In the age of smart cars, smart TVs and smartphones, shouldn’t our cities be smart too?
But what makes a city smart? It takes more than a commitment to using connected devices and digital technologies. Smart cities adopt an integrated approach to improving city operations, citizen quality of life and the local economy. This is achieved, as the UK’s Open Data Institute points out, not just through infrastructure and technology, but also through embracing an open data culture.
The challenge rests in choosing the appropriate data to measure the characteristics that define a smart city. Similarly, the cost of implementing smart data collection and dissemination systems can also be prohibitive for cities.
Here are some examples smart city initiatives currently underway:
- The US Department of Transportation launched the $40M Smart City Challenge to help a US city become the first to fully integrate innovative technologies into its transportation network
- The City of Edmonton continues to be a leader in smart city initiatives in Canada – these initiatives involve energy consumption and distribution, smart vehicle technology, crime analytics, and innovative waste management
- Songdo International Business District in South Korea, a 15 minute drive from Seoul, aims to be the first fully connected smart city in the world. The city was built from the ground up with corporate partners, including Gale International, Cisco, 3M, POSCO E&C, and more.
