Take a moment and think back to when you were a teenager. You may remember a certain movie that transformed many people’s expectations towards the future. I remember watching “Back to the Future 2” in awe of the unique technologies that the future promised. Unfortunately, we’ve passed the 2015 mark, and I'm still waiting for the fast action hoverboard chases and giant, holographic sharks leaping out of tv screens. Recently, however, the incorporation of IoT Devices into cities across the world makes me more and more hopeful that we will one day live in the future Robert Zemeckis promised.
Evolving smart city models come complete with the everyday necessities you’re used to finding in a city, such as local transport, businesses, and housing. These smart cities also utilize IoT devices to analyze and collect sensor data from edge devices, which is then used to improve efficiencies in many areas across the municipality – including urban necessities.
Where is this sensor data being drawn from? What are we doing with it? The most common IoT sensors that data is drawn from are video cameras, audio sensors, mobility sensors, and waste sensors. These sensors monitor the everyday activities of cities and help make predictions towards potential issues which could arise in areas like city population, waste disposal, vehicle traffic, and other environmental issues. This real-time data is then taken and transformed into consistent and accurate insights, which are used to improve the lives of the people living in these cities.
Cities all over the world are beginning to implement these IoT devices, and the results are astounding! Europe is at the forefront of this technological implementation. Paris has developed a proposal for multiple high-rise buildings with positive energy output (BEPOS). London has deployed Smart Park, a smart parking project which allows drivers to quickly locate parking spaces reducing lengthy searches for an open spot.
Furthermore, there are many benefits IoT devices provide for our planet. These benefits include real-time monitoring of air and water pollution. The ability to study animal behavior and determine factors that threaten animals, such as deforestation and poaching. And agricultural benefits such as monitoring crops and soil, and maximizing crop production while maintaining a low impact on the environment.
There are also many other technologies that aid in the development of smart cities. These technologies include cloud computing, AI, blockchain technology, and edge computing.
But along with the increased amount of data that these sensors take in, we need a solution that allows us to efficiently allocate resources so that the data is used properly. This is where composable disaggregated infrastructure (CDI) technologies like Liqid’s come into play. With CDI you can deploy and scale virtual servers that allow you to adjust resource allocation with ease, while not requiring any demanding labor or long hours. Also, with CDI you can be rest assured that no component will ever go underutilized. This will save these Smart cities time and money, while allowing them to evaluate large amounts of data in real time. Smart, indeed.
