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Smart City projects are moving from planning to implementation, with projects gaining traction, delivering concrete results, and knowledge and good practices spreading. As dozens of Smart City projects are underway around the world, ranging from relatively minor interventions to brand new cities built from scratch, it is worth taking a look at the current state of play in the field.
NESTA just published its annual predictions for 2019. One of them refers to one of the global races which might be on to build ‘City Brains’. According the post the concept of a “smart city” has been around for several decades, often associated with hype, grandiose failures, and an overemphasis on hardware rather than people. NESTA points out that various technologies are now coming of age which bring the vision of a smart city closer to fruition. China is described to be in the forefront, investing heavily in sensors and infrastructures, and its ET City Brain project shows just how far the country’s thinking has progressed.
The rapid progress of intelligent urban innovation, reflected in the transformative impact of Smart Cities, a trend which is already immensely popular and becoming even more so, raises a number of questions. As the popularity of Smart Cities constantly rises and their implementation spreads, so do the opportunities for cybercriminal attacks.
Applications have opened for the 2019 North American Readiness Challenge for cities, an annual program by the Smart Cities Council, running for the third year. Past iterations of the Challenge have helped nearly a dozen cities and states advance their smart cities initiatives. The deadline is on January 18, 2019, and five jurisdictions will be selected in March 2019, to receive significant assistance in their effort to become smart.
Artificial Intelligence can play an important role in the development of Smart Cities. This is a part of the vision to transform Thailand’s economy into an innovation-driven economy, as a part of the Thailand 4.0 Initiative, which includes the creation of 100 Smart Cities within two decades, in order to improve citizens’ quality of life.
The Internet of things (IoT) is a popular term used to describe a network of physical devices connected with each other to exchange the data they collect. IoT devices are becoming widespread on a consumer level, making peoples’ lives more efficient. Used on a city level, however, the IoT can help make Smart Cities green and eco-friendly.
This white paper is a modular tool for public, private, and government sectors designing processes of public participation in smart city planning. Rather than governments and corporations embracing smart technologies in search of problems, a civic smart city works with citizens to define problems, and reflect on potential solutions, before implementing new technologies. It is a collaborative work between the Engagement Lab at Emerson College, the City as Platform Lab at the University of Waterloo, and the Center for Smart Cities and Regions at Arizona State University.