Smart City and Industrial IoT Applications

Smart City and Industrial IoT Applications

If you think cities are crowded now, just wait. Within just 15 years, more than 5 billion people will live in urban environments. Urban growth boundaries are increasingly limiting sprawl, forcing even more growth to go vertical, increasing urban density. Smart cities backed by Industrial IoT Applications will become a normal thing..

By 2020, the Philippines and Thailand could each have middle classes as large as in the United Kingdom, France or Italy. Today, some 3 billion people comprise the global middle class, accounting for two thirds of the world’s consumer spending. The middle class demands public services, and live lifestyles – urban lifestyle – that consume more water, energy and other resources than those who live in poverty.

To manage this broad population growth, increased population density and growing middle class, we will need to evolve and optimize our cities, becoming more efficient at service delivery and better managing our resources. We need, of course, to make our cities smarter and integrate Industrial IoT Applications.

Internet of Things Technology as a Key Enabler

One thing is certain. Technology is going to be the enabler of this massive transition. Singapore’s electronic road pricing program – the descendent of a traffic congestion management program first introduced in 1975 – has significantly reduced traffic volumes, collisions, and automobile sourced pollution emissions. In California, the state department of transportation launched in 2016 a technology heavy SMART corridor project for the oversubscribed eight-mile stretch of Interstate 80 leading into San Francisco, anticipating a reduction in collisions and commuter travel time.

Tech giants such as Google, IBM, Cisco and Intel have all launched smart city initiatives or platforms, designed to aggregate, process and make sense of the data that municipal devices and physical plant generate. Grand View Research has predicted a global smart cities market of $1.4 trillion by 2020. McKinsey estimates that just 600 cities account for 60 percent of global GDP.

How IoT and smart city applications work

The smart city industry is projected to be a $400 billion market by 2020, with 600 cities worldwide. These cities are expected to generate 60 percent of the world’s GDP by 2025, according to McKinsey research.

Critics have suggested that the proliferation of electronic Internet of Things devices will increase energy demands, further stressing the environment. But the overwhelming evidence is that smart cities will more than pay for themselves environmentally through better management of resources such as energy and water and reduced pollutants emissions.

Singapore has realized significant reductions in CO2 and particulate matter emissions through congestion management (Reduced traffic congestion translates directly to lower emissions.)

Gartner, Inc. research vice president Bettina Tratz-Ryan has gone on record estimating that, particularly for large sites such as airports, seaports and shopping malls, IoT technology can reduce the cost of energy, spatial management and building maintenance by up to 30 percent (lower energy costs the product of lower energy consumption). Further, Gartner has predicted that smart city and IoT technologies will halve urban environmental footprints by 2030.

Smart City Activation is Multidimensional

Smart city deployment is multidimensional. In any major urban center, there are several use cases, and they can vary depending on the size of the city and local jurisdictional control. For example, roughly 8 percent of U.S. electricity providers are municipally owned (nonetheless, “smart city” benefits accrue to regional service providers as well). Here’s a rundown on some of the most interesting industrial applications of smart city technology and thinking that are being deployed now, or close on the horizon.

The Industrial Smart City

• Electronic traffic congestion management as in Singapore or like the Bay area SMART corridor
• Public transit operations management, as seen with the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, which manages rolling stock, tracks and public safety through an IoT deployment. When trains and buses run on time, providing safe, reliable, transit, public transit is a more viable alternative
• Improved operations management for water treatment plants for efficiencies, and transparency to residents with regards to their water supply and constraints
• Infrastructure and operational monitoring for the electrical grid, including computing resources, to protect against cyber attacks, for safety and security
• Adaptive timing for traffic lights to minimize congestion and optimize flow situationally, e.g. morning v. evening commutes, holidays v. normal workdays
• Highly localized air quality monitoring and data collection, allowing correlation to traffic congestion and public health trends

Initiatives such as these enjoy government support and backing from the federal to municipal level. For example, in 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the multi-year, $220 million Grid Modernization Initiative intended to improve the resiliency, reliability and security of the United States electric system.

