content_copy
Exploring Global Smart Cities.
5 examples of initiatives that embrace and promote smart qualities.
December 5, 2014
5 more examples of initiatives that embrace and promote the qualities that the industry stands for.
Problem - Seoul wish to, reduce the Carbon emissions from personal vehicles, decrease the traffic load on the road system, provides incentives for individuals to use more efficient forms of transportation, encourage a shift from private/personal transportation to public transport services and to improve the overall efficiency of the existing road networks.
Solution - The key features of the pilot desinged to achieve these aims include:
GPS units fitted to vehicles to monitor travel and provide feedback to the user, Mobility account which includes payment functionality/details, Operation centre, a WIFI technology base for communications and Road Side Units for the collection and transmission of data.
More holistically, the 'Smart Transportation Pricing' solution is an on going (which started in 2007/08) pilot in Seoul, which aims to expose the true cost of road transportation and seeks to apply a variable cost structure for the taxation and charging of its use.
Results - Very encouragingly, the following results have yielded from the pilot so far;
All of which begs the question – why is this smart pilot not been matured into a permanent feature of South Korea’s transport strategy?
In short the major barrier is citizen approval. But this is only because all of the facts have not been publicly made available yet.
As is always the case with a different and changing form of taxation, citizens need to understand what they are paying for and how much it is going to cost. A report has been finalised by the administrators of the pilot and the expectation is that approval will be given and the project rolled out across the country very soon.
Problem - Not so much a 'problem' as a statement of intent, a 'smart' project regarding the AArena (The Netherland's largest stadium and scene of a harrowing 6-0 defeat for Scotland - but we won't go into that!) focuses specifically on modernising and improving in the following areas;
Solution - In the first deal signed with innovation partners from Amsterdam themselves, ICT solutions for crowd management and energy grids have been developed and connectivity and resources for visitors have been improved with tablets and smart phones available for use in the ground.
Results - the pilot is in its early days so far but one example of success in sustainability can be found with the installation of the second largest solar roof in the Netherlands on top of the venue. If 4,200 solar panels aren't a great sign of things to come for the stadium and surrounding area then who knows what is.
Problem - In general terms, Chicago had been shown to be ‘a little behind’ their peers in the 'Smart City' arena. For instance the city had no open data policy to speak of and there was a significant dearth of leadership and governance in this area.
Solutions - Chicago has initiated several trials and pilots, in a targeted approach to achieve ‘City–as-a-platform’, where products and services can be built on city owned resources. The Smart Chicago Collaborative is the body responsible for these projects and is comprised of the City council, the MacArthur Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust, One such project which is highly encouraging concerns citizen engagement.
Citizens should always be the primary focus and here they represent a key stone pilot as Chicago seeks to embody transparency, accountability, analytics and economic development.
There are 4 strands to the pilot:
Results - The pilot is currently going well, yet as always there is a need for human and financial capital to ensure it’s on going success. The most encouraging 'result' however is the scale of positive development in the wake of effective governance and leadership. If you are organised, conscientious and inclusive, progress will be made.
"This is an organisation that is specifically focused on digital literacy and government efficiency and it really is proof that this outside-in approach to smart cities works in Chicago."
- Mr Tolva, previous CTO of Smart Chicago Collaborative
Read more here.
Problem - Kings Cross and the surrounding space including Regent's Canal represent one of the most run down areas in Central London.
Solution - The regeneration project at Kings Cross represents the largest of its kind in Europe. Developed as an ‘archetype for highly sustainable design and construction solutions’ the project comprises of 67 acres, hosting 20 new streets, 10 new public paces, 3 new bridges and significant enhancement of the Regent's Canal. 20 old buildings have been reused as some commentators have described the initiative as a ‘model urban community’.
Results - There is a 2-form primary school, multiple health and leisure centres as well as plans for the most energy efficient building in central London – 1 Goods Street which will operate at 60% more efficient than industry standard benchmark.
The eclectic mix of old and new architecture plays host to a variety of cutting edge, energy efficient technology including, CHP, roof mounted wind turbines, photovoltaics, ground source heat pumps and solar thermal systems to provide for every energy need the residential and commercial property could possibly have.
Kings Cross already has fantastically established 'Smart' transport links, providing great access to citizens both globally and abroad and has been dubbed ‘one of the most sustainable and energy efficient developments in the U.K’. The scheme is due for completion in 2020.
Read more here and click the link to 'case studies'.
Problem - It is no secret that as our population grows and with that so does our energy use. Alternatives need to be found to cut CO2 emissions whilst maintaining and improving quality of life.
Solution - The energy problem will not be solved by 1 solution. It will be a combination of existing and to be developed technology. One such innovation comes from London company, Pavegen, who have developed a pavement/floor tile, made from 95% recycled car tyre which can convert the footsteps that fall on them into energy. Around 8 watts of energy is produced per step and 1% of that is used to power the wireless capability of the tile which in turns sends data and information for analysis.
Results - 12 tiles were installed at the London Olympic Park. Over the course of the games 72 million joules were produced, enough to power the lights at nearby West Ham station for 5 hours a night. Tiles at the Paris marathon generated enough power to light up a village in a developing nation for a day. The tiles have also been installed in schools and work places, with one office installing some in their main entrance and making the data freely viewable by workers.
