It can be argued that technology moves at warp speed — and this old adage isn’t wrong. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a rise in some of the most innovative technology across multiple industries, bringing automation, intelligence and smart devices to the forefront of business. As we look forward to continued progression and development, there are a number of trends that will impact enterprise organizations around the globe.

Be prepared for what’s to come by taking note of these 9 trends:

1. Intelligent traffic and parking management. As cities, retailers, airports and more prioritize revolutionizing the parking experience, we’ll see more implementations of solutions that increase driver satisfaction by providing real-time communication and guidance.

2. Nontraditional advertising. The increased use of intelligent parking management solutions will also allow organizations to become more clever with their advertising, leveraging LED display screens that are multifaceted in their capabilities, including the ability to display marketing messages.

3. Data integration. We’ve seen that data is everywhere, and it will continue to proliferate nearly every aspect of the world, with a particular emphasis on city services, such as trash pickup and parking.

4. Digital transformation. The Internet of Things (IoT) will only continue to grow, with the opportunity to add more devices and services than ever before, creating the highest level of connectivity.

5. Artificial intelligence (AI). We’ve only just begun to see the possibilities AI brings to business leaders in nearly every market; as the technology becomes more mature, decision-making will be more intuitive and simplified based on unprecedented levels of data and insight.

6. Machine learning. When combined with edge computing, this application of AI enables streamlined and intricate data analysis, which has become critical in today’s fast-paced society and will be just as important moving forward.

7. Deep learning. Taking AI and machine learning to the next level, deep learning will allow organizations to leverage tools that make informed decisions at a moment’s notice.

8. Smart devices. From our phones to our appliances to our security systems, it’s become clear that smart devices are here to stay — and they’re only getting smarter. With cloud computing as a backbone, these devices will continue to connect through the IoT and transmit endless amounts of information between one another.

9. Network-enabled platforms. The ability of the aforementioned smart devices to speak to one another is paramount for optimal productivity, and this will help modernize and automate operations and processes in 2019.

The advancements we witnessed this year are not slowing down and we hope to see the most intelligent and efficient solutions in 2019 as systems become smarter and business goals become easier to achieve. We’re looking forward to a year full of progress and expansion.

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.

City of Dubai

As cities look to plan for rapid population expansion, and to make the most out of their infrastructure, one of the first places they might focus on is parking. An increasing number of cities have started to eliminate minimum parking requirements for developers, aiming to increase walkability and decrease car dependency.

This trend brings to light the problems with existing infrastructure. The need is to establish a highly functional and efficient parking management solution that ensures resident satisfaction and utilizes the existing parking lots and on-street parking throughout the city.

The metropolitan parking picture

Parking can be a daily struggle for some, as in attempting to find a nearby yet affordable space to park for work in an office building. It’s also a problem during particular occasions, as hundreds gather around a few blocks or streets for a farmers market or holiday festival.

But, perhaps surprisingly, the fact of the matter is that there are plenty of parking lots available in cities. For example, one study shows that there are 2.2 million total parking spaces in Philadelphia and 1.85 million in New York City.

The problem lies in the way that these spaces are typically managed, which is proven to be inefficient. Drivers are often left frustrated and spend too much time searching for a spot, due to lack of immediate awareness of where spaces are open. Reliable, real-time data that allows drivers to choose between on-street parking, surface lots or garages is not available.

By bouncing between lots and garages that are full, drivers become restless and may choose to park illegally or leave altogether, creating a loss for the city in more ways than one.

The importance of guidance

Implementing an integrated, intelligent parking management solution allows cities to make the best use of their most valuable asset.

The most important aspect of achieving a streamlined parking experience is real-time guidance to all parking options and reliable, live information and updates. If a driver travels downtown and is looking to park somewhere central for a day of shopping, he or she must be made aware of which public on-street parking, surface lots, or garages are full before taking the time to search them for an open space. Sensors installed on light posts can provide an immediate overview of the occupancy of parking in the city, allowing drivers to make well informed decisions when navigating the lot and surrounding street parking spaces.

This type of live monitoring is especially beneficial for cities when they’re host to a particular event. A garage, lot or street can be controlled based on specific parameters, such as the price and duration, while also creating certain restrictions as necessary.

Serving residents for the greater good

The technology solutions that exist for managing municipal parking must coincide with the desire for city officials to improve the process. Cities increasingly care about their parking situation for a number of reasons:

Revenue

Deploying a cost-effective parking management and guidance solution ultimately generates more revenue for a city, as existing parking spaces are properly monetized. Drivers are more motivated to pay for a spot when they know they’ll be able to find it quickly, without having to circle around in vain. The awareness by drivers that all spaces are monitored by a modern system further increases the understanding that it is fair to pay for the valuable public space and service.

