The short answer is: yes, they can be (even more sustainable than non-smart cities). The longer, more complex, answer is: Smart cities have the potential to make a significant contribution to urban sustainability, by using information and communication technology (ICT) to gather urban data and improve performance and management.

How? By applying smart solutions such as smart parking, smart lighting, smart building, air quality monitoring, refuse collection, renewable energy, water infrastructure, and energy grids. In fact, smart parking has turned out to be one of the fastest and easiest solutions to achieve sustainability in a city.

But what do we mean exactly by the term “smart solutions”? A smart solution is a general term commonly used to describe systems that combine innovative information and communication technologies (e.g. Internet of Things), and apply them in all aspects of life, such as smart devices (TVs, phones), but also smart offices, cars, or even complete cities. It is possible to apply smart solutions in such a wide range because most smart solutions are based on the use of sensors. Sensors come in all shapes and sizes and can be installed almost everywhere and in/on anything. 

A concrete example of a smart solution that helps cities control their carbon footprint and reduce their CO2 emissions is air quality monitoring. Monitoring air quality in cities helps in assessing the level of pollution in relation to the ambient air quality standards. It can provide cities insights on how to actively reduce their emissions. A solution like this can lead to 10-15% fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In order to build successful smart city solutions, three key steps are necessary (Source):

1. The technology base has to include networks of connected devices and sensors, such as smartphones connected by high-speed communication networks

2. Smart applications and data analysis capabilities are used to translate the raw data gathered from these devices and sensors into alerts, insights, and ultimately, actions

3. A wide adoption of applications and usage by cities, companies, and the public, together with the effective management of data, is needed to inspire better decisions and behavior change

In a study from June 2018 on smart cities, McKinsey Global Institute investigated how technology can deliver a better quality of life, including an analysis of smart applications that will be relevant for cities through 2025. Findings indicate that smart technologies could improve key indicators such as health, security or cost of living by 10–30% once introduced and that using the current generation of smart city applications could effectively help cities make significant or moderate progress toward meeting 70% of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Another great example of a smart solution that helps cities improve their environmental impact is smart parking. Did you know that 30% of all emissions that are caused by traffic are due to parking search traffic? Can you imagine the amount of emissions we would ‘save’ if we are able to guide drivers to the nearest parking spot, without having to circle around the block over and over again?! This is why we came up with a variety of smart parking solutions, such as a smart parking guidance system that uses overhead sensors that can be mounted onto existing lampposts, or a curb management system that helps cities manage the curb effectively. 

Smart parking is extremely important for the development of smart cities and part of the reason why smart cities tend to be more sustainable than non-smart cities. 

To us at Cleverciti, it is perfectly clear that smart cities are the future and we are eager to contribute to a better and more sustainable future by developing the best smart parking solutions for our customers around the world. Curious to see how our smart parking systems can be applied in your city? Schedule a demo below and talk to one of our smart parking experts now: 

By Thomas Hohenacker, CEO and Founder of Cleverciti

The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming how we live. From interactive entertainment and cloud-based services to self-driving cars and home automation, we’re all increasingly taking part in the connected world. And why wouldn’t we be? The IoT delivers many benefits (I know I’m not the only one who has asked Alexa to do the laundry, for example) for various aspects of life.

Cities are particularly well-positioned to experience significant benefits from the IoT. According to recent research from IoT Analytics on 1,600 real IoT use cases, the largest amount of projects were part of Smart City initiatives. The myriad use cases (from air quality monitoring to smart parking to real-time gunshot detection) can help citizens and visitors achieve better lives and help cities to stay reliably within their budget.

Even though the promise of the connected world is still in its infancy, there are already many proven IoT technologies today that are quickly gaining adoption across the world’s leading cities. The accessibility of these technologies makes it possible for any city to jump on the digital transformation bandwagon and deliver improved services for its citizens. New York City’s Smart City efforts, for example, include energy conservation through smart lighting and air quality monitoring. The city of Bad Hersfeld in Germany uses sensors to guide visitors quickly to available parking areas, significantly reducing CO2 emissions and pollution in the city.

