Davao City opens Intelligent Operations Center for public safety

MANILA, Philippines - The Davao City government has announced that it has successfully implemented IBM’s Intelligent Operations Center solution, enhancing the capabilities of its existing Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) by integrating and analyzing relevant information collected from multiple agencies that are dedicated to protecting the welfare of its citizens and the environment.

The new Intelligent Operations Center will play an important role in the city’s PSSCC, helping to coordinate the city’s emergency services such as police, fire, anti-terrorism task force, and the K9 urban search and rescue services.

With the new system, the PSSCC now has a centralized operations dashboard where multiple agencies can integrate and process information in real time, significantly improving their response time to emergencies. 

Over the past month of operation, the centralized and intelligent platform has enabled noticeable improvements in the management of the four main pillars of public safety: crime prevention, emergency response, threat prevention and response, and traffic management.

Davao City is the largest city in the Philippines in terms of land area and is considered the business capital of Southern Philippines. Today, with enhanced public safety operations using advanced and smarter technologies, it is well positioned to become a premier socio-economic and tourism hub in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, the city is long overdue for this new level of intelligence in public security and safety. “We believe that keeping our city safe is a critical factor in raising the standard of living and ensuring continued economic prosperity. With our new and improved PSSCC, infused with IBM’s IOC technology, we can now shift from responding to critical events to anticipating and preventing them, when and where possible,” she said.

“Davao City turned to IBM to transform and enhance its public safety capabilities, improve the quality and speed of services delivered by its PSSCC, and provide the ability to scale its resources to match the city’s rapid growth,” said Mariels Almeda Winhoffer, president and country general manager of IBM Philippines. 

“Embarking on this smarter city journey, IBM understood and will continue to support Davao’s vision to become a model city of the future — recognized as a premier destination for its citizens, investors and domestic and international tourists,” Winhoffer said.

The IBM Intelligent Operations Center solution standardized operating procedures and unified the communications capabilities of Davao City’s several public safety and security departments resulting in improved incident outcomes.

The Intelligent Operations Center’s technologically advanced analysis, integrated communications, GPS and video surveillance capabilities help the PSSCC and agency responders more effectively adapt its resource needs in the midst of public safety or security incidents.