The 10 Most Trusted Public Sector Solution Providers, 2018 December2018

www.insightssuccess.com December 2018

THE

Most Trusted

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Public Sector Solution Providers, 2018

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Market Dashboard

Environmental Talk

Social Media Marketing for Pharma Industry

Eco-friendly Strategies for a Better Tech-enabled Construction World

Empowering Public Sector and Ensuring Success

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uccess of a nation can be evaluated through the analysis of the development of its public sectors. Public sectors are truly the face of a nation. Its revolution or deprivation can be deciding factor for the country and its overall progress. Hence, any nation requires welldeveloped, well-equipped and prosperous public sectors to address its key issues. Although, the public sector is a key to the nation’s success, it’s often witnessed that the response to the queries or odds faced by the sector is very meager. Either it is funding or a flaccid reaction about volunteering the public organizations experiences shuffles through several substantially unaddressed obstacles.

However, technology has revolutionized almost every sector with reforming innovations and it has played a vital part in the improvement of the public sector as well. Comprehending the complete scenario some tech leaders brought forward a dramatic change in public sector. These solution providers rose above all and proved their mettle in the evidently stringent atmosphere. These pioneers have come with exclusive and all-inclusive strategies and solutions which cannot be undermined.

Some of them have created distinctive applications that can automate the complete public sector progressions. The futuristic apps enable public sectors like local governments to organize their daily routine, refine official proceedings and catalyze their future. On the other side few of them are taking commendable efforts towards improving the public safety and incident management systems.

Marking the excellence in simplifying Time & Labor Management of public sector the few unique companies has demonstrated the possible opportunities in the sector. Thus, the special edition of

“The 10 Most Trusted Public Sector Solution Providers, 2018” envisions exhibiting the significance of distinctive public solution providers which has empowered the public sectors from their very inception.

This edition features Valor Systems, Inc., a privately held software development company dedicated to providing emergency response and records management applications to Public Safety Agencies and Corporate Security operations on a global scale; Visual Computer Solutions, a leading developer and distributor of proprietary Employee Scheduling and Time & Attendance Software Systems; and Questica, the recognized leader in budget preparation and management software.

Also, make sure to scroll through the articles written by our in-house editorial team and CXO standpoints of some of the leading industry experts to have a brief taste of the sector.

Let’s start reading!

Hitesh Dhamani

Maestro’s Insights

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The Revolution of our Roads Driving the UK to Zero Carbon Transportation

Expert’s Outlook Impact of Predictive Analytics in Field Service

22 Industry Insight

28

Why Supermarkets Need to Talk to Millennials in Their Language

Leadership Viewpoint Blockchain: The Next Opportunity for Better, Safer, Smarter Cities

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Contents Articles

16 Questica: Simplifying the Complexities of Public Sector Finance

18 Market Dashboard Social Media Marketing for Pharma Industry

24 Valor Systems, Inc: Redefining the Benchmarks of Public Safety and Security

30 Environmental Talk Eco-friendly Strategies for a Better Tech-enabled Construction World

34 VCS: Pioneering Time & Labor Management Solutions within the Public Sector

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Anish Miller Executive Editor Hitesh Dhamani Assistant Editors Jenny Fernandes Abhishaj Sajeev Keadar Kulkrni Contributing Editors Sharad Chitalkar Visualiser David King Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Associate Designer Sanket Zirpe Co-designer Savita Pandav Art & Picture Editors Paul Belin Jayant Khanna Senior Sales Manager Passi D. Business Development Manager Peter Collins Marketing Manager John Matthew Business Development Executives Steve, Joe, Logan, Anup Sales Executives David, Kevin, Mark, Vishnu Technical Head Jacob Smile Technical Specialists Amar, Aditya Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza Online Marketing Strategists Alina Sege, Shubham SME-SMO Executives Prashant Chevale, Uma Dhenge Research Analyst Patrick James Circulation Managers Robert, Tanaji Database Management Stella Andrew Technology Consultant David Stokes sales@insightssuccess.com

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Company Name

Management

Brief

Accela accela.com

Mark Jung Executive Chairman

Accela has been an industry leader in designing and delivering government software to improve efficiency, increase citizen engagement and enable the development of thriving communities.

AdventFS adventfs.com

Josh Hartlage President

Advent eLearning is the perfect cloud-based alternative for firsttime and low to mid-level offenders.

CSDC csdcsystems.com

Erin Nelson CEO

CSDC helps governments manage all types of compliances.

G2SF G2SF.com

Gregory Smith Founder & CEO

G2SF INC. is a Government focused IT consultancy and enterprise solution provider with core competencies in IT Service Management (ITSM), and IT Engineering & Integration.

GCOM Software gcomsoft.com

Girish Bhatia Founder & CEO

GCOM is a business and technology consulting firm that provides a broad range of professional services designed to deliver cutting edge business and technology solutions.

GovPilot govpilot.com

Michael Bonner Founder & CEO

GoVPilot is a cloud-based Government Management Platform that allows governments to replace antiquated paper processes with digital automation.

OpenCities opencities.com

Cynthia Francis COO

OpenCities is on a mission to help governments of all shapes and sizes transform how they serve their communities, and make it easy for every citizen, no matter their situation or ability, to connect with their city

Questica questica.com

Craig Ross Chief Revenue Officer

Questica is the recognized leader in budget preparation and management software.

Valor Systems, Inc valorsystems.com

William Rendina Chief Executive Officer

Valor Systems, Inc. is a privately held software development company dedicated to providing emergency response and records management applications to Public Safety Agencies and Corporate Security operations on a global scale.

Visual Computer Solutions vcssoftware.com

Guy DiMemmo Founder & CEO

Visual Computer Solutions is a leading developer and distributor of proprietary Employee Scheduling and Time & Attendance Software Systems.

The Revolution of our Roads Driving the UK to Zero Carbon Transportation

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reen number plates for electric vehicles. Zero Emissions Zone trials. Grants for any employer installing EV charge points. Ideas and initiatives for boosting the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) have accelerated recently, in an effort to make electric vehicles the norm rather than the exception on UK roads.

