It’s easy to talk about how Nokia Bell Labs moving its headquarters to New Brunswick in 2017 will bring a flood of technical innovation that could impact the world — joining numerous other breakthroughs expected to come from the HELIX innovation district.
Or how a $375,000 grant earned by the Middlesex County East Brunswick Magnet School will give students access to new and exciting curricula, including Foundations of AI and robotics; advanced AI and robotic systems and AI-robotics research and innovation.
They are achievements any county would be proud of — and were dully noted during the State of the County address Middlesex County Commissioner Director Ronald Rios gave Tuesday night at Middlesex College.
But what separates Middlesex County from others is an insistence that technology upgrades are not just about flashy milestones, but real-time, real-life improvements for its residents.
“Quality of life is so important to us,” Rios told BINJE. “We view public safety as our No. 1 responsibility. Everything starts there.”
Rios noted two big initiatives during his address.
The county’s DataCity project, led by the Department of Transportation under Commissioner Charles Kenny, is a first-of-its-kind living laboratory capturing data from a real-world traffic environment in a densely populated city.
The data from approximately 3.2 miles in downtown New Brunswick, gathered through strategically placed sensors, is helping to create safer vehicles and allowing the county to make smarter decisions on road design, intersections, pedestrian walkways and safety initiatives, he said.
“This isn’t a ‘someday’ technology,’” Rios told an overflow crowd of a few hundred. “We are using this technology now in our community.”
The project will be centered at the HELIX, but its impact will be felt everywhere, Rios said.
He noted the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School, located at the intersection of Jersey Ave and Hale Street in New Brunswick, where hundreds of children and parents cross every day.
The county recently added sensors around this intersection to understand traffic and pedestrian patterns. With DataCity’s advanced technology, data is being processed in real-time to respond to real-time, real-life situations.
Rios said the traffic light will hold a green light until every child and adult has crossed the intersection safely.
Rios, who has grown tired of seeing district drivers — and distracted walkers — said these improvements cannot come soon enough.
“I see so many people distracted from driving, and I see people walking through a crosswalk who are equally distracted,” he said. “There are pedestrians who cross the street without even acknowledging that they’re crossing the street.”
It’s a reason the county has plans to launch autonomous shuttles at the ever-expanding college, an initiative Rios said the county will unveil soon.
And while these upgrades will be visible reminders of how technology can make our lives safer and better, Rios said, he also noted how technology you cannot see can do the same thing.
“Innovation is in the county’s bloodline, and we embrace it fully, but you also need to be aware that technology and AI come with real risks,” he told the audience.
“Every day, we are providing our community with information about the threat of phishing scams from the Prosecutor’s Office or the Sheriff’s Office, under the Department of Public Safety & Health, led by Deputy Director Shanti Narra,” he said.
Again, it goes back to residents — the ones who suffer greatly from cybersecurity breaches.
“As a community and as a government, we need to tackle this head on,” he said. “And as always, our approach is education.
“Under the leadership of the County’s Office of Information Technology, the county has begun expanding its cybersecurity training to our municipal leaders and their employees. Through ongoing education and training, we as a community can ensure the safety of all our fellow residents and businesses.”
Rios is proud of the county’s ability to continually improve its infrastructure and economic development — as well as maintain a top bonding rating for more than two decades (all of that is noted here), but he told BINJE all of those achievements must come in addition to assistance and support for residents.
“Safety, health and the well-being of our residents are paramount,” he told the audience. “This is the bedrock of quality of life, which we prize in Middlesex County.”
