Lessons from the Smart Cities Challenge

In 2011, IBM announced the Smarter Cities Challenge, worth $5 million in consulting services, to 100 cities with big problems and big goals. IBM sent teams of three to six to each city for three weeks to address issues ranging from healthcare to pollution and traffic to energy poverty. 

Both IBM and the selected cities learned several lessons from the engagements that all cities can employ. Key technology was developed and deployed during and immediately following the engagements that can be utilized in other locations in the future. 

Although the 2012 engagements have just completed, and the 2013 recipients have just been announced, the results of 2011 have shown promise, and demonstrated the value of the challenge. As other leaders look to drive their cities into the future, they can use the lessons, the technology, and the results of the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge to guide their efforts. 

Lessons Learned

1. View the city as one comprehensive organization

Mayors from the recipient cities compare their position to that of a CEO, guiding all departments of an entire corporation. IBM also underlines the importance of involving public and private organizations, universities, small businesses, and citizens in both the collaboration and execution of Smarter Cities projects. 

2. Involve citizens from the onset

IBM made sure to involve citizens in the earliest stages of the planning process. Boulder, CO had begun Smart Grid deployments before IBM made the Smarter Cities announcement. Lack of consumer engagement created discord between consumer expectations and results. IBM ensured consumer involvement when working with Boulder, leading to more consumer education and a longer implementation timeframe. 

______________________________ Although the 2013 Smarter Cities projects have not started, and results from the 2012 are premature, the 2011 recipients have begun to experience the successes from their participation.  ___________________________

Geraldton, Australia was accepted as a Smarter Cities recipient in 2011. When the citizens were involved, it was determined that the mining town's residents desired sustainable growth. The area is lush with renewable resources, and a plan that incorporates wind, wave, solar, geothermal and biomass energy production was created to meet their needs. By involving citizens from the earliest stages, both cities were able to create strategic plans to meet the citizens' needs.

3. Utilize data analytics

As cities become smarter, the amount of data the city produces grows exponentially. Information is constantly being generated from traffic lights, sensors, meters, computers and more. Currently, the information is sent to different locations and organizations; however utilities have successfully utilized advanced analytics programs to add a level of intelligence and predictive value. 

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada utilized the data generated by traffic and other sensors to reduce the number of traffic accidents.  Edmonton utilized an incident management system, as well as traffic congestion and prediction tools to derive key insights and develop a plan of action. 

Pittsburgh, PA also analyzed the abundant amount of data it received from all areas of the city to automate processes ranging from parking to bus scheduling and traffic lights. 

Key technology deployments

In many of the Smarter Cities, technology was developed and deployed during and after the engagements. Geraldton, Australia worked with IBM to develop a virtual power plant that would control all distributed resources for the city. The virtual power plant incorporated small-scale generation facilities and energy storage technology to manage peak demand and reduce load. In addition, a smart energy hub was also deployed to utilize the city's natural proximity to renewable resources.

Milwaukee, WI also deployed key technology during its three-week engagement. Groundbreaking technology in aquaponics combined vegetable cultivation with fish raising.  The tanks grow fish under the vegetables and roots of the plants in a symbiotic system. The resulting pilot project has enabled the food produced to be served in local restaurants. 

IBM also deployed key technology in Chengdu, China as part of the Intelligent Chengdu Initiative. Chengdu is now utilizing cloud-computing resources in accord with its five-year plan. The five-year plan includes six core systems that are enabled by the cloud-based technology: energy, water, transportation, communications, business, and people. As part of the communication plan, the city has deployed a wireless network throughout the city to serve as a model city for the world.

Successes

Although the 2013 Smarter Cities projects have not started, and results from the 2012 are premature, the 2011 recipients have begun to experience the successes from their participation. 