In September, Theresa May announced further support for the industry at the very first Zero Emission Vehicle Summit, outlining a plan to ensure Britain “leads from the front” in the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, committing £106m in funding for research and development into EV technology. She also elaborated on the 2040 target to make all manufactured cars emission-free, saying that this should be reflected in all cars on the road just ten years later.

Government Backing This government’s commitment to electric vehicles is being matched by an increase in interest from drivers, as the perceived hurdles - including the initial cost of switching to an electric car, and the mile range compared to traditional petrol and diesel cars - are being cleared. Last month EVs accounted for one in every 12 new cars purchased in the UK. That’s been attributed to a number of factors, including the availability of a range of cars that do at least 150miles on a single charge, EV drivers are

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About the Author Fiona Howarth, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, Biography Fiona leads the Octopus Electric Vehicle business - a start-up from Octopus Energy. With a passion for renewable energy, fantastic cars and using tech to create great customer experiences, this is absolutely Fiona’s dream job!

Having studied Engineering at Oxford University, she spent her early career at Dyson and BMW - developing efficient motors and hydrogen powered cars. She then went on to work with major energy companies and government while at Bain & Company, before joining British Connected Homes start up AlertMe. A move to British Gas, saw her take Hive, by British Gas, from a tech pilot to a household name that today has more than one million customers.

“Octopus EV is offering the electric vehicle equivalent of Sweden’s famous baby box,” says Octopus Electric Vehicles CEO Fiona Howarth

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Maestro’s Insights

reducing their fuel spend by 90%, and with an increase in the number and visibility of charge points and a decrease in the cost of the electric vehicles themselves.

There’s also been better proof of the environmental impact of EVs, such as a recent European Climate Foundationcommissioned report which found that EVs emit half the CO2 emissions of a petrol or diesel car through the course of their lifetime, and the overall effect has now been shown to be positive.

A New Breed of EV One company is on a mission to help drive the adoption of electric vehicles.

Octopus Electric Vehicles is pioneering an ‘EV bundle’ which will give drivers everything they need to make the switch, for one monthly price. The innovation has come from energy supplier Octopus Energy, which is driven by a mission ‘to make buying energy as easy as buying cornflakes’.

Similarly, the team at Octopus EV wants to help to make the switch to EV as easy as possible, for as many people as possible.

CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, Fiona Howarth says: “For us, the EV journey begins long before we start talking about leasing options and charge point installation. There’s a big education job to do - many people still believe that they’ll need to stop every few miles to recharge and that the range of models is limited. Our Drive Day roadshow has proved enormously popular, touring the country and letting people come and see the cars for themselves, as well as question EV experts about exactly how it all works” These events have not only demonstrated the massive leap forward that the industry has taken in the past few years, but also provided people with a chance to test drive the latest models. From the sporty BMW i3 to the family friendly Nissan LEAF, the cars have been carefully selected as the best EVs on the market, with each MM 2018|

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Fiona Howarth CEO

Octopus Electric Vehicles

offering at least 150 miles of driving per charge.

electric vehicles at a fraction of the cost.”

Continues Howarth: “We’ve found that people are often surprised at what an electric car can do. I think there’s a general misconception that the technology and the pricing has stayed largely the same since EVs came to market a few years ago, whereas in fact today’s electric car is almost unrecognisable from its older incarnation, and a hell of a lot cheaper.

Battery costs came down 80% in six years – unlocking a better range of

All-in-one EV Solution After education, the challenge has been how to best help customers with the changes needed to go electric. Here, Octopus Electric Vehicles is pioneering adoption with their ‘EV bundle’.

“We’re offering the electric vehicle equivalent of Sweden’s famous baby box, giving the driver everything they need to make the switch” says Howarth “and unlike babies, our vehicles come with instructions!”

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About Powerloop How Vehicle-to-Grid is changing the game Electric vehicles have been criticised for placing more demand on an already overloaded grid. But a consortium of industry experts is hoping that electric vehicles could be the solution to the grid’s capacity issues, rather than a problem. Led by Octopus EV and Octopus Energy, the consortium has won over £3m of funding from Innovate UK (backed by government departments DfT and BEIS) to test the viability of vehicle-to-grid charging on UK roads.

The Powerloop project offers EV drivers the chance to help balance demand by supplying the grid with power from their car batteries during the peak hours of 4-7pm, before recharging in the early hours of the morning while demand is lowest. In return for plugging in their cars 12 times a month to supply charge during the evening, Powerloop drivers will get money off their monthly leasing cost.

As well as the monthly lease of an electric vehicle, Octopus EV organises the installation of a home charge point and smart meter. The monthly lease cost can also include insurance, service and maintenance, as well as help and support for the duration of the contract.

There’s even a bespoke electricity tariff, designed specifically with EV drivers in mind. Dubbed Octopus Go, it offers renewable electricity at just 5p/kWh between the hours of 12.30am and 4.30am, allowing people to charge their cars for just a fraction of the daytime cost for 70% less than a standard variable tariff from a Big 6 supplier.

Octopus EV has also partnered with myenergi, to offer the innovative Zappi charge point, which automates charging to take advantage of these prices.

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Octopus can arrange the installation of the Zappi via trusted installers that can help unlock the £500 home charge point grant from the government.

This world-first tariff is possible thanks to Octopus EV’s relationship with Octopus Energy. The supplier is already taking advantage of the potential of smart meters with the Agile Octopus tariff, which lets customers see the fluctuations in wholesale energy prices and adjust their usage accordingly. It’s just the beginning of how the company intends to use smart meter technology, which allows them to measure and record electricity usage in real-time and offer cheaper electricity when demand on the grid is low.

Fiona Howarth believes this will be a landmark year for electric vehicle adoption in the UK. “Tesla has revolutionised the market and now all other vehicle manufacturers are rapidly bringing their EVs to the market. Think of the switch from analogue phones to smart phones - we’re in a similar transitory phase. If the Government can deliver on their EV plans, and we think they can, the carpark of tomorrow is going to look very different to the gas-guzzling lot of today.”

