cityofboston.gov - Official Web Site of the City of Boston - Thomas M. Menino, Mayor

Snow Cop 2.0

Snow Cop is an application developed through the innovative use of GIS tools and tracking server technology.  At the request of our Public Works Department Commissioner, DoIT developed an application that maps out City and contract snow removal vehicles across the city and their plow routes.  It also integrates with our CRM system and can plot constituent phone calls requesting snow plowing.  SnowCOP has become an essential part of managing a snow event in Boston. It is a collaboration tool for City departments to respond to constituents requests during a snow emergency.

SnowCOP is a multi-tactical tool. We also want to be proactive and address problems before they occur so its used even before snow storms really progress. In the early part of a storm we can use advanced analytics to highlight areas that have had less plow activity than expected based on the operational plan for the area.  We can make resource distribution decisions based on real-time data from the application. 

The City of Boston is preparing to roll out the second release of our snow operation tool SnowCOP. This update includes advanced reporting and analysis functions utilizing Enterprise GIS and GPS technology. SnowCOP 2 will leverage next generation technology (ESRI Tracking Server technology) to give additional early indicators to DPW operational management as to areas that will likely see issues over the course of a snow event. Using this information the operational management team can reallocate resources on-the-fly to better respond to an event. Additional capabilities include advanced reporting and the ability to find the closest resources via mobile devices for field staff.

The success of this application and its updated features is the result of collaboration between our GIS/IT staff and the Public Works senior staff.  The Public Works Commissioner has pushed her department to leverage technology to improve work functions and service delivery.  SnowCOP 2 is a direct result of her vision and DoIT leveraging our existing GIS technological capabilities in an innovative fashion.   

Street Bump Application & Challenge

The City of Boston is currently developing a new application called Street Bump.  This app, when run on your phone while you are driving, can actually feel when your car hits a pothole or rough section of pavement. The app is pairs this signal from the phone’s accelerometers with the phone’s GPS to provide the size and location for where bumps occur.

Information from this app could build a road condition map for our Public Works Department, giving them information to trigger the dispatch of a pothole repair crew when needed or flag the street for a longer term capital project if required.

Streep Bump has been improved through our focused, small-scale application challenge.  The City of Boston’s Office of New Urban Mechanics worked with outside partners to develop an application challenge for Street Bump. 

Street Bump Challenge

1. Prototype application was developed in-house.

2. Leveraged capabilities of mobile devices (used existing smartphone technology) as app platform

3. Partnered with Liberty Mutual to promote a focused app challenge to interested developers

4. Partnered with InnoCentive to connect us with interested parties in the world’s largest problem solving marketplace.

5. Used a crowd sourced solution to trouble-shoot application problems and develop our prototype more fully.

6. Will be Involving city field workers to be deployed for data collection, feedback on real-time street conditions

7. Mobile application will be shared with other interested groups after final development.

Street Bump App & Information

Boston Innovation District

In his January 2010 inaugural address to begin his administration’s fifth term, Mayor Menino called upon his Cabinet and the citizens of Boston alike to help bring about a new era of shared innovation for the City, one that is not only informed by the successes of the past but adapts in new ways to meet today’s challenges and position the City for future growth.

At the core of the Mayor’s fifth term agenda are initiatives to transform public education to create quality learning opportunities for all of our youth, reinvigorate underdeveloped areas of the City to:

• Establish a sustainable and shared innovation economy,
• Capitalize on Boston’s entrepreneurial spirit to produce a new wave of municipal innovation, and
• Bring the City closer together across diverse backgrounds.

“A new approach is called for on the waterfront -- one that is both more deliberate and more experimental. Together, we should develop these thousand acres into a hub for knowledge workers and creative jobs. We’ll define innovation clusters -- in green, biotech and health care, Web development, and other industries. And there, we’ll experiment with alternative housing models. We will test new ideas that provide live/work opportunities to entrepreneurs and affordable co-housing for researchers. “

The City intends to develop 1,000 acres on the South Boston Waterfront and the Marine Industrial Park into an “Innovation District.’’  DoIT is working actively with outside agencies, the Mayor’s Office and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) to improve community access to reasonably priced, high speed broadband services throughout the South Boston Waterfront. The initiative includes the Fort Point Channel area, the South Boston Waterfront, and the BRA’s Marine Industrial Park.

The City of Boston has an aggressive plan for enhancing broadband capabilities across the City. Affordable, quality broadband is an important component of the City’s infrastructure and is critical to the development of the Innovation district. To address any concerns of residents, entrepreneurs, start-up’s and small businesses, with getting broadband access, we are working with multiple fiber/broadband providers to improve and extend their service capabilities throughout the District.  The objective is to provide high quality, high speed Internet service throughout the Innovation district.

DoIT is actively engaged with cable companies, carriers and neutral hosts to swiftly build-out high end service throughout the District.  Key to that effort is creatively engaging providers in our Right-of-Way management procedures in order to break down any potential barriers or obstacles.

Boston Innovation District