In this episode of The Smart City Podcast, I had a really fascinating conversation with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Army, Strategic Integration Mr Richard Kidd. Richard tells us about how the Smart City concept is being utilised in Army installation across the US and also the sheer scale of the Army’s footprint (for the Aussie listeners, this is about 1.5 times the area of South East Queensland). He also gives us an overview of his presentation at the IEEE GreenTech Conference and how the Army is pioneering with Smart Technology with the “connected solider,” autonomous vehicles and building management. He also talks about changing our focus from fixed sensors to moving ones that are already available, and importantly always keeping privacy and security front of mind. This was such an interesting conversion, so as always I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it.

Listen Here:

Quotes:

“When we look to the future of our Army installations, we want them to be connected, clean, vibrant, efficient, digital but we also want them to be secure”

“We have to think not what the Army is today but about the future…no one who grows up in a Smart City is going to want to live on a dumb installation…we have to create an environment that is attractive for those who are considering joining the military, so it’s an issue of recruiting and retention”

“What we’ve pioneered on a number of installations is autonomous, easy accessible vehicles where a wounded warrior…can call the vehicle, then that vehicle can take him or her to physical therapy or shopping or other types of things, so it returns mobility to a solider”

“In Smart Cities we often talk about [stationary] sensors…we don’t realise that everybody, at least in the developed world, is a sensor platform…the notion of sensors being fixed to a permanent object is going to be replaced with the notion of movable sensors”

What we covered:

• Richard’s background in the US Army, United Nations, government and back into the Army
• Smart Installations in the Army and a secure environment
• Scale, footprint and features of the Army “cities” in the US
• Why the Smart City concept is important for the Army now and in the future
• The 3 key imperatives from Richard’s presentation at the IEEE GreenTech Smart City Conference 2018
• Some of the technology the US Army is exploring and the idea of the “Connected Solider”
• Using autonomous vehicles to improve safety and accessibility
• Building management and sustainability technologies being piloted throughout the Army
• Why collaboration is key to a successful outcome
• Connected inhalers and air pollution improvements
•  Moving sensors in connected Smart Cities
• Using a sustainable Aussie innovation, cross laminate timber in construction

Links:

IEEE GreenTech Conference https://ieeegreentech.org/blog/cr3ativspeaker/richard-kidd/

US Army https://www.army.mil

Connect:

You can connect with Richard via LinkedIn

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

Podcast Production by Perk Digital