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Questica Simplifying the Complexities of Public Sector Finance

Craig Ross Chief Revenue Officer

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ublic sector solution providers in their pursuit to be responsive and customer centric are embracing new technologies and innovative service delivery models to effectively serve the larger populace. Questica is one such adept public sector solution provider. Questica is a leader in multi-user budgeting software, performance management and transparency, and data visualization solutions.

TJ Parass, Founder and CEO, started Questica in 1998 in order to build a best-in-class public sector software solution. Craig Ross is the Chief Revenue Officer and one of the partners at Questica. Craig is a seasoned management leader with over 25 years of public sector financial technology-related experience.

Improving Trust of Stakeholders For over 20 years, Questica has been providing public sector organizations access to complete budgeting, performance, transparency and citizen engagement solutions to better enable data-driven budgeting and decision-making, while increasing data accuracy, saving time and improving stakeholder trust. It goes beyond having great solutions: it is about culture and personality, approach and expertise, and accountability to its customers.

Highly Developed and Efficient Offerings

Questica’s core offering, Questica Budget, drives budget transformation by creating a single source of data truth.

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This allows public sector organizations to shift from data collection to focus on what is important, deeper analysis and data-driven decision-making. Questica Budget is an easy-to-use, comprehensive cloud-based solution for budget preparation and management which includes: forecasting and analysis, workflow, role-based security access, amendment tracking, and performance measurement and reporting. As a true commercial-off-the-shelf cloud solution, Questica Budget is highly configurable.

Questica Budget’s flexibility allows its customers to establish the update schedule that best meets their specific needs and business cycles. A few of the key product features that sets Questica Budget apart include its robust workforce planning, adjustable formula and scenario builders, change requests, and advanced analytics and reporting capabilities.

Questica introduced OpenBook, its integrated data visualization and transparency tool to create an opportunity for better accountability, and to build trust with an organization’s stakeholders by communicating the budget and finances with easy-to-understand visuals. OpenBook allows public sector organizations to showcase their financial and non-financial data with interactive charts, tables, and graphics with descriptive text and informational MM 2018| December 2018|

pop-ups. It allows stakeholders to visually access and evaluate information that is generally hidden in printed reports and/or complex spreadsheets. Users can easily find out what they want and need to know about the agency’s plans, projects and issues in their community with OpenBook’s robust searching and filtering options.

Questica’s OpenBook and Budget Suite integrate with leading budget simulation tools providing organizations a way to promote and support deeper two-way stakeholder consultation and engagement.

Questica’s transparency solution includes its recently introduced OpenBook Project Explorer visualization for capital projects. This feature allows public sector agencies to present infrastructure projects on a map, including the budget, actual spend, funding sources, and accompanying documentation, images, video, etc, which enables stakeholders to learn more about the projects taking place within the community, without having to contact the organization directly.

Current Solutions and New Technologies Questica’s 20-year focus on and commitment to exceptional customer service, the development and investment in solutions, plus its driven yet friendly corporate culture has resulted in long-standing relationships with its customers, high customer satisfaction rates (a 60+ NPS score), and continued growth of its customer base. The company continues to expand and evolve its current solutions both with new features and functions but it is also incorporating and adopting new technologies. Questica is nimble in adapting to the changing needs of its customers and the public sector. The company places an emphasis on its continued investment back into R&D which helps to foster the collaborative partnership it enjoys with its customers.

Empowering Customers and Communities Customers choose Questica because of the company’s consultative approach. It has a shared customer centric focus and it takes incredible pride in delivering an exceptional experience for each and every customer.

Founder and CEO of Questica, TJ Parass mentions that they are pleased that the company will become part of GTY Technology Holdings early in 2019. Being able to partner with its fellow GTY peer companies to advance the digital transformation of public sector agencies to cloud-based solutions helping them to accelerate their financial health and operational sustainability will be key focus for the organization. While describing the vision and future of

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Questica’s budget, performance, transparency and engagement solutions result in better public sector finance for everyone.

Questica, Craig Ross, Chief Revenue Officer also states, “Questica will ensure that government, healthcare, education and non-profit organizations have the best technology, support and reporting tools to meet their everyday challenges.” He further clarifies that it is about delivering solutions to address funding changes, new legislation, stakeholder engagement, and a shifting workforce, while increasing accountability and producing greater organizational and community impact.

Endorsements by Customers “Having Questica Budget has given our team more time to focus on managing the budget now that we spend less time assembling it.” – Sound Transit, Washington “We’ve been pleased with how easy and logical the Questica Budget system is to use. We now have a powerful budgeting tool that enables all users to properly track and manage their own budgets, allowing the Finance team to spend more time on analysis and planning.” – The City of Arvada, Colorado “If we can find out what the public cares about, and translate that into budget impacts, while driving them to use Questica OpenBook, which is interactive and easy-to-use; that would connect all the dots.”– The City of Largo, Florida

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Social Media

Marketing for

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he absence of pharma brands on social media creates a significant void of reputable healthcare information to aid patients,” writes Dawn Lacallade, LiveWorld’s Chief Social Strategist.

Social media infiltrate virtually every facet of an individual’s digital life. Today, patients are using social media as a major source of information and healthcare research. Thus, it is essential that pharma companies should be present on social media to provide full and accurate information to the consumers. To comprehend how social media can assist patients, it is crucial to understand what compels people to use social media as a source of information.

Social media allows interaction among people which involves exchange and creation of information. It is the perfect conduit for pharmaceutical companies to connect with their customers, patients and physicians.

According to the current FDA regulations, pharma companies are not able to easily join in a conversation to provide accurate and balanced information. Regulations dictate that, in a single social post, brands are required to provide precise facts on the benefits and hazards associated with conditions and products. Due to the character limitations on many social media platforms, most pharma companies prefer to stay out of the conversation. This results in circulation of falsified information.