One city that has benefited from participation is Antofagasta, Chile. Upon application, the project focused solely on the water system of the city. However, this focus was expanded to include the city's energy grid, as well as healthcare, transportation and education.  During the engagement, a sustainable water and energy plan was developed to guide future efforts. Since concluding the consulting engagement, construction has begun on to upgrade the city's commercial water infrastructure. The city has also installed irrigation equipment at parks and other public places, a direct result of IBM's recommendations.

St. Louis, MO also entered the challenge with big issues to address. Dubbed the most dangerous city in America, the city had the highest crime rate in the nation. The three-week engagement created a new public safety system that enhanced transparency and communication across different organizational lines. St. Louis also completed its transition to a self-governing police department from a department governed by a state board. Results of the unified system were immediate, with 2011 crime rates reaching a historic low.        

Finally, Dubuque, IA has also enjoyed results from its participation. Dubuque has experienced an 11 percent reduction in energy usage and a 6.6 percent decrease in water consumption. In addition, water leaks are being detected at a much higher rate.  Seventy-seven percent of residents reported increased understanding of water consumption and their water bill. 

These are just a few examples of successes the Smarter Cities Challenge has brought to participating cities. One important factor in the Smarter Cities Challenge is that once the technology is deployed and tested, it can be applied in other instances. Each city thus acts as a pilot project for the new technologies and an example of implementation for other cities to follow.

Source: FierceSmartGrid, By: Megan Dean

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Posted in: smart city

Why oil-rich countries are investing in solar

This week, the world’s largest concentrated solar plant went into operation. Shams 1 is a massive 100-megawatt power plant in Abu Dhabi with some impressive numbers. The $750 million project produces enough energy to power 20,000 homes and stretches across an area 

of desert, west of the United Arab Emirates capital, the size of 285 football fields.

“With the demand for energy rising exponentially, the region is undergoing a major transformation in how it generates electricity,” said Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, the state-owned company behind the power plant. “In fact, the Middle East is poised for major investments in renewable energy, and Shams 1 proves the economic and environmental advantage of deploying large-scale solar projects.”

The UAE isn’t the only oil-rich country making major investments in solar. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest producer of oil, is investing $100 billion in solar in order to produce one-third of its energy from the resource by 2032.

But why are countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia making massive investments in solar? 

Here’s Todd Woody’s take at Quartz:

For OPEC states, renewable energy is a long-term strategy to preserve their most precious resource. The more solar electricity sun-soaked, oil-rich nations like the United Arab Emirates can produce to power their domestic economies, the more petroleum they conserve to export.

If you were hoping it was a green initiative, sorry. It’s simple, really. Oil is more profitable when you can sell it to energy-poor countries desperate for oil and slow to develop renewables instead of using it on your own energy needs.

UAE President Shaikh Khalifa said as much: “The domestic production of renewable energy extends the life of our country’s valuable hydrocarbon resources and supports the growth of a promising new industry.”

Source: SmartPlanet, By Tyler Falk

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Posted in: smart city

Living Lab: Urban Planning Goes Digital in Spanish 'Smart City'

Cities around the world aim to become "smart cities," but in Santander,Spain, the goal has already become a reality. Thousands of sensors help alert residents to traffic jams, regulate the watering in city parks and dim the street lamps.

Cities all around the world have set the same goal for themselves. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Birmingham, Dubai, Helsinki, San Diego, Stockholm, Nanjing, Vienna, Yokohama -- they all share an aspiration to become "smart cities."

That sounds like an appealing aim, yet when urban planners try to explain more precisely how they plan to lead their cities into the digital future, their answers are less convincing, with each proposing a different plan. Despite the many symposiums that have been held on this subject, there is no consensus on how to pursue this ambition.

Essentially the only thing all parties can agree on is that "smart" cities will employ sensors, computers and smartphones, and they will implement new forms of city government, making administrative processes more transparent than ever before. The idea is that digital technology will help make urban living cleaner, more sustainable and more pleasant. And, of course, it should increase prosperity as well.

