City of Coral Gables Installs First AI-Powered Ekin Smart City Pole Technology in the U.S.

Official City of Coral Gables Notice

Ekin, a global leader in smart city technology solutions powered by artificial intelligence (AI), announced the launch of its first smart city pilot project in the U.S., serving the City of Coral Gables. The innovative, AI-powered Ekin Spotter gives public sector agencies and law enforcement providers next-generation data analysis capabilities to improve city planning, traffic and enforcement, public safety, environmental protection, Wi-Fi access, and more.

Coral Gables’ new ‘Smart City Pole’ is the first of its kind implemented in the U.S. The city’s pilot project includes installation of the Ekin Spotter on the west median of Alhambra Circle and Ponce in downtown Coral Gables. The technology was specifically engineered to meet Coral Gables’ smart city goals, as well as Florida building codes with wind load requirements, the city’s engineering standards (ASCE 7-10) and telecommunications and sensor technology and interoperability requirements.

The Ekin Spotter has been honored with global innovation and design awards, including USA CES 2021 and German IF Design. The patented technology offers an all-in-one avant-gardist design backed by advanced aerospace engineering and science of material principles. The AI-powered technology consolidated into the city’s pilot project includes public free Wi-Fi, CCTV, traffic, and safety sensors (vehicles, pedestrian, multimodal, speed, red-light, public safety, situational awareness), environmental sensors (air quality, noise, weather), computer vision and AI IoT edge analytics and alerts.

“We are proud to be a leading city in innovation and technology,” said Peter Iglesias, Coral Gables City Manager. “This smart pole with safety cameras, public Wi-Fi, traffic and environmental sensors will assist emergency management in creating a safer community for residents, business owners, and visitors. We are always looking for opportunities to be a leader in cutting-edge technologies.”

“The Ekin Spotter is providing live video and real-time analytics to the Community Intelligence Center (CIC) and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The Spotter has also been integrated to the City’s Urban Analytics artificial intelligence platform, which provides sensor data and actionable information to citizens and city employees on the smart city hub platform www.coralgables.com/smartcity.

“A bonus aspect to this smart pole is its sleek design which was created specifically for Coral Gables to withstand hurricane winds in compliance with Florida codes,” said Iglesias. “With no external wiring, boxes, or attachments, the city can increase its smart technologies while remaining aesthetically pleasing using durable aluminium.”

Ekin’s smart city solutions use AI and high-resolution video sensors to turn everyday cities into smart cities, including the analysis of traffic patterns and rush hour congestion points to improve traffic flow and prevent accidents. Smart City Environmental Analysis inputs include air quality, temperature, humidity, and carbon monoxide. Video monitoring includes multi-modal traffic analysis, parking management, red light enforcement and speed detection. Its compact design allows for easy placement within the cityscape.

“We are proud to partner with the City of Coral Gables on our first U.S. smart city pilot program featuring the Ekin Spotter,” said Akif Ekin, founder and chairman of Ekin. “Our commitment to flexible design helped ensure that we met the city’s needs, including withstanding hurricane force winds and fitting within the aesthetics of the city center. Together, we are helping make Coral Gables a safer, more enjoyable place to live – with a focus on environmental impacts, traffic improvements, and public safety. Ekin’s flexible smart city solutions make it easier for officials to understand their cities and create impactful policies that promote safety and well-being for all residents.”

As shown by Coral Gables’ hurricane-proof design, Ekin’s modular design provides local governments with the ability to customize each device and collect and analyze the data needed to make informed policy changes to promote a safer, healthier living environment. The Ekin Spotter is a self-contained unit that requires no additional hardware or infrastructure. Using Ekin’s proprietary Red Eagle (OS), a dynamic software solution with a user-friendly interface, open integrable architectures for integration into existing solutions, municipalities can centrally manage all the data collected by Ekin’s products citywide.

17 thoughts on “City of Coral Gables Installs First AI-Powered Ekin Smart City Pole Technology in the U.S.”

Why viewers still make use of to read news papers when in this technological globe the whole thing is accessible on web?

