Public Sector Event Processing
IBM has a web ad spot called The Smarter City, showing how IT can make a difference in the urban public sector. The web campaign associated ideas like e-Govornment and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) with improvements in IT for healthcare, energy and education.
The short clips that introduce these topics make many references to gathering and using data in a more timely manner. I noticed this particularly in the Transportation, Public Safety and Energy & Utilities sections. This seems like a good fit for Event Processing.
Many years ago, I worked in intelligent transportation (ITS) and had the pleasure of attending a few ITS conferences. The big technical challenge at that time (the biggest overall challenge being political) was infrastructure: aside from the cost of all the sensors and cameras, the amount of data that streams in from truly comprehensive monitoring of roads and public transportation, seemed daunting to say the least.
The infrastructure problem is much less daunting these days, although still expensive. To justify the expensive infrastructure, we need to get started on the next technical challenge: the software. Google already has some traffic speeds on its maps. But that’s just the beginning, right? Looks like Event Processing has a bright future in the public sector.
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