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Internet of Things (IoT) is a platform on which devices are connected to each other using the internet, with the help of built-in sophisticated chips, sensors, and a unique identification code. These [http://prestigesmartcity.grihhpravesh.com/ Prestige Smart City Plots] devices have the ability to sense, communicate, and transmit valuable data to any place, at any time. In short, IoT helps monitor, control, and manage applications on a network by means of the internet. For example, a cardiac app can monitor heart rhythms of a person and give early warning of any dangers to hospitals on a 24x7 basis. Even home appliances can be remotely controlled by users by means of apps on their smartphones. The IoT revolution is spreading its roots in India as well, and there is a rapid influx of Indian companies joining ranks to move the technology forward.
What are smart cities? According to a 2014 UN study, 54 percent of the world’s population lives in cities. That would explain why countries across the globe are trying to build smarter and greener cities. So what exactly are smart cities? In the purest of definitions, a smart city is an advanced urban region that use information and communication technologies to manage assets and resources and ensure sustainable living and essential services to residents. So the push for smart cities is aimed at easing the lives of urban dwellers, reducing stress on natural resources, and minimising carbon footing. Since IoT also looks to connect every node on to a central network, it works in favour of smart city initiatives. No wonder technology giants such as Siemens, Toshiba, Microsoft, Oracle, Hitachi, and Ericsson are pumping funds and research teams into the technology.
They realise that the future has IoT at the centre of the scheme of things. Keeping the IoT revolution and smart cities in mind, here is a list of companies which are working to ensure that the initiative and phenomena see the light of day. Gia is one of the leading startups providing IoT solutions for industrial automation and smart cities. The company is working in areas like sensing, tracking, metering, and analytics, where it feeds real-time data streaming and data insights on assets, particularly their consumption and performance. By merging data with machine learning, data analytics, and trend mapping, Gaia is able to help other companies and cities work smart. Gaia is at the helm of e-governance for the Swachh Bharat Mission, even supporting the Delhi government with its smart water metering solution for Delhi.
For the smart city project, it has worked on many ICT designs, such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Kashi Smart City Challenge plan, and Kalinganagar Tata Steel Township, to name a few. Founded by IIT graduates Dhruv Ratra, Swati Vyas, and Rahul Bhatnagar, Cubical Labs provides wireless, home automation solutions which can be controlled remotely through a mobile device from anywhere in the world. The Delhi-based company was started in November 2013 and has expanded to 14 cities in five states. It even has plans to expand into the markets of Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Their marquee technology is Cubical SmartHomes, which focuses on smart energy consumption.
This project aims to notify users - through their smartphones - about spikes in energy consumption by tracking and managing energy usage in real-time. Users can also control devices like lights, air-conditioners, fans, and other appliances in their homes remotely, even dimming lights to save energy and reduce eye-strain, for example. The solutions also let you integrate IP cameras with your products to get a live feed of your home and thus make it more secure. Working in the domain of renewable and sustainable energy systems, FluxGen's products help control one of India’s major problems, water wastage and spillage. Founded by IISc Alumnus Ganesh Shankar, the startup’s product can be applied to energy harvesting, resources (energy and water) monitoring, controlling, and finally optimising the usage of resources.
Its flagship programme Energy and Water Manager (EWM) is a renewable energy system designed to measure and monitor energy and water consumption using the IoT platform. The EWM generates status reports and consumption bills and even uses emails to notify users about real consumption versus the actual requirement to ensure optimum usage of resources. Based out of Bengaluru, Altiux helps large MNCs as well as startups in joint IP development, prototyping, new product introduction, concept development, product re-engineering, and emerging market-focused solutions. Launched in 2013, SenseGiz develops IOT-based consumer and enterprise products for smart home/office, security, and smart city applications, by employing a combination of connected hardware, cloud analytics, and apps. Their standout product has been COIN, which works on a peer-to-peer mesh network. The data from the devices can be streamed periodically to give real-time information. As work on smart cities picks up pace, the IoT revolution brims with opportunities. Many experts believe that the technology will chart the path for a multi-trillion dollar industry within the next decade. Taking all this into account, the field is evidently ripe for many other entrepreneurs to venture into and perhaps create the next big unicorn.