IoT-powered Smart Cities: Now accessible to all

Thanks to extraordinary innovations from the global startup ecosystem, IoT devices have reduced substantially in cost while increasing in processing power. With this change, previously unthinkable potential is available at costs that are now accessible to nearly any city. I speak with cities every week who previously thought advanced IoT solutions were out of reach but are amazed to see the value they can generate for their citizens with a positive benefit to the overall financial position.

When considering a smart city solution, it is of course important to consider the financial impact. Many of the best solutions generate revenues or cut existing expenses, yielding a positive ROI very quickly. In addition, instead of large, up-front capital expenditures, some of the best solutions are available with a regular monthly fee structure, enabling cities to experience that positive ROI immediately rather than having to wait years for large up-front costs to pay off.

Some solutions can even be revenue generating. For example, curbside management solutions provide ridesharing and delivery drivers with a safe and efficient means to stop curbside, and also open the possibility for a city to charge a small transaction fee for each curb access event. Smart parking systems both increase utilization of paid parking spaces by more efficiently guiding users to available spaces and encourage more citizens to pay for the parking they use, thereby increasing parking revenues. Smart traffic management systems can automatically adjust traffic light timings to improve traffic flow and consequently improve timeliness of on-street public transit, leading to increased ridership and higher revenues.

The primary goal of these systems is always to improve city life for residents and visitors. The additional benefit of revenues or cost savings coupled with low recurring fee structures from IoT smart city vendors (versus large up-front capex) allows for cities to realize an immediate ROI and ease budgeting for future investments.

Data Privacy: Benefits of edge computing

As our world becomes more connected, data privacy issues make headline news nearly every week. Citizens place an enormous amount of trust in city officials to ensure that their data is protected, and that their security will not be compromised by living in the city. While technology has created some of these problems, technology will also help to solve them.

Today, sensors have become extraordinarily advanced. Power that was previously only available to super-computers can now be fit inside a low-energy consumption sensor. The term “edge computing” refers to sensors that don’t just sense data, they make sense of the data. With an edge computing model, sensors run its own advanced machine learning model in real-time, only sending data when certain user parameters are met. This approach ensures that no identifiable data is sent over the network.

Artificial Intelligence: Making sense of the deluge of data

The primary reason cities want to collect data is to improve situational awareness. However, they need to identify the right data to experience the most profound benefit. Smart city solutions generate millions of data points per day in any one city, and if implemented improperly can simply lead to confusion and data overload. That is why, now more than ever, artificial intelligence (AI) is part of the conversation regarding data collection. AI can be used to automatically pinpoint the data that is most important to a city and transform that data into useful, accessible information that enables quick and informed decision-making.

The best smart city solutions include dashboards and mobile apps that hide the complexity of millions of data points and instead present highly actionable information to the users. For example, video analytics can be used to identify and then manage traffic chokepoints. If a traffic jam is detected, users are notified and can take the proper action, such as opening up new lanes for travel or changing the current timing of traffic lights. These innovations are a valuable tool in data management and capture where vast amounts of raw data are uncategorized.

The digital ecosystem: Easing communication

Before the digital revolution, technologies were siloed and didn’t share a common language, and therefore didn’t “speak” to one another. Cities had to manually extract data from one system and then try to see how that information related to other events. This was a timely and complex process, to say the least. Today, we live in a much different world.

Open application programming interfaces allow for one system to communicate with another system, sharing data in a structured format. Through open APIs, different systems from different vendors are able to speak to one another, thereby eliminating manual work to gain insights that require looking at multiple types of sensor data together. Connecting information from multiple systems in one place provides myriad benefits to cities, allowing for the delivery of streamlined event-based information that enhances decision-making and accelerates response times.

