Scroll down for quick news takes from Smart Cities Council partners.
IBM's cloud data center for the U.S. Army
Council Lead Partner will build a $62 million cloud data center at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. The project is the initial pilot for four Army centers that will consolidate military data sites from around the world. Some of the 183 command and control systems in use by the Army were written in computer code dating to the 1970s, and the consolidation will bring them up to today's standards, reduce the amount of data and number of centers and enable all systems to communicate with each other.
Optimizing hospital building management systems
Lead Partner Schneider Electric will deliver a new healthcare platform that will allow hospitals to integrate their clinical infrastructure with building operations to enhance how they work together. Referred as the Clinical Environment Optimization tool, it's an application for the company's Struxure Ware Building Operation software. The primary benefits include improved staff productivity, energy savings and a higher level of patient satisfaction.
Help for utilities and their industrial customers
Associate Partner Siemens' Energy Management Division and infrastructure software solutions company Bentley Systems are working together to create solutions that speed up digitalization of planning, design and operations for power utilities and their industrial customers. Their first product will integrate Bentley’s utility design and geographic information systems capabilities with Siemens’ Power System Simulation Suite. It will specifically address solutions for power transmission, power distribution, and industrial facilities, the companies said in a statement.
Daimler and Uber partner on self-driving cars
Lead Partner Daimler and taxi service Uber are partnering on a strategy intended to add Daimler cars to the taxi company's fleet. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick noted that both companies are excited about the potential safety and other benefits of self-driving cars and that since his company doesn't make cars he wanted to collaborate with leading manufacturers to improve customers' riding experience.
A renewable natural gas plant for Phoenix
Associate Partner and the city of Phoenix recently broke ground on a biogas power plant at a Phoenix wastewater treatment plant. Ameresco will build, own, operate and maintain the plant which will convert raw biogas into renewable natural gas which will be sent to the region's interstate natural gas pipeline. The plant is expected to generate about $1.2 million per year which will be shared among the cities that own the treatment plant.
CH2M to help protect New York City from major storms
Lead Partner CH2M has been selected by New York City to continue working with a team responsible for the next phase of designing new coastal protection against major storms such as Hurricane Sandy. CH2M is responsible for the civil engineering and structural design of flood walls, levees and what the company describes as 'integrated deployable gates.'
Doug Peeples is a Portland, Oregon-based writer specializing in technology and energy. Follow @smartccouncil on Twitter.