Pittsburgh moves IT infrastructure to Google cloud

In early March 2021, it became known about Pittsburgh's plans to transfer its IT infrastructure to Google Cloud. Migration to Google Cloud is expected to provide the American city with opportunities to create new data analysis tools that will allow the implementation of new smart city projects.

Heidi Norman, director of the Pittsburgh Department of Innovation and Productivity, noted that Pittsburgh authorities began collaborating with Google in 2020, when there was an urgent need for additional storage that local servers could not handle. Google later proposed moving the city's IT infrastructure to Google Cloud.

According to Norman, the Pittsburgh authorities agreed to move all IT operations, from servers and computing to storage and applications, to the Google cloud. She explained that thanks to migration, the city will be able to achieve several main goals.

Pittsburgh moves IT infrastructure to Google Cloud

First, it will provide access to a more scalable infrastructure, especially for urban storage requirements. Secondly, the city will benefit from improved security. Third, migration will help reduce costs. And fourth, cooperation with Google will "significantly improve" data services in 19 city departments.

Greater scalability and safety are important to several departments, in particular the Department of Public Safety, including the police, fire department and emergency medical services, Pittsburgh administration officials said.

Thanks to the expanded data services, the city will have the opportunity to create and expand various new services aimed at improving the quality of life of residents in such areas as mobility, transport, infrastructure and public safety, in particular, it is planned to commission smart garbage cans, a snowplow tracker and route optimization services.

Norman said city authorities plan to create a data lake in Google's cloud and then use its BigQuery service, for example, to analyze data and make more effective decisions.^[1]

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