The world’s population is increasing at a tremendous pace. As per recent figures, almost 3.9 billion people are living in cities. By 2050, it is estimated that almost two-thirds of the world population will shift to urban areas. The rapid increase of the population density inside urban environments, infrastructures, and services has been needed to supply the requirements of the citizens. So, cities need to be smart, if only to survive as platforms that allow economic, social and environmental safety.
A smart city is the one that uses information and communications technologies (ICT) to make the city services and monitoring more aware, interactive and competent. Smartness of a city is driven and enabled technologically by the growing Internet of Things (IoT)- a radical evolution of the current Internet into a global network of interconnected objects that not only gathers information from the environments (sensing) and interacts with the physical world, but also uses existing Internet standards to provide services for information transfer, analytics, and applications.
IoT Technologies for Smart Cities
The IoT is a broadband network that employs standard communication protocols, whereas the Internet would be its merging point. The major idea of the IoT is the widespread existence of objects which are able to be measured and inferred, as well as it is able to modify the situation. Accordingly, IoT is empowered by the growth of several things and communication equipment. Things in the IoT involve smart equipment such as mobile phones and other facilities including foodstuff, appliances, and milestones that can collaborate to accomplish a joint objective. The main characteristic of the IoT is its effect on consumers Ì life. In the concept of IoT, since the cabling cost for millions of sensors is expensive, the communication between sensors should be wireless.
Pillars of a Smart City “ Why They Matter?
There are in total of 8 pillars that contribute to the definition of a smart city. As per the rules, any city which meets 5 out of these 8 pillars can be deemed as SMART CITY , while, the ones which fall below 5, are dubbed as Eco-friendly Cities . Read more about the 4 pillars of Smart City here.
All these smart cities require Smart Grids to improve efficiency, cut down consumer costs, workout the peak demands, and encourage people to use more renewable sources of energy. Making all these 8 pillars smart isn’t an easy task, but with intelligent solutions and consistent efforts, it surely can be achieved.
Applications of Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Cities
By far, you must have understood that IoT isn’t limited just to our homes, but is expanding in terms of both scope and capabilities. Pick any domain or service and you would find the fragment of IoT embedded into its functionality.
Covering all the applications of IoT is beyond the scope of this blog post. But, let’s take a quick peek on a few of the special use cases of IoT in smart cities:
1. Smart Water Management In Multiple Avenues
Water is scarce and the experts fear that the next World War will not be for ammunition, but water. So, it is time that we unite as one and implement the concept of IoT judiciously to conserve this valuable resource. Using IoT, we can install sensors in multiple avenues of water industry like:
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To keep the water level under check in overhead tanks and reservoirs to avoid spilling
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To track and monitor water consumption on a real-time basis in urban societies
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Using sensors in the irrigation sector to determine how much water soil requires based on different constraints like moisture etc. and draw real-time analysis based on data captured
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Sensors can also determine water leakages, its quality and how it’s being consumed in different industries across the city.
2. Resolving Traffic Congestion & Frequent Parking Woes
How many times have you faced the issue of finding out a proper parking space for your bike or car? As the cities are evolving, finding a parking space is becoming trickier. The rising traffic irritates a regular commuter and also boosts pollution. However, with IoT enabled parking spots, the sensors can help the incoming visitor find the nearest available spot. It will save fuel, time and reduce CO2 emission.
Installation of IoT enabled traffic sensors can also avoid traffic congestions in major parts of the city. These sensors can easily operate the traffic lights depending on the volume of traffic and the average speed of vehicles thereby reducing speeding issues and accidents.
3. Effective Waste Management
The municipal department can install smart sensors in the waste dumpsters to determine the level of waste they carry. The sensors will then relay this data to the nearest waste collection truck which can come and pick the waste before the dumpster overflows. It will make the waste collection system more efficient and will also keep the cities cleaner.
4. Smart Energy-Efficient Buildings
A city is as good as its infrastructure. Smart buildings with IoT devices embedded are controlled by a centralized system. A robust platform with smart connectivity ensures that the overall infrastructure performs at its best to embark on the cities proceed to a new era of connectivity.
5. Aviation Industry
Airlines use the concept of IoT to develop an equipment tracking application. The app assists airline’s engineers to get a live feed of every single equipment which is required for timely maintenance of the aircraft. This not only improves the overall efficiency of maintenance engineers, but it also helps in cost savings and making the overall process more streamlined. Additionally, it avoids unwanted air delays giving the end-customer a positive experience by operating on-time flights.
Conclusion
With so many varied use cases of Internet of Things (IoT) to look for, it won’t be wrong to conclude that it opens a wide array of options for humanity. The time isn’t far wherein IoT will surpass the current barriers and will break into both the household and commercial spaces. However, despite its benefits, we must exercise caution and ensure that this technology works in the best manner for us.