I was amazed at the retarded comments that reject technology. We need to embrace anything that will make life easier and better for our children and grandchildren. Stop looking under the bed for the boogieman. These are the same people that would have burned at the stake the Wright brothers and Alexander Graham Bell! Ridiculous!!

I have been a CG resident for 6 years and had never read anything related to Ekin. The purchase of the Ekin spotter did not happen overnite. It’s not as if it was ordered and delivered by Amazon ASAP. I don’t recall reading in Insider, my only source of CG relevant news, any pertinent info of the studies, discussion with public as to why it was needed, public benefits, potential health hazards, or any information at all about its purchase and installation. There must have been a process followed before Ekin was ordered. How come the public was unaware of it? Or did I miss an info article?

Forget the 5G nonsense.

What about face recognition cameras being installed on the streets, or anywhere at all?

The landscaping in the mile is starting to look like crap , Ponce pavement is third world class , but we have funds for this intrusion…………………

Is it legal to install this AI surveillance tool using taxpayer money without citizen consent? The potential health effects are catastrophic. Why doesn’t the current 5 member commission do something about “sea level rise” real threat?

Would someone please roll a giant condom over this camera before Vince & Co. uses it on us????? This City has just gone way overboard with all their crap. When are we going to organize and clean house once and for all!!!!

Did the City Commission approve this Orwellian intrusion? I don’t recall any discussion. Or is it another shady doing of the Lago/Iglesias Tyrannical Tandem? I hope it takes Lago’s temperature rectally!
So much for transparency. This is a big deal, impacting our personal freedoms forever.

This pole takes the word “colonoscopy” to a whole new level….Fellow residents, beware, Vince and his crowd are now all over us big time!!!!

Has the city published anything about what sort of personally identifying information (or potentially identifying info, if subjected to additional processing) is collected, how long it is stored, who has access to it, and what sort of monitoring/recording/auditing will be applied to the data and its users?

Those are standard privacy elements that should be required of any device that is capable of public surveillance.

enter the crazies:

“5G will be the death of us! Bill Gates wants to put microchips in us! I’d rather get COVID and die than be vaccinated!”

That entire summary left out the first feature and primary function of this pole, must be what what meant with “and more”, this was copied from their website:
“Ekin Face
Ekin Face is a face detection and analysis system that recognizes faces with high accuracy, ensuring continuous safety at public or private areas.”

Was this Big Brother plus health hazard voted on the the residents of Coral Gables? I don’t recall ever hearing about this.

No thank you (and by the way, I don’t remember being asked if we wanted these in our city). While you have highlighted all the “great” tasks this little monster can take on, you have failed to tell us in this article what, if any, limitations are being put on as well. Invasion of our privacy? Use of our data without consent? Selling and/or sharing of our data without knowledge or consent? Facial recognition capabilities (now or later)? Security of our (stolen) data once collected and stored? Please note my use of the word “our”…our city, our data, our privacy…all collected without our consent, with our dollars.

This article reads more like a press release and doesn’t say how it will benefit residents. Please tell us if Gables Insider or anyone associated with it is being paid to promote this.

One small step for “public safety”; one giant leap for tyranny.

Virtually any infringement on Liberty can be plausibly justified in the name of safety. This Great Leap Forward cannot. This is worse than the license plate reader program, and you can bet it will soon be watching you everywhere in your daily lives. Just another all-seeing governmental eye, along with the public safety aids in their little carts, traffic enforcement cameras and city apparatchik patrolling our lives like the CDR.

I wish the overlords of our community had chosen to follow those that banned this technology. Instead, they apparently want to be our masters. A sad day for Coral Gables and freedom.

The information I have found in my rsesearch is that normal functioning of these 5 G towers / poles is at around 10 megahertz. This can be measured by a free EMP radiation App you can download on your smart phone. No problem.

The problem arises in that the maximum power legally allowed in these 5 G towers / poles is 60 megahertz, which is sufficient to cause serious health problems, similar to those of the virus, and even death.