How Smart cities influence communities and businesses?
The digital world is expanding faster than ever, and the impact of digital transformation is hitting every aspect of our daily lives. Digital and smart technologies seamlessly cross borders and revolutionize businesses where technology capability is no longer a privilege but a necessity. With societies and companies at the heart of this paradigm shift, smart city technology steps in to simplify the way cities operate more efficiently and improve services provided to communities.
Enhanced citizen and business experience
Many activities and business operations, even daily shores, are being enhanced by digital services nowadays through a range of collaboration tools, mobile applications, websites, online and self-service portals that are becoming the new usual standards of life. Businesses and individuals looking to save time and cost expect their cities to deliver better digital experiences by expanding digital services based on a robust IT strategy and infrastructure support.
Smart city technology for a safer community
Smart technologies in cities help create a safe and secure environment for individuals and businesses alike. Digital technology implementations such as license plate recognition, body cameras for law enforcement, and gunshot detectors prove to be more than just technology innovations or gimmicks. The function of these technologies aims to enhance law enforcement and reduce criminal activity.
Increased attention and investment in innovative technologies is growing the need for IT consultancy and support to help build the needed infrastructure to support growth. The city of Detroit, for instance, has started to collaborate with local businesses to develop a system that allows real-time camera access to law enforcement, helping law enforcement increase their access to security data using existing infrastructure.
Improved transportation technology
Smart city investments in the transportation sector are expected to rise over 25 percent annually for the next five years. Enhanced traffic management using intelligent traffic signals, smart parking systems, and applications to track city public transit options have generated great benefits to businesses and communities by reducing congestion, optimizing traffic flow, and helping capitalize on more revenue streams.
Connected transportation systems have proved indispensable in serving citizens, especially in rapidly growing and populous communities. Recently, the city of Chicago launched an app that allows citizens to pay online, view public transport schedules, and track vehicles in real-time.
Smart cities for a safe environment
Smart city technologies aim for a safer community but also a safe environment. Smart cities leave behind a reduced ecological footprint with energy-efficient buildings, air quality sensors, and renewable energy sources. In addition to reducing the negative impact on the environment, air quality sensors around a city, for instance, can provide data to track peak times of low air quality, identify pollution causes, and deliver data analytics officials need to develop action plans.
With the support of leading IT service providers like ITWORKS ME, companies can fully integrate and operate in any smart city and even benefit the environment. Companies can reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs using Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors with connected automation systems.
Impact of digital equity on companies’ performance
Smart city technology helps create a more equitable environment for employees who must equally have access to high-speed internet services and affordable devices. With the right IT consultancy and IT support, public Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the city can be securely utilized by business professionals without fearing security breaches. This security ensures access to reliable internet services to all residents and better connectivity, allowing companies to expand faster without bearing the high cost of digital infrastructure. Better and faster backups will also be available, keeping essential data safe and secure, a field supported by ITWORKSME on the level of consultancy and implementation.
Smart technology contributes to more effective data-driven decision-making
Big data technologies in smart cities have opened access to information that was not available before. Through a well-built and designed data analytics platform, city officials can analyze and process a tremendous amount of information and extract meaningful insights and metrics that help leverage quality services provided to businesses and communities.
Through effective big data strategies and IoT devices, a smart city can help identify trends in citizen interests, concerns, and needs. Systems that analyze and inform enable strong decision-making, which improves the lives of residents and enhances companies' performance, cutting costs and developing better services.
Is your company ready for the rise of smart cities?
Smart technology is creeping into the work scopes of businesses and the lives of citizens, and the change is quite noticeable in multiple markets. Smart city technologies are reconfiguring traditional labor divisions allowing employees to connect to their company's data, apps, and devices without being physically at the office. While multiple industries are altering their work approaches, their need for lower data center and collocation costs is growing.
Pharmacies, for instance, are opting to add telemedicine kiosks, and real estate developers and construction companies are integrating automation systems and mobility options into their properties.
On the other hand, Telecom operators, being the backbone communication networks required to run systems and applications, widen their existing relationships with local governments, and expand into different types of smart technology implementation. Telefónica, the Spanish Telecom operator, installed 12,000 sensors in Santander, while Vodafone is supplying law enforcement authorities with body-worn cameras. Other telecom companies are offering solutions such as smart parking and waste management systems.
Urban mobility is becoming a priority for automakers who are adding new options to their vehicles to better integrate with Smart Cities. New vehicle and minibus models, with Wi-Fi, folding work desks, and screens, could work for business commuters, for example. At the same time, families with children or elderly members would more likely take flexible vehicles with easy entry, generous storage space, and multimedia-enabled seats.
ITWORKS ME in Cyprus is organizing a webinar titled “Is Your Company Ready for the Rise of Smart Cities?". The webinar features Professor Vasos Vassiliou, team leader at Smart Networked Systems (SNS) MRG, and ITWORKS ME's Technical Support Manager Victor Younes.
The webinar will be streamed live on Facebook on May 12th, 2021, at 6 pm Cyprus time (GMT+3).
Free IT Audit and Consultancy will be offered free of charge to attending businesses.