State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

High-Speed Fiber and Drones Power Live-Streaming Accident App

Government Technology: The city of Wilson, N.C. needed only a small boost to get its public safety drone program flying even higher.

The city began leveraging unmanned aerial systems (UAS) a little over a year ago, sending out drones to capture video footage of accident scenes. A $10,000 grant from smart cities accelerator US Ignite enabled development of a new live-streaming app.

“This allows all the subject matter experts to collaborate, without having to get together on scene. You could have engineers and utility operations managers and public safety officers all working together,” said Will Aycock, general manager of Wilson Greenlight Community Broadband, the city’s fiber network.

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