Amid this uncertainty, an old port city on Spain's Atlantic coast has surged to the forefront of those aspiring to be smart cities. Despite its cash-strapped finances, the city of Santander, birthplace of the major bank of the same name, is already quite smart.

Smart City Experiment

"This is the future," Mayor Iñigo de la Serna, 42, of the conservative Partido Popular, declares proudly. "This is the only way to change things," he said, adding that every major city would eventually have to do the same. "It's not an option, it's obligatory."

The ocean waters are rough here in the springtime. Grand hotels and a high-end casino line the beach, where surfers in neoprene wetsuits launch themselves into waves meters high. In Spain, Santander has had a reputation for glamour ever since King Alfonso XIII chose the city as his summer residence almost 100 years ago.

Lately, though, curious visitors have been dropping in for another reason. Some come on behalf of major corporations such as Google, Microsoft or IBM. Recently, a delegation came from Japan and another flew in from Wuxi, China, a city with a population of several million. All of these visitors see Santander as a living experimental laboratory, a town that -- with its population of about 180,000 -- is neither too large nor too small to function as a smart city experiment.

Luis Muñoz, 48, is an IT professor at the University of Cantabria. He received nearly ?9 million ($11.7 million) in research money, most of it from the EU, to develop a prototype smart city. Muñoz permanently installed 10,000 sensors around downtown Santander, throughout an area of 6 square kilometers (2.3 square miles). The sensors are hidden inside small gray boxes attached to street lamps, poles and building walls. Some are even buried beneath the asphalt of parking lots.

Sensors at Work

Day in and day out, these sensors measure more or less everything that can be measured: light, pressure, temperature, humidity, even the movements of cars and people.

Every couple of minutes, they transmit their data to Muñoz's laboratory at the university, the central location that collects data streams from throughout the city. Every single bus transmits its position, mileage and speed, as well as data from its environment, such as ozone or nitric oxide pollution levels. Taxis and police cars do the same. Even the people of Santander can choose to become human sensors themselves. All it takes is to download a special app for GPS-enabled cell phones.

A central computer compiles the data into one big picture that is constantly being updated. Santander is a digital city, and everything here gets recorded. The system knows exactly where the traffic jams are and where the air is bad. Noise and ozone maps show what parts of the city are exceeding EU limits. Things can get particularly interesting when a major street is blocked because of an accident. Muñoz can observe in real time how that event affects traffic in the rest of the city.

In the past, Mayor de la Serna sent out nightly patrols to check for street lamps that were out of order. Now, Muñoz's computer informs the city exactly where new light bulbs are needed. The lamps can even adjust their brightness as needed, dimming when there is no one on the street, and emitting less light during a full moon than on a rainy night.

In the Parque de las Llamas, too, sensors will soon help optimize the amount of watering done in the park, so that no water is wasted. And garbage collectors will eventually be able to avoid making unneeded trips, because sensors will inform them beforehand which garbage containers need emptying.

Accessing the Information

All of these things save some money, but they still don't make a city particularly smart. A truly smart city is one in which as many residents as possible can access this and other types of information effortlessly. Mayor de la Serna is particularly proud of his iPhone's new "Pulse of the City" app, which does just that, connecting Santanderinos to their city's data streams.

For example, someone waiting at a bus stop and wanting to know when the next bus will arrive needs only to start up the smartphone app and point the phone toward the bus stop. The phone immediately displays all bus lines that serve that stop, as well as their arrival times. Pointing the phone at the city's concert hall brings up the program of events over the next several days and weeks. A tourist holding a smartphone toward a downtown fountain learns when the fountain was built and by whom, while opening the app near a supermarket provides information on current special offers.

In the past, residents frustrated with potholes in Santander's streets called the city government or wrote a letter. Now it's enough just to open the "Pulse of the City" app and take a picture of the hole. One more click sends this digital damage report, complete with GPS data, straight to city hall.

