The John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a college within the City University of New York, has honored IBM for its smarter cities initiative and the important leadership role it is playing in improving safety, security and sustainability in New York City and other urban centers around the world.  

The College presented IBM with its Award for Corporate Leadership at its "Educating for Justice Gala," which took place last night at the College's campus in Manhattan.  

As cities continue to experience unprecedented growth, their infrastructures are increasingly stressed and overused. In response, IBM is infusing intelligence into the way cities operate by digitizing and connecting systems so they can sense, analyze and integrate data, and respond more intelligently to new demands.

"Improving public safety is an essential step in making cities smarter," said Bob Weber, IBM's senior vice president of Legal and Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel, who accepted the award on the company's behalf.  "IBM technologies like data analytics provide the foundation for smarter solutions, but it is our close government partners in progressive cities like New York who make those solutions a reality."

In honoring IBM's Smarter Cities, President Jeremy Travis of John Jay College of Criminal Justice said, "IBM is infusing intelligence into the ways our cities operate. At a time when government budgets are being slashed, we particularly appreciate the work that IBM has done with the New York City Police Department and the New York City Fire Department to design technology platforms that improve public safety."

In New York City, IBM has partnered with both the Police (NYPD) and Fire Departments (FDNY) to develop cutting-edge information management systems that are improving public safety.  The NYPD's Real Time Crime Center is a centralized technology hub that gives officers instant and comprehensive information they use to identify patterns that help solve crimes more quickly and even prevent emerging crimes.  

In collaboration with IBM, the FDNY is building the capability to pool information with predictive capabilities by analyzing data from disparate sources and delivering it from a new command center to its people in the field as the information becomes available.  The Coordinated Building Inspection and Data Analysis System helps the FDNY anticipate fire exposures, analyze possible impacts, and improve processes that can minimize risks.  The goal is to change the FDNY's orientation from first responders to preventers.