This information can be either marginally inaccurate or significantly harmful.

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Market Dashboard

Although the communication of pharmaceutical industries is highly regulated, they are gradually adopting social media platforms to reach and interact with consumers and healthcare professionals. Here are some of the top social media practices to look out for: Crafting Customer Experience Several marketers think that their job is finished once the sales team takes over, but in reality, it is just the beginning. The way people experience your brand will impact the way they think about you, which will have an enormous effect on the success of your company in the long run. Devoting a part of the marketing budget to nurture the existing clientele will make their experience splendid and thus promote brand loyalty. It is also crucial to respond whenever your brand in mentioned publicly, whether positively or negatively, which will help cultivate a strong and lasting relationship with your customers. Younger generations are increasingly withdrawing from traditional social media platforms and adopting more innovative channels that are more intimate in the way of communication. To keep up with this challenge, companies need to find a way to automate the process wherever possible.

Regulating Content Pharma companies need to develop content marketing strategies that merge each piece of content on every channel with their organization’s objectives and customers’ needs. Creators need to have a clear business objective including the value that will be delivered to distinct audiences. All companies need to have a social media compliance officer who will work closely with a corporate legal counsel and develop a complete strategy and decide if there will be consolidated social media posting or if individual employees will have the consent to participate. And lastly, it is critical that all employees understand their role in corporate social media and be trained on the rules.

Overall Integration Pharma companies should stop thinking about content marketing and social media as add-ons. To boost their outcome for clients, content and social marketing need to be a part of almost every program. To develop a fully integrated program, companies need to involve influencers and content marketers during the initial stages. Implementing an organized approach to content and moderation will not only optimize the processes, but also aid in assuring authorities that all the bases are covered to protect and provide value for the brand.

Investing in Employees An independent survey discovered that 72% of social media users expect response within an hour from the brands they follow. This has caused brands to start heavily investing in crossfunctional social media teams that can keep up with the increasing number of client pings

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every day. Encouraging and incentivizing team members to share brand messages on their own social media accounts, is predicted to be a game-changer in the coming days. However this cannot be forced, it is essential for employees to want to share company posts, and along with this the content has to resonate with their own audiences.

Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing will continue to develop and become an even more established part of the strategy. Currently many brands try influencer marketing and fail as it is not easy to find effective influencers. Additional data will help in selection of the right influencers and analyze the results from influencer campaigns. Today, in healthcare, influencers are often regular people. Some are directly affected by a disease or are being treated with a specific product, while others have gained a lot of knowledge about a condition and are considered as Subject Matter Experts. The common trend is to select someone who has an ever-increasing community of followers who value their opinion.

Numerous companies still think of social media as merely a marketing tool which is not true anymore. Consumers learn about products on different social networks and seek customer service on messaging channels. Moreover, good storytelling has always been an essential part of effective marketing. But social media is changing the way audiences consume stories and pharma companies will be required to keep up with the evolution of social storytelling if they want to remain relevant.

Yet there is still a note of caution with compliance being the foremost priority of pharmaceutical companies. But as industries are starting to adopt social media without clear regulatory guidance, remaining compliant will be the main challenge to face.

S NES NG I S BU KETI MAR

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THE FUTURE IS HERE Predictive Analytics for Field Service management

Samar Singla Founder

JungleWorks

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Expert's Outlook

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strologers and science-fiction writers have entirely lost their professional exclusivity with big data coming into action enabling anyone to predict the future backed by statistically analyzed complex data, that too in a matter of seconds. The key to the future lies in the past and the present has to connect the dots to make the time travel journey successful. Astonishingly, this entire process is reduced down to an operational duration of just a few minutes with advanced predictive analytics tools.

Field Service, in particular, is a goldmine of data from GPS and location to client details which had always been lying dormant inside company servers but are now, gradually, being channeled for greater purposes. Predictive analytics has become so important in field service because customers are, blatantly, expecting companies to understand their needs and customize their offerings before them expressing it. Companies can no more merely sell products and services and have to shift their focus to selling experiences to make a huge impact on the results.

These are the major impact points of predictive analytics in the field service sector: 1. Demand Forecasting demand for products and services can support enterprises in better inventory management and help in calculating the number of staff required to meet a certain objective.

2. Pricing Although enterprises are still slow in adopting modern methods of pricing and still rely on the traditional ones, times have changed with predictive analytics making the pricing process much more accurate and flexible to various internal and external factors.

3. KPIs Superior performance strongly relies on actionable information which is why predicting KPIs has become so important for enterprises. The ability of predictive analytics to measure, monitor and react to KPIs becomes imperative in formulating both short-term and long-term strategies.

4. Operational efficiency Task scheduling and route optimization becomes much more efficient especially with a heavy reduction in unnoticed slack using the multifunctional aspects of predictive analytics.

5. Maintenance Preventative maintenance becomes much more sense-

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making with predictive analytics supporting accurate planning using historical data about when a part is likely to fail.

Although there are abundant benefits of using Predictive Analytics not just in field services but in any domain, however, we cannot shy away from the risks that it brings along with it. For Predictive Analytics to properly work, there should be a huge volume of relevant data sets from a wide range of activities and even with the availability of such heavy data sets, algorithms can fail in anticipating human behavior which in itself is full of complexities. If we bring time into the frame, it makes things even more completed. The analytics design might be successful at one point of time but it might falter with changes in variables with respect to time.

However, modern predictive analytics tools have managed to rise beyond the risks and have hit a very high accuracy mark in making analytical predictions. Especially in field services, the algorithms have been modified to adapt to the changes in location-based data and customer insights considering time intervals as well. Such level of accuracy becomes imperative in shaping how historical data is used in making business level and functional strategies for the organization.

Predictive Analytics platforms have started to become extremely prominent since 2017 with modern technology giving a push to business intelligence platforms supporting predictive analytics. Enterprises in the field service industry can look at platforms like Tookan and Kato to take a dive into predictive analytics and transform how they carry out their business.

