IBM Helps Rio de Janeiro To Become More Sustainable

SmarterCities Rio, a forum hosted by's IBM's CEO Samuel J. Palmisano earlier this week, examined ways on how governments and business leaders can tackle serious urban issues and improve the quality of life of their citizens.

Rio is a classic example of how unsustainable growth has led to serious environmental problems, such as landslides and floods during the rainy season.

About a year ago IBM opened its operations center in Rio and now the company is collaborating with the city to improve its emergency response system and give citizens access to information that will help them better manage their daily lives.

The collaboration includes an automated alert system that will notify city officials and emergency personnel when changes occur in the flood and landslide forecast for the city of Rio de Janeiro. The system is designed to reduce reaction times during emergency situations with automated email notifications and instant messaging, so that emergency personnel and citizens can be reached as fast as possible. With the old system, notifications were manually relayed. Details of the expanded capabilities were revealed yesterday (November 10) during the forum.

IBM's Rio Operations Center has integrated information and processes from across 30 different city agencies into a single operations center that provides a holistic view of how the city is functioning on a 24/7 basis. The Operations Center serves as the nerve center for the city, applying analytical models developed by IBM to more effectively predict and coordinate reaction to emergency incidents.

Operations officials from across the city now collaborate daily to manage the movement of traffic and public transportation systems, and the efficiency of power and water supplies. The Center also relies on a high-resolution weather forecasting and hydrological modeling system for Rio de Janeiro, which can predict heavy rains up to 48 hours in advance. The system was pioneered by IBM Research scientists.

The forecasting system is based on a unified mathematical model of Rio that pulls data from the river basin, topographic surveys, the municipality's historical rainfall logs, and radar feeds. The system predicts rain and possible flash floods, and has also begun to evaluate the effects of weather incidents on other city situations such as city traffic or power outages.

The new alert system, developed by IBM's Software Labs, can track the receipt of messages to ensure response is immediate and effective. Because responses to each emergency are tracked from start to finish, the alert system also provides a wealth of data available for analysis after the fact. Responders can use this data to improve their system settings and operational procedures, further improving response time and coordination.

Rio citizens can access daily data feeds from the Rio Operations Center. The Center's profile on Facebook (Centro de Operações Rio ) and Twitter (@OperacoesRio ) provide frequent updates on weather and traffic, as well as recommended alternative routes around the city on days of special events including concerts, soccer matches and festivals.

To follow the discussion at the SmarterCities forum, go to Smarter Planet blog.

Image credit: IBM