Smart cities aren’t just a concept or a dream of the future. Show
Thanks to the wildly innovative Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, many are already active and expanding rapidly. Municipal governments are leveraging cellular and Low Power Wide Area (LPWAN) wireless technologies to connect and improve infrastructure, efficiency, convenience, and quality of life for residents and visitors alike. Let's dive in.
What is a smart city?A smart city is a framework, predominantly composed of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), to develop, deploy, and promote sustainable development practices to address growing urbanization challenges. A big part of this ICT framework is an intelligent network of connected objects and machines (also known as a digital city) transmitting data using wireless technology and the cloud. Cloud-based IoT applications receive, analyze, and manage data in real-time to help municipalities, enterprises, and citizens make better decisions that improve quality of life. Citizens engage with smart city ecosystems in various ways using smartphones and mobile devices and connected cars and homes. Pairing devices and data with a city’s physical infrastructure and services can cut costs and improve sustainability. Communities can improve energy distribution, streamline trash collection, decrease traffic congestion, and improve air quality with help from the IoT. Smart cities are examples of massive IoT use cases. For instance,
Together, these smart city technologies are optimizing infrastructure, mobility, public services, and utilities. MORE: The anatomy of a Smart City (January 2019) (Infographic) Why do we need smart cities?Urbanization is a non-ending phenomenon. Today, 54% of people worldwide live in cities, a proportion that’s expected to reach 66% by 2050. With the overall population growth, urbanization will add another 2.5 billion people to cities over the next three decades. Environmental, social, and economic sustainability is a must to keep pace with this rapid expansion taxing our cities’ resources. One hundred ninety-three countries agreed upon the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda in September 2015 at the United Nations. But we all know how centralized decisions and actions can take time, and the clock is ticking. The good news? Citizens and local authorities are certainly more agile to launch swift initiatives, and smart city technology is paramount to success and meeting these goals. How is IoT technology making cities smarter and better?Secure wireless connectivity and IoT technology are transforming traditional elements of city life - like streetlights - into next-generation intelligent lighting platforms with expanded capabilities. The scope includes integrating solar power and connecting to a cloud-based central control system that connects to other ecosystem assets. These solutions shine far beyond simple lighting needs.
Exciting stuff! But how does it all fit together? What makes smart cities successfulIn addition to people, dwellings, commerce, and traditional urban infrastructure, there are four essential elements necessary for thriving smart cities:
Let’s break it down. What’s the best wireless technology for smart cities?The first building block of any smart city application is reliable, pervasive wireless connectivity. While there’s no one-size-fits-all, evolving Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies are well suited to most smart city applications for their cost efficiency and ubiquity. These technologies include LTE Cat M, NB-IoT, LoRa, Bluetooth, and a few others that all contribute to the fabric of connected cities. The advent of 5G technology is expected to be a watershed event that propels smart city technology into the mainstream and accelerates new deployments. But only with a few more elements… Opening the data vaultHistorically, governments, enterprises, and individuals have held their data close to the pocket, sharing as little as possible with others. Today, open data is redefining the digital city. Privacy concerns and fear of security breaches have far outweighed the perceived value of sharing information (see: Portland and privacy). However, a key enabler of sustainable smart cities is that all participants in the complex ecosystem share information and combine it with contextual data analyzed in real-time. This is how informed decisions are made in real-time. Multiple sectors must cooperate to achieve better, sustainable outcomes by analyzing real-time contextual information shared among sector-specific information and operational technology (OT) systems. The conclusion? Data management (and access to this information) represents the backbone of the digital city. Stay with us. Here is what we mean. Examples of smart citiesNew York City
Below are helpful links to some of New York City's significant initiatives mentioned in the video above.