Tookan is a robust one-stop shop for all the field service management problems. Its analytical prowess gives you a glimpse of the future. Tookan diagnoses and understands the business with the help of its data mining and analytical functions helping to make business intelligent decisions to thrive in this volatile industry.

Kato is a fully equipped analytical platform which has a wide range of analytical offerings from data preparation, analytics dashboard to predictive insights. It acts as an AI and predictive analytics tool by offering plug and play ML algorithms that solve specific use cases for your business model.

With predictive analytics supporting functional activities at every step, enterprises can, literally, visualize a better future and make business intelligent decisions based on historical data defining patterns of activities and behavior.

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Valor Systems, Inc:

William Rendina Chief Executive Officer

Redefining the Benchmarks of Public Safety and Security

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aking into consideration, the drive to ceaselessly transform the ever-evolving Incident Management ecosystem, formulation of contemporary public safety and security strategies, delivery of reformative solutions and services, and a profound knack for innovation, Valor Systems, Inc. has been recognized as the most trusted public sector solution providers.

For 24 years, Valor Systems has provided solutions and services to the State and Local Public Safety Agencies, the Private Security market, and the United States Department of Defense, with absolute commitment. The organization takes pride to have served numerous market segments as a trusted Incident Management resource for Law, Fire, EMS and Security. When it comes to the question of customer satisfaction, the organization has successfully and efficiently maintained relationships from the first year of its sales with reinforced commitment towards its vast and diverse clientele.

The organization has always been extensively agile and customer-driven. It evidently comprehends that the world is changing, and public safety and security needs and requirements are growing more complex every day. Valor also understands that as a solution provider, it must be willing, and be efficient to adapt quickly to any and all kinds of public safety and security needs.

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Retaining the essence of its motto, “We listen. We learn. We deliver,” the organization, before demonstrating its Incident Management System, makes sure to completely understand where the client agency has come from, both technically and operationally, the current environment of the client, and what vision they hold for the future. Valor Systems also recognizes that agencies of all sizes have distinct requirements. Whether an agency operates independently, or in a consolidated model, a true solution provider must identify the differences and deliver a solution that adapts to the clients’ versatile needs, and that is what Valor Systems asserts and follows.

The spotlight is now on an Incident Management System developed by Valor Systems, that is flexible enough to empower an agency to build and configure new user defined fields and business rules that keeps up with future requirements.

Personifying Optimism and Excellence William Rendina aka Bill is the Chief Executive Officer at Valor Systems, Inc. He acknowledges the endless possibilities one can achieve with the right team. Bill has undergone the enlightening process of self-development through his tenure and numerous positions held in fortune 500 tech companies, allowing him to fully understand responsibility and accountability at all levels.

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Bill’s passion for public safety and security is contagious, and that has pushed the organization’s team to exemplify total commitment to this special industry. Serving as the CEO allows Bill’s creativity, vision and passion to merge and develop into new products. He has also presented in various speaking engagements on U.S. Military Bases and Crisis Preparedness Symposiums at Fortune 500 Companies.

Crafting Innovation Valor Systems has ceaselessly focused its efforts in developing and delivering Dispatch and Records solutions with an exceptional User Experience. The organization has palpably realized that a great user experience is imperative, while serving a role wherein a dispatcher works extended hours at the console, to the field officer who needs timely and accurate bi-directional information on a smartphone.

Valor Systems has also taken initiatives to eliminate silo applications and deliver a ‘unified’ User Experience across various technologies for the dispatcher and all field personnel, offering maximum efficiencies throughout their operation. To help solve cases, agencies utilize a newly developed Valor Link Analysis to visualize and connect incidents, people, vehicles and more.

A Triumphant Voyage Through various experiences, Valor Systems has learned the value of offering a solution that scales to various markets.

The organization also realizes that many agencies work within a common public safety framework but have many unique requirements. Similarly, mandates and various needs are based on the size of area serviced, demographics, geography, and whether state, local or federal.

Pertaining to this, Valor Systems has a strong track record of serving Public Safety Answering Points with 2-20 dispatchers, to U.S Military Bases around the world, and many Fortune 500 Companies, one of which dispatches across 27 countries. All of this achieved with the same scalable and configurable software.

Valor Systems also comprehends that often times, vendors say anything to win the business. Shedding light over this issue, the organization believes, vendors should “earn” the business by engaging in a fully-functional, no-cost, trial of the software as proposed. This allows the agency to clearly understand Valor Systems’ approach to their specific needs and ensure that expectations are met. The organization has delivered many successful implementations from start, to go-live, within a one-week period and without any prior commitment from the potential customer.

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Valor is committed to delivering flexible, scalable solutions and has earned 23 years of customer-retention.

which the first responders and other emergency personnel face in their daily operations. Valor participates in security and safety training courses to help define new solutions for multiple stakeholders across an enterprise.

Where many of the organization’s competitors have merged and offer competing systems within the same company, Valor System remains focused on developing scalable, configurable, customer-driven solutions. It has achieved this by listening to customers, staying ahead of the competition, and with focus on a single-code base Incident Management solution, Valor Systems will retain its position as a true leader in public safety and beyond.

A Gratified Clientele “When it comes to providing a Computer Aided Dispatch solution, Valor Systems makes it happen. Too often, we have encountered organizations, on other projects, that promise to meet the needs of the DOD only to disappoint.

Valor Systems, has met the unique Navy requirements to insure the safety of our overseas installations and the people who call it home.” – Mr. Brad Krull, Technical Project Leader IV, Navy Emergency Response Systems “Valor Systems is one of the few vendors we partner with who consistently deliver what they promise.” – Mr. Peter DeNutte, Assistant Director, New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Communications - Department of Safety “Valor Systems has proven to be extremely responsive to our needs, and have implemented many new concepts as the system has evolved.” – Mr. Michael Kindle, 911 Services, Macon County, Missouri

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Why Supermarkets Need to Talk to Millennials in Their Language About the Company

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he word millennial has been thrown around carelessly for a while now but only a few have understood the significance of what this means. They are not the loud and self-absorbed demographic that the media has made them to be, but rather a highly intelligent, welleducated, multitasking generation with a spending power of close to $3.39 Trillion in 2018, according to Oracle.