IoT: The future of Smart Cities

There is no doubt that the IoT is impacting modern-day cities in a significant way. A combination of AI, advanced computing and contextually rich, real-time data streams delivered by IoT sensors and networks is makes smart city development affordable, accessible, and compelling moving forward. The IoT is the cornerstone of the digital transformation because it allows cities to optimize existing operations and excel at creating and pursuing exciting new business models. How will you grab hold of this opportunity?

This blog is part of a series that will dive into key members of the Cleverciti team and how they leverage their personal experiences to best lead the company.

Thomas Hohenacker is the Founder and CEO of Cleverciti Systems. Founded in 2012, Cleverciti develops a comprehensive suite of intelligent solutions designed to ease the parking experience and enhance driver communication.

A shopping trip to one’s favorite retailer should be full of excitement and fulfillment; whether gathering the week’s groceries, picking out new outfits or searching for upgraded appliances, a successful outing is typically an enjoyable time.

But because shopping can also be stressful, customers are always hoping to arrive at a location that provides a hassle-free experience. This can be impacted by a number of factors, with one occurring before even entering the facility: parking. It probably wouldn’t take long for someone to think of a store in their city that gives them a major headache when it comes to navigating its parking situation and finding an open spot in a timely manner.

Because there are often large amounts of people trying to enter and exit the establishment at the same time, it’s understandable that parking might be complicated — but it doesn’t have to be. Retailers can ensure a seamless parking experience for customers by leveraging intelligent solutions that simplify the parking management process and increase satisfaction.

Deploying these systems can enable parking managers to enhance operations through 4 key areas:

• Parking displays, such as Cleverciti’s CIRC360™, an omnidirectional floating LED sign, can be mounted on light posts to show live parking information and messaging. Customers can feel comfortable when they spot this kind of sign, knowing that the retailer cares about their parking experience and their ability to immediately access the facility.

• Innovative technologies that leverage the power of interconnectivity, edge computing, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) can deliver real-time identification of free and occupied spaces within outdoor parking areas.

• Drivers are dynamically guided to the free parking spaces through an LED sign’s intuitive communication platform, easing the search while reducing environmental impact.

• Signage, such as CIRC360™, provides the opportunity for shopping centers to display marketing messages and paid media sponsorships that drive branding and visibility, as well as emergency notifications and public safety alerts to keep drivers informed.

Parking operators can also take advantage of smart parking solutions to increase revenue by gathering intelligent data on parking habits and trends, allowing the facility to use its parking space more efficiently and adjust pricing according to occupancy dynamics.

When customers contemplate a trip to the store, they’re likely to consider both the time they’ll be able to shop and how long it will take them to find a parking spot — and the latter should not end up taking over the equation. Parking operators at retailers must reduce the complexity of this process to improve the parking experience for everyone involved.

By providing a powerful combination of precise parking data and instant local guidance in a single solution, Cleverciti helps shopping centers ease their parking challenges and improve customer service. Learn more here about how shopping centers in Slovenia, Chicago and Germany benefit from Cleverciti’s technology, and find out how parking at your establishment can be transformed.

Cleverciti Systems, a leader in comprehensive, high-tech solutions for outdoor and on-street parking detection, monitoring and guidance, marked the end of 2018 with strong results across its business as more organizations look to leverage intelligent, IoT-based solutions to streamline parking operations.

Cleverciti secured 13 new installations in Q4 2018 and projects more than 20 new deals to close in Q1 2019 in a wide range of targeted vertical markets, including retail, corporate campuses and smart cities. The company’s momentum further positions the company as a leader in the smart parking segment.

“Interest in Cleverciti solutions to streamline parking management in a number of environments using Clevercit’s sensor technology and wayfinding systems, incorporating artificial intelligence continues to increase as customers realize the value of this technology for improving day-to-day operations,” said Thomas Hohenacker, Founder and CEO, Cleverciti Systems. “This growth is a testament to the advantages of our unique technologies, which offer superior intelligence and reliability at a much higher value than other smart parking products on the market today.”

