WILL 2014 BE THE YEAR THAT CITIES BECOME EVEN SMARTER?
By Leanne Rinning, Head of Marketing, Storm ID
‘A city can be defined as ‘smart’ when investments in human and social capital and traditional (transport) and modern (ICT) communication infrastructure fuel sustainable economic development and a high quality of life, with a wise management of natural resources, through participatory action and engagement’.
Will superfast broadband really have a transformative effect on the lives of citizens that its proponents believe and will the open data movement really transform the twenty-first century city in much the same way that electricity did years before?
digital technologies will evolve and combine to make our cities “smarter” with major impact across transport, recycling, security and energy efficiency systems.
Smart Services
Western cities such as Barcelona, which controls 50% of its lighting power remotely, Toronto which is using game theory and artificial intelligence to teach traffic lights to adjust to traffic patterns in real time, to Rio de Janeiro which was recently voted the best “smart city” at the Smart City Expo World Congress are embracing the “Smart City” concept.
Arguably though it is in developing countries such as India and Tanzania in Africa, which are facing rapid urbanisation, that have the most to benefit from leveraging information and communications technology to improve the productivity, lifestyle and prosperity of their populations. Indeed given the forecasted pressure on services and infrastructure in these countries innovative solutions need to be found.
Closer to home The City of Edinburgh Council’s recent announcement to offer free public Wi-Fi across the Lothian Bus and Tram network and proactively offering access to a number of datasets it holds via the Edinburgh Apps initiative are good examples of the city seeking to harness information and communication technologies to improve the lives of residents and visitors alike.
At Storm ID, we believe that digital technologies will evolve and combine to make our cities “smarter” with major impact across transport, recycling, security and energy efficiency systems. We also believe that the eventual impact will be more transformative than any of us can possibly imagine.
it is generally the case in dealing with change in highly dynamic systems that the transition to the smart city will likely take longer and will happen in ways that cannot easily be anticipated.
What is clear is that cities that are now building a rich and detailed information platform and supporting an ecosystem of developers to develop the services will be at an increasing advantage.
Storm are currently working with the City of Edinburgh Council to support them in the development of their own digital strategy which has been published online here http://ictanddigitalstrategy.org.uk/.
The first output of the strategy will be a new corporate web site which is due to launch in the spring of 2014. It will offer residents and businesses access to a range of informational and transactional digital services across mobile devices, desktop and internet connected TVs. This is just the start of a major programme of work which aims to capitalise on how digital services can deliver real benefits to the citizens, businesses and residents of Edinburgh and for a local agency that’s a genuinely exciting prospect.
Leanne Rinning is Head of Marketing for Storm ID
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Storm ID are a user experience and digital technology consultancy, developing multichannel digital services that transform how our clients do business.
For more information
www.stormid.com
@stormid
#WeAreStormID
By Leanne Rinning, Head of Marketing, Storm ID
Issue 8: January 2014
SMART CITIES: SMART SERVICES: SMART WORKING
Smart Cities: Smart Services: Smart Working Editorial
In focusing on 'Smart Cities' let's start with a few teaser questions (answers at the foot of this column)...
- Connecting the Unconnected
- Smarter cities, greener cities cost less to run
- The Future of Mobility - Economic and Transport Opportunity
- Geographic Information for Smart Working
- Smart Accelerator: Accelerating action to create smarter cities and regions
- Public Service Reform in an Enabling State: It's about people - not just curly cables
- Data's the way to do it as Glasgow fast forwards to the future
- Time To Start Powering Public Services?
- A 'Smart' Move for Scotland? Edinburgh Napier University's role in the EU Smart Cities Project
- Transport for Edinburgh - Integrated Transport for a Smart City
- "Smart" Opportunities for Scotland's Cities
- Co-ordinating Investment to Deliver 'Smart Places'
- Delivering a sustainable rail future
OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE
- Editorial
- Children - Putting Policy Into Practice
- Worth more than the First Minister? Senior Salaries in Scottish Quangos
- Success secrets shared: Learning from the best Mittelstand and British global niche champions
- Remembering John Muir
- Internship Can be Good For You
- Planning for Human Rights in Scotland
- Power to the People?
- Evidence exchange: sharing social policy lessons between neighbours
- Helping to build stronger communities across Scotland
- How Can We Engage The Disengaged?
- Pay as you Go?
PREVIOUS ISSUES
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- Bringing alive the Digital Participation Charter for Scotland's citizens, communities and businesses
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- Social Business Can Transform Public Services
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