We are close to breaching the halfway point of 2024 and, at least at the time of this article’s publication, I’ve yet to physically step into the bright, tech-rich city of Peachtree Corners. Found in Gwinnett County, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area in the state of Georgia, Peachtree Corners is the center of much IoT hype (as we’ve written in the past on one of our sister sites, Smart City Sentinel; check out the most recent story here).
And while I haven’t visited in person, I have “entered” it virtually as I’ve learned and penned many articles about the city. Here’s what I can tell y’all:
Essentially, Peachtree Corners is widely known for its host of restaurants, high-end retail marts, bustling streets and engaging community activities, all wrapped up in a very tech-inclusive environment. And at the core of Peachtree Corners is the Curiosity Lab, a 5G-enabled “living laboratory” nestled in the city’s 500-acre Technology Park. This publicly funded lab powers the real-world test environments within Peachtree Corners to, according to those running it, “advance next-generation intelligent mobility and smart city technology implementations.” The Curiosity Lab invites early-stage startups, universities and like institutions, and globally established enterprises to test, demo and deploy their solutions within the connected infrastructure of Peachtree Corners.
So on the topic of this growing smart tech Shangri-la, we’d like to share additional news that dropped just earlier this morning:
Peachtree Corners officially announced that enterprise video software provider Network Optix partnered with the Curiosity Lab and has since introduced to the city its Nx Go solution.
What’s the mission? To integrate Nx Go, which is tailored specifically for traffic infrastructure, into the city’s “IoT Control Room.” Deemed as a tool for creating “the future of transportation, where next-gen tech meets urban mobility for smarter and safer city-wide transportation management,” Nx Go was designed to directly address pressing challenges faced in bettering modern transportation, offering enhanced efficiency and connectivity across urban environments.
In more technical terms, Nx Go takes devices into a single, cohesive network to simplify overall management and amplify data-generation capacity within the designated setting. Network Optix has deployed this solution – its first in the U.S., notably – at Peachtree Corners because of the cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X)-powered roadways, LiDAR applications, traffic signal fixtures, crosswalk sensors and more to communicate more effectively with connected/autonomous vehicles, in-transit pedestrians, and so on. Being able to view and manage critical data from the IoT Control Room via Nx Go is reportedly “poised to expand across the country,” helping to generate data (e.g. from intersection analytics, car counts, and lane usage) to ensure safety and enhance operations.
Marc Faubert, Director of Mobility Platform Business Development at Network Optix, expressed great enthusiasm regarding this integrative partnership.
“We are thrilled to be partnered with the country’s premier smart city and Curiosity Lab ecosystem, showcasing different technologies from all over the world across its traffic infrastructure,” Faubert said. “This is the only location with the full range of Nx Go technologies available, allowing us to fully showcase the extent of sensors, LiDAR and more the city has deployed across their smart city ecosystem. Having Nx Go as the visual to display such technology gives Peachtree Corners a single pane of glass to be proactive and monitor, evaluate and implement various strategies to improve the city. With Peachtree Corners’ government leadership always innovating, there was no better place to integrate our solution first than in the heart of what’s becoming known as ‘Silicon Orchard’ by technology developers globally”
Brandon Branham, Executive Director at Curiosity Lab, shared his thoughts as well.
“We’re proud to be the first city to fully integrate the Nx Go solution for transportation infrastructure in the United States. Our IoT Control room has been a model for how other smart cities across the world can aggregate massive amounts of data from sensors across connected infrastructure into the future – so it was only fitting that we partner with Network Optix to process and display traffic sensor data. From fixed LiDAR to traffic camera feeds delivered over the 5G network, this data is critical to city operations that ensure roadway safety for autonomous vehicles, regular drivers and pedestrians.”
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