From there, a computer forwards the information both to those who are responsible for the technical side of fixing the problem and to those who bear political responsibility for it -- a two-pronged approach that apparently increases the system's effectiveness. All of the data is made public, but the person who originally sent the complaint remains anonymous. City residents and local media can also use the app to follow how long it takes for the damage to be repaired. The city, of course, tries to act as quickly as possible.

Santanderinos have used the app to report more than 500 issues since "Pulse of the City" was launched about five months ago. "People's faith in this technology is growing," de la Serna says. In comparison, sending an email to a German city hall can seem like tossing a message in a bottle out to sea.

Making Data Public

Next, Mayor de la Serna wants to air the city's secrets. Many types of information that were previously confidential or difficult to access will now be made public, including statistical data on demographic changes and real estate prices. Then the mayor wants to create a digital equivalent of a village square. The app "Ideas for All" -- something like Facebook but specifically for city residents -- will connect the city with its inhabitants. "We want to create a new, cooperative relationship between the people and the city government," de la Serna explains.

The mayor hopes this flood of data will inspire programmers to create more apps to make Santander even smarter. So far, there has been no resistance to the project. None of Muñoz's sensors have fallen prey to vandals. Taxi drivers initially feared the city wanted to use these sensors to carry out constant surveillance of the city, but that concern, de la Serna says, has long since given way to pride at being part of such a futuristic project, especially during a difficult economic period.

That pioneering spirit is apparently already paying off. The Spanish multinational company Ferrovial -- owner of, among other assets, London's Heathrow Airport -- has decided to invest in Santander and will build a smart city research center there.

Source: abc News, By: By Marco Evers, SPIEGEL, Translated from the German by Ella Ornstein

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IBM joins Montpellier smart city project

IBM and the local authority of greater Montpellier, France, have agreed to create an urban living laboratory to design new urban services for residents and support local leaders' economic development goals. The smart city project, based on an intelligent dashboard from IBM, will involve the Universities of Montpellier 1 and 2, and the Idate research institute on the digital economy.

Its initial focus will be to create an open platform to improve information sharing within the district in areas such as transport, water management, emergency management and mobile commerce. 

The technology will be hosted in IBM France's first public cloud data centre. A demonstration centre will be opened later this year, followed by an operations centre in the EcoCite urban development project by the end of 2015.

Source: telecompaper

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Posted in: smart city

12 business skills that will never, ever go out of style

This is the digital age — throw everything we’ve ever known about succeeding in business out the window, right? Wait a second, not quite everything. 


There are basic rules for business success that haven’t gone away with the digital age — in fact, they have only become more important. The skills listed below could have appeared in any career book of the 1990s, 1980s, or even 1930s — and continue to withstand the test of time:

1. Communication skills. Management is still tight with budgets, and needs to be sold on new project ideas. The ability to construct an argument and make your case forcefully and clearly to your boss, client or coworkers will move your ideas to fruition. Computer systems can provide all the information you need, but machines don’t know how to package it up to get decision-makers excited about lending their support to a project or idea.
2. Time management and organization. The ability to stay organized and prioritize tasks will go a long way to moving you and your team forward. An application may accomplish a task within a millisecond, but it doesn’t know its context or how it fits into the scheme of things. Just as important, to be able to make a decision and act on an opportunity now — without getting wrapped up by paralysis by analysis — will deliver results.
3. Goal setting. No business operation — no matter how automated and virtualized — will get anywhere without a vision of the end result. It is this vision that focuses and solidifies all activities teams are undertaking.
4. Delegating. No matter how talented and educated, one individual cannot do everything that needs to be done to keep an organization on track toward its goals. The ability to surround yourself with talented people who can augment your skills will get things done every time without fail.
5. Public speaking and presentation skills. The ability to communicate your ideas to audiences will raise your profile to new levels. Web-based conferencing services make it easy, but face-to-face encounters will make lasting impressions.
6. Relationship building. Nothing helps lay the groundwork for advancement more than cultivating and maintaining good relationships. Social media and email may help make it easier to keep in touch, but the key is to keep those contacts going.
7. Involvement in professional groups/conferences: The best way to exchange ideas, learn new things and expand your network is to become involved in groups relevant to your craft. This can be through user groups for a particular software environment you work with, or professional associations. There are plenty of websites and forums that enable professionals to engage with one another online, but nothing seals a bond like face-to-face activities.
8. Passion and determination. Motivation has to come from within; the drive to excellence is entirely an internal affair. Totally out of reach of any IT system.
9. Civility, politeness, and respect. Nothing makes a business a great place to work more than mutual respect. This should be a golden rule for every tech startup, Fortune 500 and public organization that wants to make a positive difference in the world.
   
