Wearable technology promises greater efficiency in cities, industry and life
Technology makes our lives easier. Whether it’s a simple technology like the wheel, or a complex technology like a combustible engine, there’s no argument that having the ability to go from point A to point B is more efficient with wheels than with legs. But what about wearable technology? How will wearables affect us? Our cities? Industry? Will wearable technology alter our evolution?
These are big questions. The answers are just as big, and are still being written.
With smart watches, body cameras and sensors now storming technology and consumer markets, wearables are showing their potential of efficiency. They have the ability to streamline how cities operate and serve their residents, while lending greater efficiency to many industrial and commercial applications. The more data cities and companies have, the more efficiently they can run and the more efficient we become.
“Wearables make things as smart as people could be by collecting information,” said Gabriella Draney Zielke, founder and CEO of Tech Wildcatters, a company partnering with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to bring more wearable technology to law enforcement agencies. “You take humans and our judgment out of the situation.”
Government agencies
Wearable technologies can help government agencies run better – from tracking employee activity and access to streamlining data collection, improving security and providing more tools for law enforcement. But cities need a push for broader adoption.
Despite wearables’ attraction of bringing greater efficiency, cities and local government agencies are moving more slowly than the private sector in adoption, said Richard Chang, director at Information Services Group in Stamford, Connecticut.
“This is very understandable because many local agencies cannot afford to be on the bleeding edge of technology,” he said. “And once tried and proven tools are established, then it becomes a question of how fast they are adopted.”
In other words, it’s not a matter of if, but when. Experts like Chang predict widespread adoption of wearable devices in the near future for federal and state healthcare organizations—“from the Centers for Disease Control to a local agency serving Medicare and the massive Veteran’s Hospital network.”
He expects health agencies will incorporate wearable devices to improve everything from wait times at the local hospital to emergency requests for healthcare services.
“Municipalities and government agencies, especially progressive jurisdictions with the ‘charter’ to provide, maintain and safeguard population health care management, would absolutely deploy tools to leverage wearables,” Chang said.
Of course the most prevalent use-case for wearables right now is in healthcare – at the consumer level, as well as the professional and governmental levels.
“We see government agencies enabling their own employees to get healthy by using technologies to track their activities and vitals, and then share that information with plan coordinator and case workers to improve health, enable early intervention and ultimately improve health and quality of life,” said Dinesh Sheth, founder and CEO of Green Circle Health in Pensacola, Fla.
Industry
Wearable technology can bring about a greater level of efficiency in industry, too. For example, hands-free smart devices can help expedite production in manufacturing. They can speed access to real-time information in service industries. And in healthcare, wearable devices can improve accuracy of information, streamline procedures and better serve patient health.
Devices that allow workers in various sectors to obtain and use information hands-free also facilitate safer working practices. On-body devices could be used to monitor the safety of field workers, especially for those working in confined spaces.
Wearable technologies have valuable applications for workforce management, potentially improving new hire onboarding and payroll monitoring. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, 72 percent of consumers say they would adopt a smart watch if their employer paid for it.
Wearables are also being used at utility companies, as they explore ways to upgrade smart grids via wearable technology. Service technicians at Sullivan Solar in southern California are using Google Glass to install and maintain solar panels in San Diego Gas & Electric’s service territory.
Energy expert Philippe Tellier at PA Consulting in Arlington, Va. believes wearable technology “will be a critical tool in supporting efficient smart grid operations and field workers: it can provide contextual, location-based infrastructure information, reducing the complexity of the smart grid and allowing them access to timely and relevant information.”
Wearables can be used in innovative ways to further integrate commercial, industrial and government processes with their various users. The technology is maturing to become a vital component of what it means to be human.
“Wearable technology connects humanity and provides a data port about you and who you are,” said Redg Snodgrass, CEO of Wearable World, an organization that advises companies on wearable technologies. “Even anonymously, you know there is a human being on the other end.”
