It’s happening again; this time, we’re obsessing over all things “smart.” At first, there were just smartphones. Then came smart watches, smart homes, smart grids, smart switches and smart cities. At some point, the term “smart” became diluted as marketers started applying it to more and more solutions. It’s time to stop and ask: What do we really mean by “smart”? Hidden in that definition is the need for connectivity and the ability to inform the user in order to guide decisions.
Everstream is building an enterprise grade fiber network to support Milwaukee and its businesses as they scale and grow in the coming years. The build-out also includes the construction of new small cell sites to provide high-bandwidth connectivity to the city and businesses. This will deliver the increased bandwidth and data required to support the upcoming 2020 Democratic National Convention (DNC).
ABB Electrification has launched an interactive ‘Smart City’ tool that shows some of the safe, smart and sustainable solutions that can contribute to the design of a comprehensive ‘smart city’. The Smart City tool breaks down the collective technical elements of smart buildings, e-mobility, energy management and data centers, all of which can contribute to the design of a comprehensive ‘smart city’.
To realize the potential of Smart Cities, we’re going to have to figure out the Municipal Internet-of-Things (IoT). We know “smart communities” will utilize an assortment of devices, networks, data and analytics – what we’ll call Municipal IoT. And we know these technologies collectively have the potential to improve many aspects of public service delivery. The best way for the public sector to start making the smart city movement a reality is also the most obvious. Public sector agencies should build and deploy their own IoT networks and identify, test, scale, and share use-cases and applications that are designed specifically to solve their challenges.
Which American city has the most sophisticated fiber network? San Francisco? Nope. New York? Nah.It’s Ammon, Idaho, population 16,500, which offers residents performance, pricing, and options that inhabitants of a metropolis dominated by one or two internet service providers can only dream of. Ammon is a true local network, where residents own the fiber and providers compete to serve them.
When IT pros from around the world come together to solve a problem with IoT for smart cities, everyone learns something new. Itron’s Smart City Challenge drew on the IoT expertise of tech startups from more than 20 countries to help the cities of London and Glasgow solve difficult challenges.
From managing critical hydro and electrical systems to handling sensitive voter registration data, the technology that enables modern living should be secured against cyber-attacks. If you’re a state, local, tribal, or territorial (SLTT) government organization looking to get “smart” when it comes to technology, you don’t have to go it alone. There’s a cybersecurity community for U.S. SLTT governments at the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC).
Verizon and NEC are providing further details of a proof-of-concept field trial in which the two companies used communications fiber-optic network cables as distributed optical sensor networks. NEC sensor technology attached to Verizon’s fiber-optic cable was able to collect information on city traffic patterns, road conditions, road capacity, and vehicle classification.
The City of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Siemens recently announced the official start of a city-wide energy efficiency project to reduce the city’s environmental footprint. Last month, the Commission of Deerfield Beach approved a 17-year contract with Siemens for energy performance services. Valued at more than $9.2 million, the infrastructure improvement project will allow the city to reduce energy consumption in more than 20 of its facilities and increase the use of alternative energy sources. Energy and operational savings are approximated to be $15 million by the end of the 17-year project.
Edge connectivity specialist Transition Networks announced it will showcase technology that allows secure data transmission, supports intelligent buildings and simplifies smart city deployment at next week’s 2019 BICSI Fall Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas.
