The interface view of the Visionaries page, the work of the ITS student team which has been integrated with smart lamp posts.

ITS Campus, ITS News — Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) continues to prove itself as a home for talented innovators. This time, a team of ITS students came up with an idea called Visionaries, a public information system based on smartpoles or smart lampposts to support the improvement of smart city services.

This innovation by the Frequency Freaks team is an implementation of three of the six pillars of a smart city, namely Smart Government, Smart Society, and Smart Branding. According to the Head of the ITS Frequency Freaks Team, Muhammad Ali Akbar, an adequate public information system will facilitate access to public services to realize the three pillars. “Moreover, it can be optimized by utilizing technology,” said the student who is often called Ali.

Together with his two teammates, Mohammad Rifqi Firmansyah and Deshan Dinyanovan Prabawa, Visionaries was designed to be able to integrate various public service services. Namely, including early warnings related to disasters, advertising services for local businesses and tourism, to real-time monitoring of weather conditions. “Indirectly, it will drive more effective interaction between the government and the community,” he said.

One of the users when accessing the Visionaries website, the work of the ITS Frequency Freaks team to find the latest information in Denpasar City

Designed to operate in Denpasar City, Bali, Visionaries is affiliated with several government agencies that provide related public information. Among them are the Communication, Informatics and Statistics Agency (Diskominfos); Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG); and the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) in Denpasar City. Ali and his team also partnered with the Bali Regional Tourism Promotion Agency (BPPD) to provide tourism information.

In its working system, explained Ali, the smartpole will capture information that is updated periodically by each agency using an antenna. The data will then enter the Visionaries server system, to be processed and displayed via a monitor installed as a series on the smart pole. “We operate it with the help of (programming language) Python,” said this 2022 student.

Visual design of a smartpole or intelligent lamppost by the ITS Frequency Freaks team when displaying early disaster warnings

Smartpole, designed by a team from the ITS Electrical Engineering Department, also presents a number of innovative features. The feature titled Bali Today! provides information to the public and tourists regarding tourist destinations in Bali Province. Still related to tourism and the local economy, there is a Smart Ads feature that can be used by local business people to promote their businesses widely.

Not only that, there is an Early Warning System (EWS) feature as an early warning of disasters, especially tsunamis and earthquakes, which is integrated with an alarm. Ali and his team consider this service important because Denpasar City is included in an area that has the potential to be affected by megathrust. Not to forget, Visionaries is also equipped with Real-Time Monitoring which contains information about temperature, wind speed, and humidity in Denpasar City.

(from right) Deshan Dinyanovan Prabawa, Muhammad Ali Akbar, and Mohammad Rifqi Firmansyah when they won third place in the Gemastik XVII event at Semarang State University

Various superior features that can be accessed through the Visionaries page are also a form of contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Point 9, namely Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, is supported by the development of street poles into a smart lamppost innovation. In addition, improving the quality of public information services with sustainable technology also strengthens the implementation of point 11, namely Sustainable Cities and Settlements.

Under the guidance of lecturer Sri Rahayu ST MKom, this innovation has also succeeded in bringing this team to third place in the Smart City category at the Gemastik XIV event at Semarang State University (Unnes), recently. Ali hopes that this achievement can spur the enthusiasm of other students to produce various new innovations that are no less brilliant. “We hope that Visionaries can also be developed so that it can provide wider benefits,” he said. (ITS PUBLIC RELATIONS)

Reporter: Putu Calista Arthanti Dewi