An example of this type of monetized parking policy at play can be seen when we take a look back at the history of Old Pasadena, the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California. The city installed parking meters in 1993 to improve its on-street parking situation, with a promise to use the meter revenue on public investments in Old Pasadena. Improvements to sidewalks, alleys and streets were made, while more customers were drawn to the area due to the regulated curb parking.

Service

Utilizing the Parking as a Service model is paramount for businesses and retailers, but its principle applies to cities as well. Officials should aim to provide residents and visitors with a stress-free, enjoyable experience, not one that is compounded by obstacles when trying to enter and exit the city.

Parking as a Service is driven by the deployment of innovative technology, which is typically seen in smart parking services. The Smart City of Dubai, for example, leverages sensors on lampposts to detect 1,100+ spaces in the World Trade Centre District and Sheik Zayed Road.

Public perception

The general perception of a city is impacted by its traffic and parking conditions. More people are likely to choose to spend their time and money in an urban environment where they know their parking concerns are understood and addressed.

A building in the Galeria Kaufhof Shopping Center in Cologne, Germany, for example, reduces parking search traffic in the entire city’s center and sustainably improves quality of life by utilizing a long-range parking sensor at the facade of the building.

As cities continue to thrive and population increases bring newer parking restrictions, it’s inevitable that managing parking in these locations will only become more critical. By applying the time and effort to invest in a solution that takes advantage of the space that already exists and simplifies the overall experience, urban areas can achieve one of their most important goals: happy citizens.

One of the biggest influencers when it comes to the way residents and visitors view a city and its infrastructure is the ease of travel and parking. Whether drivers are headed to work downtown on a Monday morning, touring the nightlife on a Friday evening or attending a weekend sports game, the desire to quickly and efficiently locate an open parking space is typically top of mind.

But this isn’t always easy, as various challenges make parking in a city complicated. Municipalities face the balance of wanting to keep residents happy while also providing a welcoming atmosphere to out-of-towners when an influx of traffic occurs. And as cities in the United States continue to grow — population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that San Antonio, Texas, adds more than 60 people a day on average — the parking process will only become more complex.

With the elimination of parking minimums popping up around the country, the key for cities in the United States becomes prioritizing smart parking management for the lots and garages that currently exist. There is an overabundance of spaces in numerous cities, such as New York and Philadelphia, but with improper and inefficient management, these critical assets quickly lose their value.

A crucial component that’s typically missing in today’s city parking environments is guidance. In a study conducted by the International Parking Institute in 2018, 43 percent of respondents said the demand for guidance systems to help drivers find parking was one of the top emerging trends in parking for the year.

By implementing an integrated, intelligent parking management solution, cities can guide drivers to the closest available parking space, rather than requiring them to circle around endlessly after being turned away at the nearest option. Real-time updates with reliable and live information captured from sensors on light posts facilitate intelligent parking decisions that are based on data, not luck.

This kind of parking management solution would be especially beneficial for a city when dealing with a major sporting event, such as the recent Super Bowl held in Atlanta. Ahead of the game, officials prepared for the remarkable amount of traffic expected, which included a possible 150,000 out-of-town guests and more than one million attendees during the 10-day span of events. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport also saw a record-breaking number of passengers the day after the game.

A smart parking management solution would not only improve the flow of traffic for drivers who attended the game, but it would also provide operators with enhanced monitoring and insight into the various parking operations around the city. This would then enable officials to ensure the proper protocols are being followed and adjust aspects where necessary.

In order for cities to convey that they care about their residents and visitors, they must take into consideration today’s parking challenges and optimize the experience for all involved, which begins by leveraging a smart parking management solution. Learn more about how your city can benefit from Cleverciti’s technology.

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.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – May 14, 2018 – Leading parking technology provider Cleverciti today launched Circ360™, the industry’s first 360-degree overhead display that provides real-time digital traffic flow information and advertising space for open-air parking lots.

“The Circ360™ LED displays are ideal for venues like shopping malls looking to enhance the overall customer experience,” said Thomas Hohenacker, founder and CEO, Cleverciti. “The Circ360™ turns the daily headache of parking into a simple service that retail property owners can offer their tenants and guests.”

The accurate and reliable Circ360™ is an omnidirectional floating LED sign that displays live parking information and messaging from retailers in 360 degrees. It can be mounted on existing lampposts of any size within 15 minutes. The displays are ideal for a range of dynamic on-street and open-air digital signage applications, including local parking availability, advertising, smart city data, security notifications and more.

“Shoppers spend 10 to 12 minutes on average searching for a parking space when they visit a mall,” added Hohenacker. “This results in significant lost revenue for retailers because customers may spend less time shopping or potentially leave out of frustration.”

Now in daily operation in more than 19 countries worldwide, Cleverciti’s high-precision overhead parking sensors and innovative Cockpit management software empower cities and property owners to manage parking in a more intelligent and efficient way. Cleverciti helps reduce traffic congestion and emissions, while dramatically improving the parking experience for consumers. It also helps grow revenues for cities, airports, malls and numerous other businesses.