Smart Cities

Introduction

Abstract

Digital technology behind the smart city

Smart cities, and the digital technology behind them, hold much promise and offer interesting opportunities for new markets, services and practices to the cities' stakeholders. Using a broad range of digital project models of various scales and exploring the different themes surrounding smart cities, this report looks at the issues facing urban centers that are increasingly seen as areas of open innovation.

Report key questions

• Beyond trends, what role does digital technology actually perform in the changing strategies of cities?
• How do the three key interconnected tiers of physical architecture, information systems and applications fit together?
• How should information systems evolve to meet the dual challenge of achieving better interoperability and dealing with increasing volumes of data?
• How will the various functions of the digital city be taken into account: governance, the environment, mobility, the economy and quality of life?
• How will this new market be structured around the key stakeholders: equipment manufacturers, IT & IT services, telco operators, utility providers?

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary

2. Methodology

3. The "city" behind the development issue

• 3.1. An urbanized global population
• 3.2. The smart city: A response to the urban development issue
• 3.3. Institutional support for digital and smart city development
• 3.3.1. Smart cities in the European Commission's support programs
  • ICT for Smart Cities
  • European Initiative on Smart Cities
  • Future Internet PPP
• 3.3.2. Sustainable digital cities in France's support programs
  • Investment in the future
  • The Sustainable City Plan and eco-cities
• 3.4. Digital city, sustainable city, new city... how do cities communicate the idea of the smart city
• 3.4.1. The digital city
• 3.4.2. The sustainable city
• 3.4.3. The new city
• 3.5. How does digital technology contribute to the intelligent city?

4. A technical infrastructure that encourages distribution of application services

• 4.1. Physical architecture
  • 4.1.1. The convergence of telecommunication networks
  • 4.1.2. Datacenters: Essential link for responding to the growth of cloud services and extending the services of local businesses
  • 4.1.3. Sensors: Invisible yet everywhere
  • 4.1.4. Urban property becoming service interfaces
• 4.2. Information systems
  • 4.2.1. Toward urban operating systems
  • 4.2.2. The proliferation of interfaces

5. The applications used to create value in the smart city

• 5.1. Smart governance: Modernization of the political system
  • 5.1.1. Modernization of city administration
  • 5.1.2. Public involvement in the decision-making process
  • 5.1.3. Open data
• 5.2. Smart environment: Better conservation and protection of the living environment
  • 5.2.1. Digital technology in energy management
  • 5.2.2. A means of conserving water resources
  • 5.2.3. Producing less waste and better waste collection
• 5.3. Smart mobility: Facilitating urban transport
  • 5.3.1. Promoting public transport and alternative means of transport
  • 5.3.2. Minimizing congestion in real time
  • 5.3.3. Facilitating parking
• 5.4. Smart economy: Attracting and developing services
  • 5.4.1. Initiatives for attracting businesses from the IT sector
  • 5.4.2. Facilitating decentralization of activities
  • 5.4.3. E-commerce accessible everywhere via mobile services
  • 5.4.4. Enhanced and personalized shopping with digital technology
• 5.5. Smart quality of life: Improving living conditions in cities
  • 5.5.1. The growth of telehealth: Improving efficiency in the health chain
  • 5.5.2. Digital technology for tourism and cultural activities in cities
  • 5.5.3. Developing new educational approaches
  • 5.5.4. Improving public security

6. The emergence of a new market around the smart city

• 6.1. Industrial presence on the smart city market
  • 6.1.1. An emerging market for major equipment manufacturers, particularly with regard to the sustainable city
  • 6.1.2. IT manufacturers who can profit from new opportunities with using digital technology in an urban setting
  • 6.1.3. Telco operators seeking to add value from offerings other than infrastructural services
  • 6.1.4. Utility providers expanding on their range of services
  • 6.1.5. The smart city as a concept that brings new stakeholders into play
• 6.2. Experimental smart cities and pilot programs: A laboratory of innovations for manufacturers

7. What can we learn from observing the movement toward the smart city?

• 7.1. A concept finding its way at the crossroads of other concepts...
• 7.2. Promoted by institutions...
• 7.3. And by manufacturers...
• 7.4. Building on partnerships to create a comprehensive range of services...
• 7.5. Targeting a market that is still poorly quantified...
• 7.6. In which the cities have still not completely formulated their requirements...
• 7.7. And in which the public are increasingly becoming direct players
• 7.8. And for which new economic models have yet to be found

Smart Cities published by IDATE in July 31, 2012. This report consists of 75 Pages and the price starts from US $ 2600.

Press Release

Digital Cities are Increasingly Seen as Areas of Open Innovation

Global Information Inc. would like to present a new market research report, "Smart Cities" by IDATE.

Smart cities, and the digital technology behind them, hold much promise and offer interesting opportunities for new markets, services and practices to the cities stakeholders. Using a broad range of digital project models of various scales and exploring the different themes surrounding smart cities, this report looks at the issues facing urban centers that are increasingly seen as areas of open innovation.

The precise contours of the smart city concept are still unclear. They are inextricably linked to the stakeholders who drive it (local authorities, IT companies, equipment manufactures...). Whatever the approach or chosen theme(s), digital technology plays an essential structuring role in developing services and applications, and in consumption habits, by combining three complementary and interconnected layers: physical architecture, information system(s) and applications.

If consensus seems to point toward unification of the citys information systems to ensure an efficient and interoperable technical backbone, then achieving this will undoubtedly involve just as much technical consideration (migration of existing systems) as organizational (partnerships to be defined) and economic (economic model to be built). Despite the complexity that such change and transformation will always entail, smart cities offer some very promising possibilities for the future. The report is based on the analysis of many examples of projects conducted at various scales and on all themes related to the smart city, grouped into five areas of applications that cover all of a smart citys needs:

• Smart governance: modernization of city administration, public involvement, open data
• Smart environment: optimize the management of energy, water and waste.
• Smart mobility: help relieve congestion, encourage users to use their own cars less and upgrade existing transport infrastructure.
• Smart economy: implement economic strategies based around digital technology to attract the sectors leading businesses.
• Smart people: use digital technologies to improve living conditions in cities, in areas such as health, culture and education, tourism and cultural heritage.

For Philippe Baudouin, Project manager for this report, "While Smart cities are still very much in the pioneer phase, the multiplication of major projects enables us to draw lessons and identify avenues for future projects". The concept is sometimes promoted by institutions and sometimes by industry but always based on partnerships to build a wide range of services aimed at a market which is still largely unquantified, in which cities have not yet fully structured their needs, while citizens are increasingly becoming direct players.