As crowdsourcing become a standard way of data collection, cities seem more and more the ideal ecosystem for this activity due to the high density of sensors and communication networks. The examples collected by the Ushaidi blog show how user-generated and geo-located news can be represented by current mapping software. Of course, watching data on a map has a different impact than just reading them. But what to do with all these data?
According to a news article published by BBC online, someone has a clear idea about which action should follow a given input coming from the large number of sensors deployed in town. All such instructions are now going to be condensed in UrbanOS, a technology that should be able to manage households, energy consumption rates, complex safety issue developed by the UrbanLabs project. For example, if a fire erupts in a building, the UrbanOS could receive the signal, dispatch it to the fire workers and switch traffic lights accordingly to let them reach the place as soon as possible. You can read additional examples and ideas on the original BBC article, and get more info about the Urban OS on the project homepage.