So who are they, and why do they matter? Millennials are those born between 1977 and 2000. 1 in 4 millennials are parents today, and are 2.5 times more likely to adopt a new technology compared to their older counterparts. Millennials are a generation of smartphone wielders, and the growth on the reliance of mobile applications that save time is on the rise. According to Edelman Digital, 42% of millennials have already made purchases using their smartphones.

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InstaShop is the easiest way to order groceries and have them delivered to the customer’s doorstep in less than 30 or 60 minutes average time depending on the location. The organization offers a convenient and seamless grocery shopping experience that frees its clients from the unavoidable chore of heading to the supermarket with all the challenges they may face there. The result?

Customers get much more time to enjoy doing the things they love the most with the people they love the most!

How you communicate is as important as what you communicate A conversational tonality that is accessible and human is what connects the millennials to a shop and brand. By taking a more personal approach ad campaigns, customers can feel more valued. Rather than just talking to the masses, brands that have started using social media networking pages to advertise their products are able to communicate directly with individuals.

Intelligently persuasive content will inevitably attract an audience. It’s this type of audience that will also be interested in future content pieces and accept the brand as a trusted and informative source of wanted information. This long term relationship can then be dotted with compelling reasons to purchase and convert readers to buyers.

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Industry Insight

About the Author John Tsioris

Founder & CEO

Mobile grocery shopping is now the next big trend A 30-year old working mother comes home to a crying baby, and remembers that she needs to purchase milk.

She quickly whips out her phone and places an order from the nearest online grocery shop without the hassle of calling, communication mishaps, and cash withdrawals.

To connect with this rising smart demographic, brick and mortar supermarkets cannot simply rely on traditional industry techniques that were prevalent in the 1990s and the 2000s. In that period, marketing was done through conventional techniques of leaflet distributions, and general word of mouth. But this has shifted slowly but surely. A reputation of a brand or a supermarket may in fact be dictated solely based on whether they have an online presence or not. A trending on-demand app culture has been taking over the millennial generation. In 2015, online grocery sales in US alone amounted to $7 billion, and is expected to rise to $18 billion by 2020.

Convenience and reliability is the critical factor that keeps this generation loyal. InstaShop, a UAE based online grocery delivery app backed by Souq.com, Jabbar Internet Group, and Venture Friends who partner with local supermarkets and brands, noticed that those who have downloaded the apps order at least once per week.

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John Tsioris is the Founder and CEO of InstaShop, the leading on demand grocery shopping app in the GCC, operating in the region since 2015 and having been nominated for two consecutive years as one of the most promising startups in the Arab world by Forbes. InstaShop is present in 4 countries & expanding.

The platform allows users to access their nearby supermarket directly through their mobile app and shop for groceries with delivery straight to their door in 30 to 60 minutes depending on location. in 2016, Souq.com invested In Instashop.

Limited push notifications on phones with regular discounts has been quite successful in increasing grocery purchase. However, too much of that, and the user may uninstall the app.

At the end, brick-and-mortar groceries and supermarkets need to build a new content strategy and partner with online delivery shopping applications that will help to transition to this new era of digital delivery options to ensure existing demographics are not missed out on.

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ECO-FRIENDLY Strategies for

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Environmental Talk

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oday, the national and global economies are on a consistent booming pathway. There is an upsurge in the use and implementation of cutting-edge technology in the construction-tech companies. Recognizing these technology trends, many construction-tech solution providing companies are focusing on its usage and adoption. Additionally, these global corporations are now majorly swinging their interest in executing sustainable construction procedures thereby leading to an increase in sustainable building materials reaching to the masses.

It is essential for the construction-tech companies and developers to adopt the ecological values which can ensure sustainability and longevity to withstand the market complexities. The customers and corporations are shifting towards preserving the environment and the construction-tech industry is following the suit. Besides, rapid population growth demands an eco-friendly environment to live in. There is a need for strategies that provide alternative construction solutions to safeguard the environment. Therefore, the construction-tech companies are planning to implement cost-effective ecoconstruction practices.

Using Eco-friendly Material Sustainable tech-based construction operations can involve the use of environment-friendly and non-toxic paints, solvents, and building materials. This can enhance an organizations’ productivity highgrounds in the construction-tech industry lending a hand towards construction of an eco-friendly building. This creates healthy and safer indoor spaces in homes, offices, and recreational areas. Besides, the integration of ecoconstruction practices in the technology will prove to be a long-term benefit for commercial and industrial buildings leading to the end-to-end customer satisfaction.

Using the safe, natural and readily available insulation material like the sheep’s wool can prove profitable for the construction. The recycled cotton sourced from shreds of discarded clothing can be a strong move

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towards non-toxic insulation and sustainable construction. Also, the by-product of the timber industry wood fiber made from wood chips can represent a good eco-friendly insulation option.

Reducing the Demolition Procedures Instead of dumping the hazardous materials like concrete and structural steel into landfills, these can be recycled and reused for various other tech-based construction operations. Using the industrial crushing amenities, the small-scale as well as large-scale construction-tech organizations can recycle these materials into dry aggregate for new construction operations. This would provide the organizations with a substantial savings opportunity and can help reducing the demolition construction procedures. It will also aid and cut-costs associated with the disposal of toxic materials from the site. Additionally, recycling and reusing the carpet, flooring and ceiling materials can be a small but strong move towards eco-friendly construction environment.

Implementation of Locally-obtained Resources Construction materials are transported over an extremely long distance with greater consumption of energy in that transportation phase. But emphasis can be placed on the use of locally-sourced materials with green construction.

Also, this would reduce the carbon footprint, and creates a far more efficient tech-based construction processes.

The use of the resources available in any city or town can help, support, and grow the local businesses on a large scale.

