IoT Latam and 0G Colombia join forces to support ESU improve urban safety across Medellín City with the 0G Network
Challenges
Medellín City needed a 24×7 remote monitoring solution to help support its busy law enforcement agencies to respond to crimes more quickly and effectively.
Solution
Partnering with IoT Latam and 0G Colombia, ESU deployed close to 500 alarms in Medellín City’s central business district, connected to the 0G Network, to notify police and community members of crime reliably and efficiently.
Results
An IoT-enabled remotely monitored panic button solution helped Medellín City achieve:
- 24×7 monitoring solution
- Deterrence and faster law enforcement
- Up to 55% reduction in theft rates
- Improved citizen safety and community confidence
0G IoT Solution Provider
0G Colombia operates the 0G network, powered by Sigfox technology in Colombia. As a LPWAN IoT solutions integrator, the company connects devices with high energy efficiency at low investment and communication costs.
Solution Partner
IoT LATAM is a solution provider & system integrator of IoT solutions. They have the ability to design and manufacture hardware in Colombia and have their own software development team for customized solutions.
Customer
The Company for Security and Urban Solutions (ESU) is a mixed entity of the Mayor’s Office of Medellín (Colombia), responsible for designing, structuring, developing and implementing technological solutions to support the improvement of one of the most important pillars of the city, security. By working with local authorities, security, community and private agencies, ESU implements solutions that allow authorities to address crime prevention, emergency response and public safety with cutting-edge systems.
Medellín is the second largest city in Colombia and a pioneering metropolis in the use of IoT to improve citizen security, monitor air quality, temperature and noise levels, operate smart transportation, lighting, water meters and more.
Medellín, the capital of Colombia Antioquia province, lies in a fertile region famed for its coffee, flower farms, and butterflies. Known as the City of Eternal Spring for its idyllic climate, Medellín earned global notoriety in the 1990s as one of the world’s most dangerous cities.
Criminal groups and gangs targeted Medellín’s restaurants, hotels, and retail outlets to steal money and customer belongings. Local police resources were regularly overwhelmed by citizen calls for assistance. The city needed a new strategy to support the police more efficiently and wanted to involve local citizens, who often witness crime, to share fast intel on crime locations.
How the ESU and 0G Colombia helped Medellín City get smart about urban safety
Medellín’s community safety is a key priority for the Empresa para la Seguridad Urbana (ESU), a State-owned enterprise responsible for improving citizen safety and urban security across Colombian cities and territories.
The ESU, specialists in smart solutions, to design and deploy a solution to help Medellín’s police force respond to crime reports more efficiently. The solution features discreet, IoT-enabled devices installed in commercial locations across Medellín’s city centre, each fitted with a small panic button. When a citizen presses a panic button, the device sends an alert, similar to a 911 call, to the nearest police station via a low-power wide area network powered by Sigfox 0G technology. This network operated by 0G Columbia is dedicated to supporting low-cost and energy-efficient IoT sensors to communicated with ease in order to drive Massive IoT.
The 0G Network integrates with the Medellín’s police force’s existing crime monitoring system. The solution publishes every panic button alert to a central dashboard, a mobile police app, and a text message to local officers.
Alerts share preconfigured details such as the location’s name and address, contact name, time, and telephone number. Each alert is immediate, delivering critical information to help police officers pinpoint crime scenes and reassuring citizens that help is on the way.
Once a citizen presses the panic button, the IoT device lights up to indicate an alert has been sent. Each device is compact and powered by a long-life battery that lasts over a year with minimal maintenance. Each device sends a keep-alive signal every eight days to the central dashboard to confirm its operational status and report its remaining battery power. The panic button is difficult to press by mistake, removing the possibility of unintended activation. Device owners also have the option to configure the device to send alerts to up to four contact people in addition to the closest police station.
Smart results: IoT monitoring devices and the 0G Network help Medellín City police target crime and improve citizen safety
Over the last three years, IoT Latam has installed close to 500 remote monitoring panic buttons across the Medellín city centre. The solution has helped improve local police emergency response times, citizen safety, and community confidence in visiting commercial outlets and public spaces.
The panic button devices are easy to use and accessible for everyone, delivering inclusive access to all citizens to alert authorities. The solution offers local law enforcement agencies data-based insights to identify hotspots for criminal activity and target improvements.
The requirement for a dependable, affordable, and autonomous remote monitoring solution for Medellín’s police force sharing small amounts of data made the IoT an obvious technology choice. Connecting IoT devices to the 0G Network is easy, fast, cost-effective, and ensures reliable coverage, even in environments that challenge traditional networks, like underground areas, over long distances, or within concrete buildings.Carlos Manuel Trujillo, Chief Executive Officer of IoT LATAM
Integrating existing police infrastructure with the IoT solution has helped create a more comprehensive safety monitoring network. In February 2023, Medellín achieved significant crime reductions compared with 2022, including:
IoT Latam is deploying new solutions incorporating the panic button solution across Medellín. One such use case involves monitoring devices at a downtown hotel to enable guests to activate panic button alerts if they observe criminal activity on-site. IoT Latam’s Secure Zone (Zona Segura) solution includes always-on panic buttons in strategic locations paired with a siren to simultaneously alert police and the surrounding community of a threat.
The ESU is an entity committed to the development of smart cities, the solution of remote monitoring panic buttons through networks of the industry 4.0 enablers is a product that has allowed commerce and citizens to approach the authorities with a timely response and improve their perception of security. The growth in deployment of this technology has allowed the city to reach a large area of the territory and the growth of the entity.Camilo Zapata Wills, CEO of Empresa para la Seguridad Urbana (ESU)
0G connectivity for panic buttons across Medellín’s city centre is a rich example of how low-cost, reliable connectivity can deliver fit-for-purpose IoT solutions to address everyday operational challenges. The project demonstrates the positive outcome IoT solutions connected to the 0G Network can have, making Medellin a safer place. We’re inspired by this initiative and its immediate social impact, along with the 5.5 million other connected devices in the security sector that enhances safety globally. We look forward to seeing how IoT and the 0G Network will continue to support Medellín City in its next step of transformation.Loic Barancourt, CCO of UnaBiz
