IBM to develop series of pilot projects on Cape Cod

In an announcement last week, officials from IBM and the Cape Cod Commission launched the first phase of an initiative to help manage the area’s physical infrastructure and natural resources through real-time data-sharing and advanced analytics.

“Smart Cape Cod” is part of IBM’s Smarter Planet campaign that seeks to help communities deploy sensors and data processing capabilities that in turn help officials better manage their resources. The Cape Cod Commission is a regional land use planning and regulatory agency created to serve the fifteen towns of Barnstable County, Massachusetts.

According to Commission Executive Director Paul Niedzwiecki, the IBM partnership will rollout a series of pilot projects to help address choke points in the Cap’s physical infrastructure, such as insufficient telecommunications, variable electric power and lack of wastewater treatment facilities.

“Cape Cod faces significant planning challenges,” Mr. Niedzwiecki said, “but the solutions can create economic opportunities. This type of investment creates new jobs, drives economic diversification, and enables efficiencies in government, ultimately providing taxpayers with higher quality services.”

Phase one of the initiative will design a Strategic Information Office to guide the use of data, information and technology. Also a Center of Excellence for Water Resources will be created to assess critical issues relating to water quality and management, centralizing water information and stimulating technology development needed to monitor and improve water quality and manage water and wastewater, officials said.

This first phase is scheduled for completion by spring 2011.



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