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City of Norfolk
Page 18
Vision
Element
Alignment and Approach
EIGHT
Smart Grid, and
Electric Vehicles
(EVs)
Dominion Virginia Power is actively deploying smartgrid technology systemwide.
The City’s likely contribution to this element would come in the form of EV charging
stations and “park-n-charge” sites. Driving on Norfolk City streets rarely involves more
than 8 miles, or 20 minutes, of travel. The City has recently collaborated with Virginia
Clean Cities to install three charging stations (2 in downtown) on City property. Tesla
has also recently installed a charging station in the City.
With ownership of 20,000 downtown parking garage spaces, the City is extremely well-
positioned to move into the “park-n-charge” business and proposes to do so. The City
would also seek to facilitate similar installations at key private parking facilities and
employers, and at Tide park-n-ride lots. The City would determine ways to leverage the
increased power supply infrastructure needed in garages, for other uses, and use
smartgrid technology to manage peak loading, perhaps even employ some form of
reverse generation.
NINE
Connected,
Involved
Citizens
As part of this proposal, the City and its partners will develop a customizable app
toward an “Intelligent Community Platform”, that will provide citizens, city
departments, businesses, military and other organization access to targeted and
actionable information that enhances their ability to make smart decisions that allow
them to survive, adapt and grow in the face of the city’s challenges. The app will help
avoid congestion; improve safety and mobility, route around and otherwise mitigate the
impacts of flooded areas; optimize business operations, and connect vulnerable
residents to services in times of disruption. The City will leverage its vast network of
non-profit, public and private partnerships and build upon existing community
engagement campaigns and crowdsourcing efforts to make citizens active participants
in the designing community of the future, asking them to be aware, involved and take a
smart action in a more risky coastal environment.
TEN
Architecture and
Standards
Part of our Vision is to produce as much value as possible, both for Norfolk and the
Country. Our approach described in Section 10, and the qualifications of our team,
demonstrates our capabilities and commitment to this element.
ELEVEN
Low-Cost,
Efficient,
Secure, and
Resilient
Information and
Communication
Technology
Our vision is to move beyond traffic to an integrated next-generation digital
infrastructure that can deliver solutions and services to its residents. The City’s existing
fiber-optic-plant based Wide Area Network and ATMS Network, with ongoing
expansions and upgrades, aligns well with this vision element and serves as the
backbone of our system. The City will make its Smart City services and information
accessible online at any time, from anywhere. The information will be accessed by a
website or application with real-time updates from the transportation and Smart City
network. Data will be presented through open web services to appropriate users in
secure, PII protected manner. The City’s digital infrastructure will not only connect to
what resides in the City’s data center, but also extended through the “internet of
things” to residents’ smart phones, wearable devices, cars, tablets, and PCs, etc. The
City’s digital infrastructure will be upgraded and expanded to increase its capacity for
public Wi-Fi, internet service to residents and businesses, sensors, analytics, security,
storage, and computing.
Operations that were in silos will now be connected to a centralized command and
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City of Norfolk
Page 19
Vision
Element
Alignment and Approach
Low-Cost,
Efficient,
Secure, and
Resilient
Information and
Communication
Technology
control center, with communications and information flowing seamlessly across the
system through a government convergence platform and robust fiber optic network.
This will make possible multi-agency efforts, such as emergency notification and
dispatch services via departments of health, transportation, and safety. A security plan
will also be extended to fully cover all smart services used by the City, taking into
account all perimeter access points to ensure proper controls and privacy are
maintained. The City will also develop big data openness strategy to mine information
collected to make better data driven decisions, optimize operations, ensure effective
citizen engagement, and cross-government collaboration.
We will develop customized traffic congestion alert services, flooded roadway warning
systems, and critical infrastructure monitoring. Citizens can express preferences for
specific locations and delivery methods, such as receiving flooded road and parking
warnings or congestion updates for their specific frequent routes via push notifications,
text, and email, etc. Agencies can prioritize users, such as emergency vehicles or critical
infrastructure equipment. Targeted communications campaigns can be developed to
different categories of residents, driven by their work and personal lifestyles, to
increase smart services uptake and facilitate forums for continuous resident
engagement in services improvement.
We will conduct sophisticated data collection and analytics to enable The City to
develop predictive insights for anticipatory actions. Data collection and analytics will
allow the City during “blue skies” to better understand and model the impacts of sea-
level rise and flooding on its transportation and critical infrastructure, and the impact it
has on the citizens. This could also involve an analytics program that evaluates current
road and transit patterns to predict future usage, guiding informed decisions for
maintenance and expansion projects to City officials.
TWELVE
Smart
Land Use
Incenting, facilitating and investing in business and land development, and livability-
supporting services and infrastructure, will create the future of Norfolk as a Smart City,
with a focus on people and accessibility. The recent past has seen a tremendous
positive upswing in attracting higher-density development in walkable and transit-
oriented areas, and opportunities for continuing this trend are aggressively pursued in
Norfolk’s planning and economic development efforts every day (such as Vision 2100,
Naval Station Norfolk Transit Extension Study, Military Circle Plan).
By having a better understanding of where the worst flooding occurs, we can
intelligently plan our land use strategies to make these areas green space or
infrastructure. The areas can become stormwater management zones to decrease our
runoff and pollution into the Chesapeake Bay and improve groundwater recharge.