AT&T Tapped to Provide Wireless Network Support to Urban Sensing Project in Chicago; Mike Zeto Comments

AT&T has been selected to provide wireless network connectivity support to an urban sensing project in the city of Chicago.

The Urban Center for Computation and Data oversees the Array of Things project that aims to gather data on Chicago’s infrastructure, traffic congestion, air quality, climate, noise and other environmental factors through a network of sensor-based nodes, AT&T said Thursday.

The AoT project will use AT&T’s wireless network to transmit sensor-based information to a central database at the Argonne National Laboratory that will work to process and release the data for public and research use.

The AoT initiative will start to install this summer a total of 500 sensor nodes that will be operational in Chicago through 2018.

“We’re excited that Chicago and other cities with Array of Things sensors will be able to use this data to gain deeper insights into the needs of their city and citizens so they can ultimately make more informed decisions, drive efficiencies and deliver a higher quality living experience to their citizens,” said Mike Zeto, general manager and executive director of smart cities at AT&T.

The Urban Center for Computation and Data is a joint program of the Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago.