Smart City Applications Needs
Smart cities have the potential to benefit communities and individuals in a variety of applications across health, transportation, education, government, energy, and power and water. Implemented correctly, smart city applications can reduce costs, simplify services and offer a sustainable solution. However, cities will also need to develop the infrastructure to support smart city applications and the big data they collect. This article will discuss the needs of smart city applications and what solutions governments can implement to prepare.
Smart City Applications
First of all, what are the potential smart city applications? How will new technology be used in our cities? Well, smart technology can apply to all aspects of society, so while we can’t cover every potential application here are a few of the popular ones.
Smart Education. By relying on data, education systems can adapt learning environments to provide the right support and learning tools for students. It can also be used to enhance curriculums and examinations. Additionally, technology can expand the reach of education to rural areas that cannot commute to school.
Smart Traffic. Smart cities will be able to better predict and control traffic for easier commutes and safer roads. Smart traffic lights and signals will be able to sense traffic patterns and flow and determine what signals to give and what lights should display.
Smart Parking. Using data from GPS, smart parking solutions will be able to help create a real-time map of available parking spots. Drivers will be able to see on their phones where spots are available, instead of driving around looking for one.
Smart streetlights. Sensors installed in streetlights could help manage lighting schedules, making the management and maintenance of streetlamps more cost-effective for cities. The sensors would be able to detect movement to analyze and improve the lighting schedule as well as sense the conditions to know whether a light should dim, brighten, or turn on or off. For example, the EU is planning to upgrade ten million lampposts to make them solar-powered and smart, and able to host free public WiFi.
Smart health treatment. In healthcare, smart cities could enable further access to care, more accurate diagnosis, and auto-collected health data. In rural areas, a smart city could offer remote surgery and treatment. This could also be applied in situations where there is no time to move the patient to the hospital, but a drone or smart device could be deployed to provide care. Additionally, with the collection of big data in hospitals, smart city technologies could enable more accurate diagnosis.
Additional possibilities for smart city applications include:
- Public emergency response
- Environmental monitoring
- Facial recognition for ID
- Drone delivery
- Immersive entertainment
There are a myriad more different smart city applications that could be applied, and the possibilities are endless. The advantages can extend to all aspects of consumer life. However, with all the potential benefits, why haven’t these smart city applications been implemented already? The reason is that there are quite a few challenges and needs of smart city applications that must be met first.
Smart City Needs
Smart cities are extremely dynamic and need solutions that can adapt and learn in real time. Smart cities will need to be able to process big data and accommodate for what is known as the six Vs of big data management. Those are volume, velocity, variety, variability and value.
Volume. The volume is the sheer amount of data that is created and collected in a smart city.
Velocity. The velocity refers to the speed of data creating, analyzing and processing. Nowadays, many companies and consumers expect real time data analytics.
Variety. There is a ton of variety in the types of data collected.
Variability. The variability in data is how it can constantly change.
Value. There is a lot of value placed in big data and the analysis and insights of that data. The value, or advantage, of big data can offer businesses and governments key insights into communities.
Additionally, smart cities need a solution that is valid, secure, timely and cost-effective.
Valid. A valid solution that keeps data valid and accurate, even in real time is critical to keeping data up to date.
Security and privacy. Additionally, security is a must whenever processing data. Individual and device identity, financial information, and communications must remain secure and encrypted and in line with any privacy laws. Governments must protect against malicious attacks and data theft.
Timely. Smart city applications seem like things of the future. However, the longer it takes to implement the less cities will be able to reap their value. So, smart city applications need to be easy to implement in a relatively short period of time. Smart cities need a plug and play solution.
Cost-effective. Finally, governments need a solution that is not too expensive and is realistic within their budgets to implement. Many smart city applications have the potential to bring major benefits to citizens, but due to cost, they are not realistic for most cities to implement.
Population size and growth. As the population grows, a smart city application will need to grow with it to accommodate the increase of data and users. If a solution is not sufficiently scalable, it will not have the capacity for high traffic and quality and speeds will suffer. Smart city applications need to evolve quickly.
Unfortunately, most current solutions cannot handle the complexity and volatility of smart city needs.
ACiiST Solutions
When building a smart city infrastructure that can support a variety of applications, ACiiST innovated a solution that is easy to implement, cost-effective and can handle all of smart city application needs. It also provides power, has a high latency 100 times better compared to a routing-based solution, and is wireless so that it requires less cabling.
Unlike our competition, ACIiiST solves the problem of building a smart city system with small devices that can be installed in existing light posts. That way, you can quickly and easily set up a smart city network without installing additional infrastructure that is costly and time-extensive to produce. It can handle high bandwidth, offers a power source available 24/, and is weatherproof even in severe environmental conditions.
ACiiST’s lamppost solution supports various smart city applications, including:
- Personal safety/surveillance
- Traffic management
- Smart parking
- Smart light and efficiency
- Public WiFi
- Announcement audio & video
- Air quality
- Precise irrigation
- App-based wireless control
Our solution is 90 percent cheaper and 70 percent easier to maintain because it utilizes existing infrastructure. And, we have already successfully implemented this technology in a few cities.
Contact Us for More Information
Smart cities are the way to the future and will bring so many benefits to society. However, there are quite a few challenges to bring them to reality. Cities need an infrastructure that can support scalable growth, remain secure, and all at a reasonable timeline and budget. By using existing city infrastructure, ACiiST makes it as simple as possible to implement a smart city system. Contact us to learn more about how our solution and to see if it is right for your smart city application needs.