Currently, in two rounds, a total of 33 cities has been declared as selected for the Smart Cities Mission. These cities has been selected from a list of 98 cities (now 109 cities) nominated by the states through a 2 stage selection process as elaborated in the Operational Guidelines for Smart Cities Mission released by the government. These selected cities will get the first rounds of investment. However, gradually all the nominated cities will be brought under the fold as and when they overcome the deficiencies in their plans which get identified in the several rounds of selection. The total proposed investment for the 33 cities, through Union and state governments as well as private funding, comes to Rs 80,789 crore. The latest list announced on 20.09.2016 (Tuesday) included 27 cities.
Smart City San Diego is a broad public-private collaboration that includes the City of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric, General Electric, the University of California, San Diego, and CleanTech San Diego. The objective of the collaboration is to improve the region's energy independence, to empower consumers to use electric vehicles, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to encourage economic growth. The City of San Diego is one of 10 U.S. Envision America, in which cities will leverage technology collaborators and businesses to address climate change challenges and improve city services. The City of San Diego and UC San Diego are participating in MetroLab Network, which brings together university researchers with City decision-makers to research, develop and deploy technologically‐ and analytically‐based solutions to improve infrastructure, services and other public sector priorities.
The Solar-to-EV Project includes five solar-to-electric vehicle (EV) charging stations located at the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park that was launched in September 2012 and is managed by SDG&E. The charging stations use energy from the sun to directly charge plug-in EVs, store solar power for future use, and provide renewable energy to the surrounding community. With assistance from Cleantech San Diego, the City installed 3,000 LED street lights with adaptive controls downtown - one of the first deployments of this technology in the country. It was announced in 2017 that San Diego will become a "2030 District" - an urban area where the private sector and local building industry leaders commit to sustainability and economic growth.
The City is partnering with GE to upgrade streetlights to reduce energy costs by 60 percent as well as transform them into a connected digital network that can optimize parking and traffic, enhance public safety and track air quality. The deployment of 3,200 smart sensors will be the largest city-based deployment of an "Internet of Things" platform in the world. The smart nodes will use real-time anonymous sensor data to do things such as direct drivers to open parking spaces, help first responders during emergencies, track carbon emissions and identify intersections that can be improved for pedestrians and cyclists. The information can be used to support San Diego’s "Vision Zero" strategy to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries.
Smart cities aren’t just a dream of the future. Thanks to wildly innovative Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, many are already active and expanding rapidly. Municipal governments are leveraging cellular and Low Power Wide Area (LPWAN) wireless technologies to connect and improve infrastructure, efficiency, convenience and quality of life for residents and visitors alike. What is a smart city? A smart city is a framework, predominantly composed of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), to develop, deploy and promote sustainable development practices to address growing urbanization challenges. A big part of this ICT framework is essentially an intelligent network of connected objects and machines that transmit data using wireless technology and the cloud.
Cloud-based IoT applications receive, analyze and manage data in real time to help municipalities, enterprises and citizens make better decisions in the moment that improve quality of life. Citizens engage with smart city ecosystems in a variety of ways using smartphones and mobile devices, as well as connected cars and homes. Pairing devices and data with a city’s physical infrastructure and services can cut costs and improve sustainability. Communities can improve energy distribution, streamline trash collection, decrease traffic congestion and even improve air quality with help from the IoT. For instance, connected traffic lights receive data from sensors and cars adjusting light cadence and timing to respond to real time traffic thereby reducing road congestion. Connected cars can communicate with parking meters and EV charging docks and direct drivers to the nearest available spot.