Conserving and Recycling the Water Water is the key enabler for every construction-tech operations; residential, industrial or commercial. Hence, water must be conserved to power the implementation of eco-construction processes into any kind of constructiontech project. This can involve simple techniques like rain-water harvesting and or watershed management.

This collection and storage of rain-water can be used for

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landscape irrigation. In addition, the recycled rain-water and its condensation from HVAC units can also be collected and used for same causes. The construction-tech companies can take advantage of recycling water through readily available water resources which would otherwise go down the drain.

Long-term Sustainable Solutions With the soaring energy costs, investing in solar power could be a long-term sustainable solution for tech-based construction companies. It can cut-costs, reduces grid reliance, and lessens the strain on electricity providers. The construction companies can transform the rooftops of the homes and buildings into generators with the use of this solar power and maintain a good electricity flow. To take one step further, use of photovoltaic windows consisting of solar cells can boost the operations controlling interior temperature.

Another way to execute successful eco-friendly construction practices can be achieved through the use of wind power.

Having turbine fans at the rooftop of a building can help in producing energy and also reduce electricity consumption.

Besides, they require little maintenance, maintain indoor air quality, and reduce utility investments.

Appropriate Use of Land With the increasing population, urbanization of smart cities is also on its way. Planning for green space and multipurpose areas can be significant in avoiding land degradation. The construction techniques can support the ideology of eco-friendly tech-based construction with the suitable use of landscape. Appropriate use of land by the builders, architects, and designers while developing a building, will encourage the addition of green spaces on rooftops or in other parts of that building. This will provide the masses with a multiuse space.

The future construction world would witness transformations with more sustainable and alternative construction methodologies. However, creativity and innovations in tech-enabled construction practices will ensure the maximum longevity of resources for future generations. Also, these innovations will be the cornerstones of the developments and could help in leaving a better landscape for next-gen. Eco-construction practices and technological advancements will open the future doors for the green construction leading to a cleaner and greener construction-tech world.

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December 2018|

VCS

Pioneering Time & Labor Management Solutions within the Public Sector

Guy DiMemmo Founder & CEO

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n an interview with Insights Success, the Founder and CEO of Visual Computer Solutions, Guy DiMemmo shares the key insights over his organization’s delivery of reformative software solutions with an implied emphasis on disruptive innovation and a state of being au fait with contemporary technology. Considering these influential and inspirational traits, Insights Success recognizes Visual Computer Solutions as one of the most trusted public sector solution providers of 2018.

Below are highlights from the interview: Give a brief overview of the company, its uniqueness and its vision.

VCS strives to provide the public sector with state-of-theart Time and Labor Management software, in an effort to improve the efficiency and quality of their workforce. Our ultimate goal is to create unparalleled software solutions that address the rapidly changing technological requirements and governing laws of the public sector.

What are the cutting-edge products and solutions offered by Visual Computer Solutions? a) POSS for Police: POSS is Public Safety’s top choice for time and attendance software that handles unique challenges due to the complexity of shift patterns, rotations, minimum staffing requirements, FLSA labor laws, agency/union rules, etc., and gives users the ability to customize the scheduling system to their precise needs. b) COSS for Correctional Agencies and Jails: COSS is the only corrections scheduling and time & attendance solution that exists in the marketplace today. As

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requested by Correctional Administrators who best understand the complexity of their mandated rules and laws, COSS was designed to include the ability for customization to a facility’s unique requirements. c) FIRES for Fire and EMS Agencies: FIRES is an indispensable management tool for supervisors who are responsible for managing the complex and variable schedules of Fire and EMS agencies. The flexible, userfriendly screens automate everything from calendaring, overtime and certifications to payroll, reporting, and broadcast messaging. d) AION for Government: AION is a fully integrated scheduling and time/attendance solution for municipal scheduling needs that automates the labor-intensive processes involved with the management of employee time and attendance. With the ability to integrate civilian and non-civilian time keeping needs, AION allows for accurate schedule creation that aligns labor with need while observing all municipality regulatory policies and compliance issues. e) Jobs4Blue – Managed Services for Extra Duty: Powered by POSS, Jobs4Blue’s mission is to simplify extra duty management by eliminating the daunting and time-consuming administrative tasks that are typically associated with this process. Jobs4Blue acts as a liaison for the administration of extra-duty jobs, so the extensive man hours and labor costs that typically consume public safety agencies’ time can now be better spent to protect and serve their communities.

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Give a detailed description of your influence over the company and the industry.

Influenced by industry leaders in the public sector, I took on the task of creating a software solution to combat their workforce and scheduling challenges. In 1998, I developed VCS and its flagship solution POSS, the very first computerized system for police scheduling.

POSS was an instant success when it hit the market just a few years later, guiding VCS to almost exclusively service the law enforcement industry. The immediate success of POSS enabled us to take further steps by creating additional products that serve the diverse needs of each government entity. We’re dedicated to running the public sector’s entire behind-the-scenes show so they can remain focused on the frontline.

Describe the experiences, achievements or lessons learnt that have shaped the journey of the company. a) Initially created as a solution to assist a local police department, POSS quickly became a phenomenon, now embodying the phrase “the sky is the limit.” In 2016, VCS topped Inc. 5000’s list of the fastest-growing private companies, and POSS is currently powering more than 700 police departments across the U.S. b) We’ve learned that technology needs to be ever evolving in order to meet the changing needs of today’s public sector workforce. VCS prides itself on listening to the issues our clients are facing and responding accordingly with software that resolves them.

What are the challenges faced while providing public sector solutions and how is Visual Computer Solutions serving to tackle them? a) Through thorough research and working first-hand with members of the industry, VCS has developed a deeprooted knowledge of “the way things work” in the public sector. We’re completely immersed in the public sector and know not only how to handle – but the precise way to handle – any time and labor management hurdle that may arise. b) Hot topics like Overtime and Extra Duty management are challenges within the industry that are easily handled through automation and logic inherently built within the VCS platform.

‘‘

For over 20 years, we have been immersed in the public sector, taking on the burden of handling time and labor management 24/7, 365.

