IT Chief Will Detail How Pasadena’s Online Operations Dashboard Keeps City Safe and Secure During Rose Parade, Rose Bowl

January 1 isn’t “game day” just for the two teams playing football in the Rose Bowl. It’s one day of the year that City managers in virtually every department need to perform at the top of their game — from police and fire department command to Public Works supervisors.

Keeping the Parade route safe and secure with hundreds of thousands of parade-goers in town means City supervisors need access to real-time data and an efficient way to manage it.

Friday, Pasadena’s Chief Information Officer Phillip Leclair will put the City’s high tech Operations Dashboard on display, revealing how it streamlines real-time information management and enables personnel to plan actions and responses quickly.

“The main focus is how we’re utilizing different data sets in trying to bring information forward to make operational decisions,” Leclair said. “It’s using data sets to make better management decisions and the bigger focus is on operational data so people can visualize what’s happening in real-time.”

That’s how the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl Game come into play.

“That’s the lead-in to this talk, making better decisions on public safety and use of other resources on the Tournament and other New Year’s Day events,” Leclair said. “We don’t just use the system only on New Year’s Day, we use it every day. Pasadena is basically using data to make better management decisions and to enhance operations. The bigger focus will be on operational data so managers and staff can visualize what is happening in real-time.”

There should be good interest, said Michael Schaffer CEO of Echo Factory, and lead organizer for the event, the Friday Coffee Meetup at Cross Campus, 85 N. Raymond Ave., in Old Pasadena.

Leclair speaks Friday, December 13 from 8:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

“Friday Coffee Meetup meets once a week,” Schaffer said. “We’ve been doing it for six years. They’re free events to attend and we have typically a hundred to 125 people show up every week at Cross Campus.”

Managing the visualization and the data all in one place is the Operational Dashboard, or a better “pane of glass,” Leclair said.

“The dashboard system connects different departments of the city, and can help pinpoint where there are resources and assets,” Leclair said. “It can help monitor where are the people and the equipment, and it can monitor other environmentals like weather and road conditions, also getting real-time social media feeds and it’s all brought together in a usable dashboard.”

The tech is collaborative within the public safety areas of the City with support from the IT department and new software capabilities, he said. “The City is focused on using data sets and software to make Pasadena a more livable and exciting place.”

Other tech installations include the use of Fiber-optics in the City, which also plays a role in the measurement of earthquakes.

The aspect of real-time technology enables public safety to dispatch service personnel more effectively because decision-makers are receiving stats while planning to manage resources or incidents. Personnel are able to move resources around the city depending on what’s happening.

The Friday coffee meetup attracts a range of people, and the group wants to showcase projects the City might be involved in.

“They asked us to share some of the Smart City technologies that we’re making to enhance our operations,” he said. “The other aspect will be on other things we’re doing that uses data sets, investing in our City to make it a more exciting place to live.”

For more information about the event, click here.