The initiative has come in for slight criticism that it doesn't generate enough power - but it is part of the solution, not the whole thing, and with that in mind it lends a fantastically innovative 'helping hand'.
Read more here.
More
Unlocking Ireland's Data Potential: Navigating the Open Data Directive with UrbanTide
News
UrbanTide's Commitment to Security: Officially ISO 27001 Certified!
News
uZero was awarded the edie Net Zero Innovation of the Year: Software, Systems & Services Award
News
Tackling the growing fuel poverty crisis and supporting the Just Transition to net zero
News
Low Carbon Homes’ Home Upgrade Show: Innovations in Retrofit
News
Data Integration and Collaboration are critical for the future of Transportation: Insights from JCT Symposium
News
uMove to support Bedfordshire Council to achieve ambitious sustainability plans
News
Active travel, the current challenges and solutions
News
Using the power of data to build cities of tomorrow
News
uMove supports the Smart Manuals for Streets programme from DfT
News
Scotland's Cycling Framework Makes Infrastructure Greatest Priority
News
Reducing emissions and improving health with active travel
Cycling Scotland
GSENZH - targeting energy-efficiency campaigns to households most in need
Greater South East Net Zero Hub
SEStran - Facilitating active travel behavioural change with data
SEStran
Social connect - helping identify customers in or at risk of fuel poverty.
UK Power Networks
Open data promotes transparency, builds trust and empower citizens
Ireland Open Data Training
Identifying and unlocking new revenue from business rates with AI
North Lanarkshire
Tackling the growing
fuel poverty crisis with data and AI
UKRI
Understanding how we live and use our homes with real-time energy data
Smartline
Managing the impact of noise pollution on our cities
Noiseability
Accelerating the transformation of the UK’s energy systems
Energy Systems Catapult
Investing in sustainable transport infrastructure to become carbon neutral
Somerset County Council
Identifying ageing households at risk of cold and damp home
Sunderland City Council
Innovate UK funding to help our Planet Centred approach to retrofitting Europe’s leakiest homes
News
Open data is now a legal requirement in Ireland and the EU
News
New ‘uZero’ Artificial Intelligence software could help millions with their fuel bills
News
UrbanTide helps secure £48 million funding for Scottish Cities Alliance
News
UrbanTide leads £24 million program to make Glasgow a Future City
News
Building smart communities for OPEN Glasgow Engagement Programme
News
UrbanTide launches IoT data insights platform, uSmart
News
uZero announced as UKRI MEDA competition winner
News
Social Connect is a unique UK Power Networks (UKPN) innovation project
News
UrbanTide announces partnership with Energy Systems Catapult
News
UrbanTide marks four years of Open Data training in Ireland
News
Noisability: UrbanTide wins major bid as part of SynchroniCity program
News
UrbanTide joins prestigious Artificial Intelligence accelerator
News
UrbanTide recognised at ScotlandIS Digital Technology Awards
News
ODI publishes case studies that show how open data can be used in service redesign
News
UrbanTide teams up with North Lanarkshire Council to make better services with data
News
UrbanTide, Snook and North Lanarkshire Council announced as finalists for the 2018 Digital Technology Awards
News
Innovative smart communities IoT project powered by USMART
News
The Power of Data Science in the Health and Care Sector
News
UrbanTide to help transform Ireland by unlocking the power of open data
News
Stay ahead of the curve by learning more about these new smart cities standards
News
#DataFest17 - 12 key lessons we learned about smart cities, communities and the future of data
News
Emerging ideas for a renewed (Y)Our Glasgow City Centre
News
Future Health Hack - building the future of healthcare one line of code at a time
News
Meet our API Data Explorer – aka your new best friend if you are working with big data
News
Car parks ‘extinct’ in smart cities of the future?
News
3 awesome USMART features - with more coming soon!
News
Data scientists and USMART: a match made in heaven
News
We are now Regional Supporters of Open Data Impact Map
News
Next generation open data platform looking for beta testers!
News
Glasgow city centre regeneration - how smart can Glasgow be?
News
Open data - is the open private sector the next frontier?
News
Open data everywhere! Review of open data maturity in Europe, UK and Scotland
News
Feedback from our year delivering open data training for Scottish Government
News
Announcing our new open data training programme
News
Glasgow City Centre District Regeneration Frameworks
News
Metadata and metadata standards- reflections from our Chief Operational Officer
News
All about our Smart Cities Maturity Self-Assessment Tool
News
Open data training for Scotland's public sector
News
Engage - invest – Exploit (EiE) or Enjoyable - interactive - Experience (EiE)
News
UrbanTide and India: 5 Lesson's Learned from Simon's Trip to the Subcontinent
News
Cisco and the Smart Cities Council: 4 Messages from America...
News
Edinburgh continues to iterate, and then iterate again
News
Talk to our team about how we can unlock data driven innovation for you and your organisation
See uSmart and our growing AI portfolio in action and find our how we can support your data and AI programmes