The energy secretary made the announcement at the end of a tour of Florida Power & Light (FPL) facilities. The utility has been steadily investing some $2 billion over the past 10 years in smart technology for its grid, hardening it in defense of severe weather, such as hurricanes. Data from the grid flows to the 188-foot wide big board video wall in FPL’s system control center, including from water monitors, to protect against flooding, in over 600 substations.

And, just recently, AT&T announced the launch of its first Smart Cities Operations Center in Miami-Dade County, providing local leadership with a single big board display surfacing key metrics of community conditions in near-real time.

Examples of Smart City Applications & Technologies

In Miami-Dade County, officials are using smart city technology for remote monitoring and more efficient public safety operations, traffic congestion mitigation and for surfacing reliable data to inform urban transportation planning decisions.

The national Ministry of Urban Development in India is sponsoring the 100-city Smart Cities Mission, aimed at promoting “cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of “smart” solutions.”

The city of Jaipur, in Rajasthan province, is the most recent to deploy, consolidating parking systems, streetlight management and public safety surveillance to a single big board presentation. The operations center integrates data from different municipal departments and better facilitates cross-departmental collaboration.

Applications of IoT in Smart Cities

IoT has many applications in the smart city sector such as traffic management, public safety, environmental monitoring etc. IoT is a network of physical objects that are embedded with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity. These objects can collect and exchange data with other objects and systems. IoT in Smart Cities can be used to monitor traffic congestion, air quality or noise pollution levels in the city. It can also be used to monitor the water levels in reservoirs or detect when a tree falls down on the street.

1. Smart Lighting

Smart Lighting systems use sensors and automation to adjust the brightness of lights based on ambient light and traffic levels. This results in energy savings and improved safety for pedestrians and motorists.

2. Intelligent Traffic Management

Intelligent Traffic Management uses real-time monitoring and control to optimize traffic flow, reducing congestion and improving safety for drivers and pedestrians.

3. Smart Waste Management

Smart Waste Management systems use sensors and real-time monitoring to schedule waste collection, reducing costs and improving the efficiency of waste management operations.

4. Environmental Monitoring

Environmental Monitoring systems use sensors to continuously monitor air quality, temperature, and other environmental parameters, providing information to help maintain a healthy environment.

5. Smart Grid and Energy Management

Smart Grid and Energy Management systems optimize energy distribution, monitor energy consumption, and implement demand-side management to reduce energy waste and costs. More about The Role of IoT in Smart Grid Technology and Applications

6. Intelligent Parking Management

Intelligent Parking Management systems use real-time monitoring and dynamic pricing to manage parking demand, reducing congestion and improving accessibility.

7. Public Safety and Emergency Response

Public Safety and Emergency Response systems integrate surveillance cameras, smart sensors, and emergency communication to improve response time and efficiency during emergencies.

8. Smart Buildings and Home Automation

Smart Buildings and Home Automation systems provide automated control of lighting, heating, cooling, and other building systems to improve comfort, security, and energy efficiency.

9. Health Monitoring and Care Services

Health Monitoring and Care Services use continuous monitoring of vital signs, fall detection, and medication management to provide timely and effective care for elderly or disabled individuals.

10. Smart Retail and Marketing

Smart Retail and Marketing systems use customer behavior and preferences to offer personalized marketing and recommendations, as well as real-time inventory management to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Conclusion about Smart Cities and Industrial IoT Applications

The United Nations has estimated that world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100. India’s population is expected to exceed that of China, currently the largest country, around 2022; Nigeria’s population could exceed that of the United States by 2050. There is no question that this growth will demand more efficient management of resources, and improved operations of urban services.

Smart city and Internet of Things technologies and applications are much-needed facilitators enabling government officials and operational staff to respond to the societal changes commensurate with this growth. Government leaders no longer have excuses for the smart city imperative.

More about Top Internet of Things Research Frontiers Topics of the Leaders

 

This article was written by Erhan Cakmak, COO at N3N. Access the original article here.