Key Cleverciti developments include:

• The Cleverciti suite of intelligent parking technologies — the CIRC360™, Cleverciti Cockpit and the Cleverciti Top Reach sensors — at major Unibail Rodamco Westfield shopping center in Bochum, Germany, and the Leto Shopping Center from the Malltech Group in St. Petersburg, Russia.

• Expansion into the supermarket arena, which generated four additional installations in Germany and Austria.

• Corporate campus wins at the Skolvovo Tech Park in Russia and at one of the leading utilities, EnBW, in Germany.

• Deployment of the company’s smart parking solutions in several cities in Germany as well as cities in Ukraine and Greece to reduce traffic and emissions as part of their Smart City initiatives.

• Park & Ride facilities in Germany and London are leveraging Cleverciti technologies to provide real-time parking information to authorities to help them optimize parking assets in more than 80 locations.

• Launch of the Cleverciti Global Channel Partner Program, which is designed to provide the support and service needed to successfully install Cleverciti solutions.

• Cleverciti was named one of the first companies in the “GSMA 100,” a global innovation initiative developed by the GSMA to identify and advance the next generation of connectivity and digital services and awarded the German American Business “Excellence in Innovation” award by the German American Chambers of Commerce (GACC) for its cutting-edge smart parking management technology.

Investment in the company’s sales, support and marketing efforts has resulted in increased visibility.

A lack of parking monitoring and guidance often leads to increased traffic, pollution and driver frustration for cities, retailers, airports and more, while also detracting potential revenue.

Cleverciti’s suite of products revolutionizes the parking experience, offering efficient local guidance with real-time parking data, as well as the ability for customers to display additional marketing and event messages.

“We are proud of the results we’ve achieved over the past six months and we look forward to continuing this trajectory and educating leaders on how to turn parking spaces into revenue generators for their organizations,” Markus Grauvogl, VP Sales EMEAR, said.

As a leader in intelligent parking solutions, the company seeks to help organizations reduce traffic and emissions, and increase revenue while allowing drivers to enjoy a smooth, stress-free parking experience. The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany, with offices in Chicago and Atlanta.

It may sound like it, but deep tech is not the stuff of movies and science-fiction novels. Not anymore.

Since long we have been talking about high-end technologies or scientific techniques that would help revolutionise the world when used together or in conjunction with each other. These technologies are far more complex and bring radical changes to how we develop new things.

Experts and analysts have been trying to decipher when and where these technologies will make their impact and how long lasting their after-effects could be. As we approach the next decade, AI, IoT, Machine learning, Biotechnology, quantum computing and advanced robotics are shaping up to their full potential. They may take a long time and a lot of money to develop fully, but they can solve some very tough problems.

Swati Chaturvedi who coined the term ‘deep tech’ is the founder of a platform dedicated to angel investing called Propel(x). “We define deep technology as companies founded on a scientific discovery or meaningful engineering innovation. Most technology companies these days are built on business model innovation or offline to online business model transition using existing technology.” Deep tech is built from scratch, on something that does not really exist right now.

Here’s a look at few of the many companies developing applications using deep technology startups that can drastically change the way things function today.

• Biogenera works in the biotechnology driven pharmaceutical sector and is developing new DNA-based medicines for the treatment of specific illnesses such as tumours. It has developed the MyGenera platform to identify pathological and mutated genes and prevent diseases before the happen.

• Braincontrol has developed a technology that allows people to turn thought to action by using effective control systems. This technology helps people with physical disabilities to interact and connect with the world outside. Horus Technology works in the same field and has utilised deep tech to create a device that helps the blind ‘see’ the world around them with the help of robotics and AI.

• Empatica has developed a bracelet to help people with epilepsy by monitoring seizures. The bracelet detects the neural activity and body temperature of the wearer and processes this information to enable the user to steer clear of dangerous seizures.