Where does Visual Computer Solutions see itself in the long run and what are its future goals?

VCS pioneered time and labor management solutions within the public sector and will continue to be the front runner. After experiencing much success within this industry, VCS’ goal is to expand to include HCM offerings for any business looking to efficiently and effectively manage its workforce.

Client Testimonials: “Since implementing POSS our payroll processing is much faster and efficient. We were additionally able to get rid of all handwritten slips that we had been using for sick time, vacation time and overtime requests which has resulted in a tremendous cost savings for the department. The amount of report options available in POSS is incredible. The system is truly invaluable to us.” - Norma Zamudio, Arcadia Police Department, CA “POSS has enabled Atlantic County (a department of 250 employees) to save more than $70,000 per year simply by effectively managing payroll and overtime while paying for itself in the first year alone.” - Sgt. Anthony Minetti, Atlantic County Department of Public Safety, NJ

According to you, what could be the potential future of public sector solution providers and how does Visual Computer Solutions envision sustaining its competency?

The future is bright as the public sector has really come to understand the importance of technology in the management of their workforce. VCS prides itself on its ever-evolving nature, which means that as the industry grows, we will continue to grow alongside it by always meeting the changing needs and demands of the public sector.

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Blockchain: The Next Opportunity for Better, Safer, Smarter Cities

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oday, about 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, but this share is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Combined with the overall growth of global population, this could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050, with close to 90% of this increase taking place in Asia and Africa, as reported by the United Nations’ 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects.

Since the world continues to urbanize, a wiser and farsighted management of urban resources is more and more needed, especially in low-income and lowermiddle-income countries where the pace of urbanization is projected to be the fastest. Smart technologies and smart urban platforms can support City managers in tackling the increasing demand for energy, infrastructures, affordable housing, well-connected mobility systems, healthcare and education, as well as quality of life and jobs.

To understand how smart technologies work, we should picture Cities as distributed communication systems, where urban objects – think of streetlights, meters, parking lots, waste bins, Wi-Fi hotspots, video

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About the Author: Gianni Minetti Passionate and eclectic technology expert, Gianni Minetti is the President and CEO, Paradox Engineering SA has about 25 years of business experience in information and telecommunication systems, with peculiar interests in Internet of Things, smart technologies, blockchain and cryptography. In 2005 he founded Paradox Engineering as the vehicle for bringing his unique technology vision to the market through pioneer IoT platforms for Smart Cities and Smart Factories. He is currently President and CEO of the Company, which has been part of MinebeaMitsumi Group since July 2015. Gianni is also chair of the Southern Alps Chapter of the Crypto Valley Association, active investor and advisor to several blockchain venture projects. He is based in Ticino, Switzerland.

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Leadership Viewpoint

surveillance cameras, etc. – are not dumb, isolated devices, but smart nodes of a citywide network. With the Internet of Things (IoT), all these objects are injected with intelligence and acquire the capability to receive and transmit data and execute commands, thus enabling remote monitoring and dynamic, adaptive control functions.

when human or vehicle presence is detected, and on demand actions can be triggered in real time for single or grouped lamps – for instance when a car accident or an emergency requires intense lighting in a specific area.

Acquiring and correlating data from urban assets is a significant step forward to improve quality of public services and citizen satisfaction, reduce energy consumption, optimize costs and simplify processes for City operators and managers. Even more, it provides actionable information to feed strategic decisions about services efficiency and improvements, and take evidence-based actions where and when needed.

It is proven that implementing LED lighting and an IoT remote management and control platform can cut energy consumption and greenhouse emissions up to 70%.

Moreover, connected lamps can monitor key operating parameters and automatically report failures, generating extra savings on maintenance costs. Considering LED technologies last about 50% longer than traditional light sources, the US Federal Department of Energy estimated that if the entire country converted to LED lighting over the next 20 years, it would save a total of USD 120 billion.

Let’s apply what we’ve just described to a basic service such as street lighting. By connecting street lamps to a wireless IoT network, it becomes possible to turn them on/off and adjust brightness according to daily solar times and ambient light levels, defining variable patterns for working and festive days, residential and industrial districts. Sensors can be integrated to bring lights up

Even more interesting developments are possible with blockchain technology, which can make Smart Cities far more secure, transparent, efficient and resilient. As an original combination of mature technological concepts, including peer-to-peer networks, distributed consensus algorithms, validity rules, ledger technologies and cryptography, blockchain can be successfully applied in

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any domain where stakeholders’ relations are based on trust and may be entirely disintermediated. This is particularly true in Cities, as they rely on accurate, secure, authentic and trustworthy information exchanges to deliver services to people and businesses.

About energy distribution, for instance, blockchain-based metering solutions can accelerate the adoption of real-time differential pricing models and encourage users to participate to power generation by connecting their renewable energy microgrids to the main grid. In water networks, blockchain technologies enable smart contracts and validated rules to automate water supply in the most possible efficient manner, minimizing leakages and tampering.

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Blockchain technology can be combined with IoT solutions to provide better waste collection services: it allows to accurately track waste input and optimize waste truck routes upon parameters like bin status, filling levels, etc. This increases service quality and efficiency, and generates further savings on fuel expenses and overall maintenance costs. Garbage-related data could also support the introduction of customized fees for household and commercial users, thus rewarding recycling and correct waste separation.

Coming to public government and administration, blockchain can be used to automate and digitalize civil registries, as well as property, real estate and business registries,

generating notable cost savings and increasing quality of service.

Considering citizen participation, blockchain-based voting platforms can improve present, analogue electoral systems by achieving secure, anonymous and unique voting in a decentralized manner.

Same platforms can be used to poll citizens on specific urban initiatives, making sure contributions from civil society are recognized in Smart City planning and development.

Blockchain technology is still in its early days, but most experts agree it has a potential for disruption. And some pioneer experiences – from Dubai to Tokyo, from New York to Tallinn – demonstrate that benefits for Smart Cities can really be worthwhile.

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