Smart garbage cans automatically send data to waste management companies and schedule pick-up as needed versus on a pre-planned schedule. And citizens’ smartphone become their mobile driver’s license and ID card, which speeds and simplifies government services. Together, these smart city technologies are optimizing infrastructure, mobility, public services and utilities. Why do we need smart cities? Urbanization is non-ending phenomenon. Today, 54% of people worldwide live in cities, a proportion that’s expected to reach 66% by 20501. Combined with the overall population growth, urbanization will add another 2.5 billion people to cities over the next three decades2. Environmental, social and economic sustainability is a must to keep pace with this rapid expansion that is taxing our cities’ resources. Thankfully, more than 190 countries have agreed upon goals for sustainable growth - smart city technology is paramount to success and meeting these goals.
How is IoT technology making cities smarter and better? Secure wireless connectivity and IoT technology is transforming traditional elements of city life - like streetlights - into next generation intelligent lighting platforms with expanded capabilities. This includes integrating solar power and connecting to a cloud-based central control system that connects to others assets in the ecosystem. These solutions shine far beyond simple lighting needs. High-power embedded LEDs alert commuters about traffic issues, provide severe weather warnings and provide heads up when environmental like fires arise. Streetlights can also detect free parking spaces and EV charging docks and alert drivers where to find an open spot via a mobile app. Charging might even be able from the lamppost itself in some locations! But how does it all fit together? What’s the best wireless technology for smart cities? The first building block of any smart city application is reliable, pervasive wireless connectivity.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all, evolving Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies are well suited to most smart city applications for their cost efficiency and ubiquity. This includes LTE Cat M, NB-IoT, LoRa, Bluetooth and a few others that all contribute to the fabric of connected cities. The advent of 5G is expected to be a watershed event that propels smart city technology into the mainstream and accelerates new deployments. Historically, governments, enterprises and individuals have held their data close to pocket, sharing as little as possible with others. Privacy concerns and fear of security breaches have far outweighed the perceived value of sharing information. However, a key enabler of sustainable smart cities is that that all participants in the complex ecosystem share information and combine it with contextual data that is analyzed in real time. This is how informed decisions are made in real time.
Multiple sectors must cooperate to achieve better, sustainable outcomes through the analysis of contextual real time information, which is shared among sector-specific information and operational technology (OT) systems. Amsterdam is a shining example of a well-connected smart city that is reaping the rewards of opening the data vault. It shares traffic and transportation data to interested parties such as developers who then create mapping apps that connect to the city’s transport systems. Now, navigating the city is snap for all. In addition, the city built autonomous delivery boats called ‘roboats’ to keep things moving in a timely fashion. It also supported a floating village of houses, solving the city’s overcrowding problem with a sustainable, energy-efficient alternative. Power is generated within communities, and homes receive water straight from the river and filter it within their own tanks.
None of this is possible without shared data. Copenhagen is also leveraging open data in its collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop an innovative smart bike system. Embedded with sensors that provide real-time information to both the riders and administrators, data is shared to monitor and manage air quality and traffic congestion. While data sharing is essential, opening the vault also expands the cyber-attack surface area. So, how do we keep data private from the masses while sharing it among stakeholders? Can smart cities be secured and trusted? Connected cameras, intelligent road systems and public safety monitoring systems can provided an added layer of protection and emergency support to aide citizens when needed. But what about protecting smart cities themselves from vulnerabilities?
How can we defend against hacking, cyber-attacks and data theft? In cities where multiple participants are sharing information, how do we trust that participants are who they say are? And how do we know the data they report is true and accurate? The answer lies in physical data vaults and strong authentication and ID management solutions. Smart cities can only work if we can trust them. 1. Availability: Without actionable, real-time, and reliable access to data, the smart city can’t thrive. How data is collected, distilled and shared is critical, and security solutions must avoid negative effects on availability. 2. Integrity: Smart cities depend on reliable and accurate data.
