What’s 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.
For example,
- Connected traffic lights receive data from sensors and cars adjusting light cadence and timing to respond to real-time traffic, reducing road congestion.
- Connected cars can communicate with parking meters and electric vehicle (EV)charging docks and direct drivers to the nearest available spot.
- Smart garbage cans automatically send data to waste management companies and schedule pick-up as needed versus a pre-planned schedule.
- And citizens’ smartphone becomes their mobile driver’s license and ID card with digital credentials, which speeds and simplifies access to city and local government services.
Together, these smart city technologies are optimizing infrastructure, mobility, public services, and utilities.
Smart cities aren’t just a concept or a dream of the future.
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.
In addition to people, commerce, dwellings, as well as typical metropolitan facilities, there are four essential elements necessary for growing smart cities:
- Pervasive wireless
- Connectivity
- Open data
- Security you can trust in
- Flexible monetization schemes
so, what’s the best connective technology for smart cities?
The foundation of any smart city application is reliable, pervasive wireless connections. While there’s no one-size-fits-all, Low Power Wide Area Network technologies are well suited to most smart city applications for their cost efficiency and ubiquity. These technologies normally include Zigbee, LTE, NB-IoT, LoRa, PLC, RS485, Bluetooth, and a few others that all contribute to the fabric of connected cities. The development of 5G technology is expected to be a watershed event that pushes smart city technology into the mainstream and also increases new deployments.
But only with a few more elements…
Opening the data vault
Historically, governments, enterprises, and individuals have held their data close to their pockets, 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. 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 represent the backbone of the digital city. Stay with us. Here is what we mean. For any questions or needs on LED smart street lighting, please feel free to contact us via [email protected], YIBAI LED LIGHTING, high quality LED lights with a professional engineering team that will help you. We will reply to you ASAP.