Amsterdam Smart CityAmsterdam is a shining example of a well-connected smart city reaping the rewards of opening the data vault. The Smart City initiative began in 2009 and included over 170 projects. It also shares traffic and transportation data with interested parties such as developers, who then create mapping apps connected to the city’s transport systems. Now, navigating the city is a snap for all. There's more. The city built autonomous delivery boats called ‘roboats’ to keep things moving in a timely fashion. It also supported a floating village of houses, solving the city’s overcrowding problem with a sustainable, energy-efficient alternative. Power is generated within communities, and homes receive water straight from the river and filter it within their tanks. None of this is possible without shared data. City data is available online for all. More:
Here is another example. Antwerp and the city of things
Antwerp is a partner in the EU’s CITADEL project. It explores the role of technology in a collaborative government. The city is also about to create Europe’s largest smart zone. Copenhagen Smart CityCopenhagen is known as one of the smartest cities in the world and mobilizes expertise worldwide. The city is leveraging open data to collaborate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop an innovative intelligent bike system. Embedded with sensors that provide real-time information to both the riders and administrators, data is shared to monitor and manage air quality and traffic congestion. More:
While data sharing is essential, opening the vault also expands the cyber-attack surface area. So, how do we keep data private from the masses while sharing it among stakeholders? Can smart cities be secured and trusted?In digital cities, connected cameras, intelligent road systems, and public safety monitoring systems can provide an added layer of protection and emergency support to aid citizens when needed.
The answers lie in physical data vaults and strong authentication and ID management solutions. Smart cities can only work if we can trust them. Four core security objectives for smart city solutionsAll ecosystem partners - governments, enterprises, software providers, device manufacturers, energy providers, and network service providers - must do their part and integrate solutions that abide by four core security objectives:
Strong authentication and ID management solutions must be integrated into the ecosystem to ensure that data is shared only with authorized parties to achieve these security core objectives. The solutions also protect backend systems from intrusion and hacking. Thankfully, legislation is being introduced to address threats and potential market failure due to growing digital security concerns. Like the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act in the U.S. signed on 4 December 2020, or the UK IoT security law (not passed yet in June 2021), legislations will help establish minimum security requirements for connected devices. Show me the Money: how do we monetize smart cities?In the age of IoT and smart cities, data is the new oil. For smart cities to thrive, we need to establish sustainable commerce models that facilitate all ecosystem players' success. The software must be woven into the fabric of IoT solutions to benefit all ecosystem contributors; this includes OEMs, developers, integrators, governments, etc. Each member’s intellectual property needs to be valued and rewarded. Subscription software capabilities enable new business models that allow each contributor to extract value from their contribution to the ecosystem. Subscription-based models offer a way to monetize hardware and software to build smart infrastructures and spread out expenses moving away from a substantial one-time CAPEX spend.
As urban areas continue to expand and grow, smart city technology is developing alongside enhancing sustainability and better serve humanity. By leveraging pervasive connectivity, open data, end-to-end security, and software monetization solutions, we can align evolving smart city needs for a much-improved experience for all ecosystem partners. More resource on smart cities
Now it's your turnIndeed, we can't claim to list all the critical concepts and issues related to smart cities and the IoT and those that will emerge in the years to come. Can you fill in some of the gaps? If you've something to say on smart cities, share best practices, a question to ask, or have found this article useful; please leave a comment in the box below. We'd also welcome any suggestions on how it could be improved or proposals for future papers. We look forward to hearing from you. For more information on building trusted, smart city solutions, contact a local representative. How does the clouds first strategy differ from other approaches to cloud?Cloud-first strategies are operations strategies where teams move all or most of their infrastructure to cloud-computing platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure. Instead of using physical resources like server clusters, they house resources—even mission-critical and secure resources—in the cloud.
How does a cloud first strategy help clients Brainly?How does a Cloud-first strategy help clients?-by splitting the client's Cloud functions among different teams that operate independently. -by altering all aspects of a business's technology, talent, and ecosystem partnerships. -by putting a client's Cloud operations entirely under the control of an external team.
How does a cloud first strategy approach a client's migration to the cloud by removing outside ecosystem partners from the cloud transition process?The correct answer is b) by bringing multiple services together to serve the client's business needs.
What is cloud first strategy?Cloud-first strategy is an approach to cloud computing that involves the adoption of cloud technologies for all new applications, platforms and infrastructure. It is a strategy that prioritizes cloud computing services over legacy IT systems.
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