Ecological applications

• Graphene-XT has developed a graphene suspension that produces high-grade graphene at lower costs with reduced environmental impact helping strengthen several industrial and construction based sectors.

• Greenrail has come up with a sustainable railway crossbar that is greener and smarter than its competitors. The cross has a lifespan exceeding 50 years, which is 20 more than its competitors and also incurs lesser vibration noise. It uses recycled materials and also generates energy from moving trains.

• Bio-on developed the world’s first biodegradable plastic and in 2017 presented a solution for bio-oil pollution restoration to eliminate hydrocarbons pollution.

• D-Orbit aims to deal with space junk by decommissioning and guiding the re-entry of satellites that have finished serving their time in space. It has developed a smart motor that is attached to satellite at the time of launch and removes it from the orbit in case of a major failure or end-of-life.

• Ribes Tech has an ultra-thin and flexible photovoltaic panel that turns sunlight into energy with ease and greater efficiency. A thin and flexible solar panel means it can be pasted on anything from roads and cars, to building walls and what not.

• Cleverciti uses AI to help drivers find free parking in cities, reducing air pollution in the process.

Daily-life Applications

• Trinckle 3D opens up the world of 3D printing to commoners by reducing barriers with the help of a cloud-based platform. This device will help making automation easier by speeding up the process of component manufacture and will also help cale up businesses by making it easier to duplicate parts and produce them on a large scale.

• Lexplore uses artificial intelligence to identify dyslexia in children. This Swedish company previously called Optolexia has combined automatic eye tracking camera techniques, Azure cloud-based services, reporting tools and data analysis and algorithm checkers to help in the early diagnosis of dyslexia. The statistical predictive model that they use to analyse large amounts of data provided by the camera has been powered by AI and helps tests all readers for signs of dyslexia.

• ApiOmat gifts companies the chance to mix their IT systems with mobile devices to efficiently create apps. Volkswagen launched their Digital Leadership app thanks to this company that aims to help connect businesses by going live with applications and IT related services faster and more efficiently than ever before. Their low cost and low code requiring tools helps designers create prototypes with ease which they can then beta-test and finalise significantly reducing development time.

• Roivant uses AI to help reduce the time and costs related to the drug development and manufacturing process. Founded in 2014 by Vivek Ramaswamy, the company raised $200 million dollars at a funding drive last year to expand their venture and spread to more parts of the US. The company is presently focusing its efforts on an Alzheimer’s drug that could help solve a lot of problems for several thousands of people around the world.

The Indian Picture

• Imaginate, Founder and CEO, Hemanth Satyanarayana, has the following to say about the impact of Deep tech, “Today, people generally refer to AI or machine learning as deep tech. Expanding the definition a little more, we have started integrating computer vision, image processing, AR/VR with the term. Deep tech is fundamentally a connection of different types of technologies to come up with a solution that has significant improvement over other products available in the market”.

• Ethx is one of the first Ethereum exchanges in India and was founded by Tarusha Mittal who believes that the platform provides a user-friendly, fast and secure solution to all cryptocurrency transaction related queries. It functions as a complete blockchain suite and provides users with the chance to contribute to a central network for tokens. Mittal predicts that Ethx will have over 5 million users by the end of 2019. Though a supreme court verdict on use of cryptocurrencies in India is still awaited.

• Pratilipi is the country’s largest online platform and bridges the gap between writers in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati, and Kannada. It is a self-publishing platform for writers and works as a buying platform for the readers. It boasts of over 53,000 writers and 3.3 million plus readers. Shally Modi, the co-founder of Pratilipi, had the following to say about the company, “Pratilipi is a reading and writing platform for the next billion internet users who hail from the small towns and villages of India. It’s a storytelling platform for Indian languages.”

