When a linear act leads to non-linear results, it’s chaos. That’s not a figure of speech. Non-linear behaviors that result from an otherwise linear and deterministic system underpin chaos theory, a fascinating branch of mathematics and life sciences that results in amazing insights into our world. It shows how tiny actions in an otherwise linear system can cause dramatic effects and even outcomes that we cannot otherwise predict.

Convergence is when two or more separate technologies are paired together to create a capability that is greater than the original technologies individually. The additional value of the converged system itself now opens up new applications as well potentially new challenges.

We’ve been on a culinary odyssey together as we’ve explored connected communities, technology convergence, and a buffet of delicious delights. For the last installment of this series, we will talk about the future of technology convergence in the municipal environment.

Municipal IoT needs a protocol standard that enables interoperability in connected community architectures.

I know what you’re thinking. “Not another post about how we need comprehensive privacy legislation,” [insert eye roll emoji] I get it. We all know that we need privacy legislation at the federal level and we all know we are unlikely to get it soon.

More times than not, asking the right question is more important than getting an answer. Such is the case with connected communities deployments where municipal technologies purport to have the ability to solve all the right problems. Said another way, the technology vendors are telling municipalities which questions to ask and then answering them. But are those the right questions?

Boy, who needs a drink, eh? Critical infrastructure, cyber vulnerabilities, AI, lack of guidance, forget it. Before you reach for something strong to drown your sorrows, let’s kick back for a second with something calming. Coming your way right here, right now, and courtesy of GoTech is a toolkit that our municipal officials and critical infrastructure operators can use to help begin to mitigate risks from connected community architecture deployments.