Smart Cities and Cybersecurity

The business community in San Diego, a city known for its naval presence and technology company Qualcomm, has recently focused on Smart City-focused cybersecurity companies.

MetroLab, San Diego’s university-sponsored Smart Cities initiative, is working to develop innovative solutions in emerging fields of technology.

This city-university collaboration between the departments means the city uses the university as an R&D facility on challenges facing the city such as income inequality, infrastructure weakness, security, environmental sustainability and transportation.

While the city is collaborating with the university on these projects, larger companies like Qualcomm are backing smaller cybersecurity firms. Qualcomm is betting that Smart Cities will drive a more efficient infrastructure in the future. For example, BigBelly, a company that produces smart trash cans:

BigBelly uses a GPS-connected Qualcomm 3G modem to send data to a data center. The company says it also uses ‘intelligence sensors attached to the receptacle to collect information such as foot traffic and pollution levels’. Moreover some solar-powered bins are even connected to WiFi for those who need to study or work next to a garbage can.

In addition to backing startups like Vault, a company that tracks carcinogen levels in firefighters, San Diego (possibly due to its military influence) is acutely aware of the relationship between Smart Cities and cybersecurity. Just ask Gary Hayslip, Deputy Director, Chief Information Security Officer for the City of San Diego, who has introduced cybersecurity strategies throughout the city.

These companies range from industry behemoths such as iboss, SPAWAR and ESET to important companies such as Harvest.ai and EdgeWave. A recent report from the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence revealed there were more than 7,600 people employed in cybersecurity companies in the city and more than 100 companies employing 4.230 people.

In Smart Cities, enhanced pollution tracking, city-wide connectivity, and opportunities for cleaner energy would all positively affect our way of life. What some fail to realize is that connected cities are quite vulnerable to cyber threats. Because of this threat, the cybersecurity industry will become linked with Smart City initiatives around the world — in San Diego, it is only the beginning.