Smart Cities have become the new model cities through their responsiveness to traffic, public safety and green initiatives. The success of a Smart City is a direct measure of the perception of its citizens on the quality of life. Economies employing smart technology for administration gain significant efficiencies across governments, enterprises and citizens.
Complexity of current cities are characterized by massive population growth and urbanization, which raises challenges in social, economic and environmental sustainability. To provide a better quality of life, cities must make the best use of natural resources and sustainable solutions for energy, transport, telecommunication, and other infrastructure. Technology investments are crucial as Information Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities bring new opportunities to development and help create more efficient, diversified and innovative smart economies.
Multifaceted capabilities of ICT deliver solutions for managing Smart electricity grids, building energy management systems, urban data platforms, traffic control systems, travel demand management system, and smart district heating and cooling systems.
Utilities, the smart way
Activated sensors and good connectivity allow access to real-time information. Cities are moving the Smart way by applying Machine Learning to the data collected from surveillance cameras. Tech solutions process the information to provide security, monitoring and real-time operational service to citizens.
To cite an example, using SAP’s digital innovation platform, SAP® Leonardo, the City of Antibes controls its water management system by monitoring cameras and sensors deployed across their water distribution system1. Cost-effective solutions can be deployed to monitor public infrastructure and protect citizens. The example of Antibes can be replicated in other cities worldwide.
Infrastructure such as high-tension and low-tension lines hold huge amounts of data. These lines, as data collection points for analysing patterns and anomalies, increase efficiency of energy utility services. Solutions powered by SAP Leonardo enable monitoring of energy distribution system stretching hundreds of kilometres, with over thousands of sensors, aggregating multiple data points per hour.
Delivering urban energy efficiency
Urbanization is on the rise. Growing development in infrastructure and communications have deeply confounded cities with exponentially growing demand for energy and rising energy costs. A sustainable solution to address energy problems is a smart electric grid that allows real-time communication among network users and network components.
Smart electricity grid deployment integrated with urban planning means better energy efficiency, cost optimization, and better availability for corporates and consumers. The grids stabilize electricity demand by matching instantaneous power generation and storage capacities available on the grid, smoothening demand peaks. Smart electricity grids have a great potential to improve urban energy efficiency.
Elevating citizens’ quality of life
Improvement in liveability and economic prosperity is a natural consequence in a digital smart city. Delivering sustainable transformational citizen experience and infrastructure efficiency are key to Smart governance.
SAP Platform for Smart Cities, enables collaboration between city assets, environmental metrics, city departments and citizens. The platform makes it possible for city administration to provide transparent and flexible citizen services leveraging connected city infrastructure. Smart buildings, Smart airport, Smart traffic management system, Smart garbage disposal systems are few other use cases that can be applied to city operations.
Endnote
1 https://news.sap.com/2017/11/how-iot-is-turning-this-french-resort-town-into-a-smart-city/
Industry :
Pradeep Nair
Head - SAP Go-To-Market Group, Wipro
Pradeep has over 19 years of experience across Enterprise Resource Computing, Cloud Computing and Enterprise Business Transformation. He can be reached at pradeep.nair1@wipro.com.