• Ossus Biorenewables is a Bengaluru-based startup that is developing clean, carbon-free, energy and recovery solutions. They use bH2 Plus to generate biohydrogen from industrial effluents and polluted water bodies. Founded by Suruchi Rao and Shanta Rao in 2017, the company is now partnering with oil and gas companies like ONGC and hopes to set up base in the US by 2020.

• Language learning startup, Multibhashi teaches English and other regional Indian languages to millions of users around the world. According to Anuradha Agarwal, the founder, “We are committed to teaching job-related English communication skills to the next billion users coming online. We fully realise that a task of this scale can only be accomplished through technology”. The app lets users connect with a tutor and get personalised services for the entire learning process.

You might also be interested in: AI in healthcare: Automated nurses, face recognition for disease detection and more

In its nascent phase, deep tech was a little difficult to understand due to its complexity. Startups deploying it could have a hard time finding an investor with the right amount of technical knowledge. But these startups have been successful at piquing interest and raising significant amounts of capital for investments. In fact, the year 2017 witnessed over $3.5bn being invested in this field with over 600 successful deals.

A study by Wavestone stated that Europe has been seeing considerable growth in investment with respect to deep-tech technologies, the projected growth exceeding three times the average growth since 2015. France is the global leader in terms of venture capitalist investments, and the UK leads in access to finance, followed by France.

Venture capital funds have contributed the most in Europe, like Kima Ventures, High-Tech Grunderfunds, Bpifrance, LocalGlobe, Horizon Ventures and Passion Capital. America too stayed well-represented thanks to Intel, Apple, Qualcomm, Microsoft Google, Cisco and Amazon. The most active European contributors were Siemens, Bosch, BNP Paribas and Swisscom.

EIT Digital is a European organisation consisting of a team of professionals who are passionate about digital innovation and entrepreneurship. It supports over 156 major European companies, start-ups and research institutes and has offices all over the world, including but not restricted to Berlin, Eindhoven, Helsinki, London, and Madrid. The EIT Digital Challenge, organised by them is a unique competition aimed at European deep tech companies.

Governments around the world are aiming to make their cities smart. In other words, they want to leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) applications to monitor and manage their cities more efficiently. But what is the solution to deploy millions of sensors, cameras and control technologies across sprawling metropolises? The answer is street lighting, the largest network of powered devices across the world.

In the latest report from Counterpoint Research’s IoT service, they show how smart street lighting can form the IoT backbone for smart cities. They showcase the business opportunities for both vendors and cities by going through case studies, existing technologies and assessing the challenges.

Counterpoint Research estimates that less than 18% of the world’s 350 million street lights are LED, with fewer than 2% connected, offering vendors tremendous growth opportunities. Discussing the findings, Neil Shah, Research Director at Counterpoint Research says, “We expect 15% of global street lights to be connected by 2023. This would mean at least 50 million more street lights will be connected creating a large opportunity for companies like Huawei, Telena, Signify and others. A connected street lighting network, complete with sensors and control technologies, can form the backbone for a city-wide network capable of acquiring data, delivering information from millions of devices (from rubbish bins to autonomous vehicles), and monitoring everything from crime to traffic and even the weather.”

Not only can smart street lighting help in monitoring key aspects of a city, it can also generate additional revenues for the city administration. For example, cities can rent out lamp post-mounted digital signage spaces for advertising. It is a model that has proven successful by LinkNYC which is expected to generate over US$1 billion in advertising revenues in its first 10 years of operation.

Gareth Owen, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research adds, “Business cases for smart street lighting networks are still being developed. However, they offer a large potential for cities to generate additional revenue streams. Smart lighting poles could be leased out as Wi-Fi hotspots, 4G/5G base stations, digital signages, and many other such uses. The professional lighting industry is already embracing IoT and will play a significant role in transforming the street lighting network into a major backbone for IoT.”

