Los Angeles Smart City

The development of global big data has promoted the development of the digital economy. In terms of social disruption, data is like coal, steam power, and silicon chips. These things have changed the entire face of society and industrial development. The greatest companies on the planet are those that master and use data effectively. Likewise, data has completely transformed industries and businesses. Data will also transform government, and we can see signs of that today. Data will also drive the development of smart cities.

The development of Los Angeles, a smart city, is inseparable from the help of big data. Like many cities, citizens of Los Angeles can report problems 24 hours a day through an app, a telephone hotline and online services, such as citizens reporting problems with taking out garbage on the street. However, the city soon realized a problem of "inequality", and the media also criticized such inequality. In Los Angeles, wealthier neighborhoods tend to be more aggressive about trash, while less affluent neighborhoods are more peaceful. What is really encountered is a data problem. Among the many methods, Los Angeles chose the crowdsourcing method to solve the problem. However, there is a fundamental flaw in this approach, as the people participating in the crowdsourcing model are not representative of every community.

In order to build a smart city, the city of Los Angeles launched a clean street plan. Los Angeles has 22,000 miles of roads—and sanitation workers drive down every street and classify the cleanliness of those streets as "clean," "clean," or "not clean." Since January 2016, there has been an 82 per cent reduction in "dirty" streets and an 84 per cent reduction in "cleaner" streets. Although resources are limited, better results can be obtained when resources can be allocated like laser precision. But the key is data and smart analytics. Los Angeles is now automating processes, including the development of machine learning and the use of dashcams by sanitation officers to check sanitation on the streets. In the future, these records will be used to assess the cleanliness of the streets and promote the rational allocation of resources. By using big data, we can better build a smart city in Los Angeles.