative system being implemented in the municipality will allow municipal services to «manage situations in real time and deal with problems more quickly». With all this, added the mayor, the municipality will gain efficiency, but it will also save money.
«When we arrived at the City Hall, we had 40% of water losses in the network, today we are at around 30%. But, with this system in place, we will be able to reduce it even more», exemplified Francisco Martins.
«It was time to make a upgrade management of the municipality. We lacked a partner with know-how» and his choice was a « time-consuming, very mature process», revealed Francisco Martins.
The protocol signed between the Municipality of Lagoa and NOS determines the sharing of information and knowledge in areas of common interest, the carrying out of joint initiatives and the dissemination and use of specific solutions in the areas of Smart Cities.
With this partnership, the municipality of Lagoa takes an important step to stand out in the Algarve region as a smart city that «fosters its sustainability, mobility, accessibility, efficiency and proximity, through technologically innovative solutions», stresses NOS.
Francisco Martins considers it «important to take this step, by signing the protocol with NOS to create a Smart City, therefore, when it comes to smart cities, aimed at rationalizing and monitoring the management of the entire energy sector, water supply system, waste and even administrative modernization, the pillars defined in the strategic plan outlined are fulfilled. for the future of Lagoa».
The mayor emphasizes that «the function of Smart Cities – by using communication and information technology that allows measuring, analyzing and integrating the key data of an urban nucleus, making it more efficient – it is a serious challenge that Lagoa gladly accepts, after analyzing the added value that its implementation will bring to the city, in an aspect of modernity that is intended for its territorial area, as well as a sustainable improvement in the quality of life of our citizens».
For his part, the executive director of NOS concluded that «the articulation between companies and local authorities is increasingly important to develop new platforms and processes that promote the quality of life of citizens and their relationship with local authorities». Such platforms, added Manuel Ramalho Eanes, "have a translation in the technological experiences that facilitate the mobility, security and energy efficiency of municipalities and their citizens."
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues|Sul Informação
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