Another benefit of a smart street lighting network with LEDs lies in energy and operational cost savings. By deploying smart street light projects, Los Angeles and Oslo have seen energy savings of 63% and 62%, respectively. Similarly, smart street lights have helped Saudi Arabia save 50% of its power costs. While operational cost savings depend on the costs the operator currently incurs to maintain its lights, smart street lighting with LEDs offer benefits such as longer lifetime, remote monitoring and management allowing for switching off, or dimming the lights when required, predictive maintenance, and automatic outage detection. These benefits have already started to change the outlook of cities for selecting vendors.

Gareth Owen goes on to explain, “We expect 45% of the global street lighting network will have LEDs by 2023. As smart lighting networks are deployed, cities are moving away from traditional tendering methods in favor of a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) system which changes the business model from a high CAPEX outlay along with OPEX to a pure OPEX solution. Several smart lighting companies are already offering Lighting-as-a-Service (LaaS) business models in which customers pay per lux, i.e. on a usage basis, rather than simply paying for devices and a standard managed service.”

However, as with any new technology there are hurdles. “While the use of smart lighting infrastructure as a technological foundation for a smart city is a very promising prospect, a few challenges must first be overcome. Business models need to be adapted further to include the value of all supported services and not just lighting. Further, issues on connectivity, operational barriers, security issues, ownership challenges and lastly, infrastructure challenges need to be resolved,” Owen adds.

Companies mentioned in this report include Huawei, Cisco, Telena, Signify, Itron, Cleverciti, Echelon Corp., Rongwen, Current (powered by GE), Flashnet, Sensus, gridComm, DimOnOff, Trilliant, Acuity, Ubicquia, Tvilight, Enlighted, AT&T, Verizon, Sansi Technology, ZTE, Philips and Ruchi Telecom.

The report is available for subscribing clients and for purchase on Counterpoint’s research portal. Please feel free to reach out to press@counterpointresearch.com for further questions regarding their in-depth latest research, insights or press enquiries.

About Counterpoint Technology Market Research

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in Technology products in the TMT industry. It services major technology firms and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analysis of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are experts in the industry with an average tenure of 13 years in high-tech industries.

Smart parking and IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) has begun to permeate nearly every aspect of our daily lives; from entertainment to security to self-driving cars, it’s hard to find one industry that hasn’t taken advantage of the IoT’s ability to seamlessly connect smart devices and facilitate communication.

The IoT provides a host of benefits to a number of markets, with urban areas at the top of the list of those seeing a significant impact. The Smart City is empowered by the IoT, relying on connected devices to improve infrastructure and quality of life. In fact, according to recent research from IoT Analytics on 1,600 real IoT use cases, the largest amount of projects were part of Smart City initiatives.

Of the many fashions in which municipalities can benefit from the IoT, its role in traffic management is one of the most valuable. Cities frequently face a variety of challenges when it comes to traffic and parking, such as exceeded emissions limits, long search times for a parking space, valuable parking space not being monetized and more.

Solutions that utilize the IoT can effectively mitigate these issues. Real-time detection of available on-street parking spaces decreases traffic and pollution and reduces the required time and distance to park, improving mobility. Additionally, these solutions incentivize drivers to pay for parking, allowing cities to capture revenue from one of their most important assets and make the most out of their parking spaces.

The IoT also enables cities to automate processes that may be time consuming or costly. These solutions can continuously monitor traffic patterns or parking restrictions, such as delivery zones or handicap spaces, and implement the proper control, such as verification or a violation.

The overall enhanced traffic management achieved through IoT devices contributes to a comprehensive Smart City initiative that can vastly augment decision-making and operations. And the IoT’s effect doesn’t stop there: cities are seeing improvements to healthcare, commerce, government services and more. Smart grids can more efficiently transmit electricity, while wireless irrigation networks can promote water conservation.

The opportunities the IoT provides to cities are truly revolutionary and stand to revamp and boost an endless number of systems. And the examples above are just the beginning; as more data is collected and further use cases are identified, the possibilities will only expand.