Smart cities ” as phenomena of the present and the future, they rely heavily on big data collection about everything from the most-used bus routes to the locations of overflowing trash bins.
And the arrival of 5G networks will drastically and permanently change the big data collection practices for smart cities.
5G Promises Blazingly Fast Speeds and Low Latency
Two features of upcoming 5G networks that people are most excited about are their extraordinarily fast speeds and their almost definite freedom of latency issues. According to some estimations, 5G networks could offer speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second, which allows the equivalent of downloading a feature-length film in one second.
It’s also crucial to think of 5G networks as bridges between raw data and data centers. The lack of latency with 5G networks means data gets transmitted to the cloud almost instantly, allowing people or platforms to analyze it and take the necessary actions afterward ” meaning 5G is a game-changer for power grids, businesses, homes and more.
The ability to see recent, relevant data is crucial for successful smart cities. It’s not sufficient to merely collect data and fail to do meaningful things with it. 5G will make it possible for the people responsible for smart cities to get up-to-the-minute data and take prompt action to keep things flowing smoothly for a smart city and its citizens.
Tight Security Is Essential for the Expected Benefits to Happen
It’s worth realizing that as 5G networks send an increasing amount of information to big data platforms, those tools, or even the city’s entire infrastructure, could be more vulnerable to hacks. As such, security will be one of the most important features defining cities as among the top smart destinations.
Chicago and New York are two of the places making significant progress in creating smart city infrastructures filled with high-tech features. Security experts warn that no matter the location of a smart city, security must be an ongoing priority. It’s not hard to imagine the devastation hackers could cause with access to a collection of smart city data.
In Denver, officials teamed up with Panasonic to make a smart city with a microgrid that provides 72 hours of power during an outage. It’s a good start, but as 5G facilitates big data collection for smart cities, it’ll become imperative to take steps to prepare for cybersecurity emergencies.
Cybercriminals have recently targeted Atlanta and San Diego. In Atlanta, police dashcam footage collected over a years-long span were deleted during the incident, and in San Diego, the city’s port was under threat. Both those issues were related to ransomware, meaning victims’ data was held hostage unless they agreed to pay to get it back.
Smart city hacks are already lucrative for cybercriminals ” and that reality could become even more apparent if city planners don’t engineer ways to keep their 5G networks and databases locked down.
5G Will Facilitate Internet-Connected Devices That Collect Data
Many people use internet-connected devices ” ranging from fitness trackers to smart speakers ” without thinking twice about it. In a smart city where thousands or tens of thousands of devices collect data for later analysis, city planners and residents need reliable access to the Internet.
As Barcelona made strides towards being a smart city, the number of Wi-Fi hotspots increased by 62 percent, and the locality installed 19,500 smart meters to monitor energy consumption. Compared to older networks, however, 5G requires a densely-packed quantity of antennas.
When figuring out how to install those antennas without turning a smart city into an eyesore, some people have suggested embedding them into objects within the smart city, such as light poles. However, retrofitting older infrastructure may not be appropriate, and city officials have to avoid the potential downsides of increasing access haphazardly.
Discussions of 5G and big data must not overlook effective ways to give internet access to the people who need it. Otherwise, the collection practices necessary for big data platforms to be worthwhile won’t receive incoming feeds of information.
The fact that Verizon recently unveiled its proprietary 5G network access in select U.S. cities could help drive smart city growth by getting consumers acquainted with using 5G before its widespread rollout. A Verizon representative mentioned that two likely uses for 5G and data collection are public safety and transportation.
The Full Impacts Are Still Unknown
It’s still too early to determine precisely how 5G will disrupt big data collection, storage and processing for smart cities ” but changes will certainly occur.
Those shifts should become even more apparent once people have smartphones and other mobile devices that work with the 5G network.