10. Entrepreneurial and innovation skills. Even in the techiest of places, it takes a sense of imagination to conceive new ways to create value. New ideas aren’t generated by machines, they come from the minds of the people using those machines.
11. Desire to learn. Nothing beats the value of education, whether it’s formal college degrees or completion of training skills in your profession. Even seeking out coworkers on the job for opinions and experiences means the growth of knowledge.
12. Flexibility and adaptability. Rigidity never worked in the 1990s or 1930s, and it certainly won’t work now. Be open to new ideas, environments, and responsibilities. Technology will constantly be changing, professionals need to change as well.

Source: SmartPlanet, By: Joe McKendrick

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Why Smart Cities Need Smart Grids

The correlation between smart cities and smart grids is strong.  Around one-third of the smart city projects that Pike Research is currentlytracking in North America and Europe are primarily focused on smart grids or other energy innovations. Almost half of smart city strategies include energy-focused projects.

The huge investment being made in smart meters on both continents will provide cities with a platform for energy efficiency improvements, new customer services, and network optimization. Cities also provide important pilot environments for a range of smart grid innovations, including the integration of distributed renewable energy, support for EV charging, and the introduction of demand management programs.  Both city planners and utilities need to take a holistic view of these diverse developments.

In Europe, there are several long-standing smart grid/ smart city projects including the InovCity project in Évora, Portugal and Malaga Smartcity in Spain.  One of the United Kingdom’s most ambitious smart grid pilots, Low Carbon London, is a £30 million ($48 million) smart grid and energy efficiency project led by the local distribution operator, UK Power Networks.  Although primarily a pilot for smart grid technologies, the project has embraced a wide range of both technology and community-focused energy management issues that are closely aligned with smart city requirements. Similar developments can be seen in The Netherlands, France, Germany and most recently Italy.

Boulder’s ill-fated SmartGridCity project cast a shadow over North American smart city projects, but other cities have picked up the baton.  Smart City San Diego is building on a series of energy efficiency and smart grid initiatives promoted by local utility SDG&E, the San Diego Cleantech Cluster, and the city council. The Solar-to-EV Project at the San Diego Zoo, for example, has been given center stage in an iconic city landmark.

Going Citywide

Smart grid investments provide an intelligent energy infrastructure that links together different elements of city operations.  Conversely, smart city initiatives can help build consumer awareness of energy efficiency initiatives.  From the utilities’ perspective, tying smart meter programs into a broader smart city project enables a closer engagement with communities, individual consumers, and businesses.

The biggest challenge is to extend these pilots into citywide deployments.  This is where the unified thinking shown in pilots can start to fall apart.  Large-scale programs must be tied in to utilities’ deployment plans, which in turn are often determined by industry regulators and national government policies, making city concerns a secondary consideration.  There is more chance of maximizing the benefits of countrywide smart meter deployments in Europe, for example, if they can be tied to local energy initiatives.  Only by working together can city officials and utilities create fuller consumer engagement and ensure that there is adequate energy infrastructure for the needs of a smart city.

At Smart Utilities Scandinavia in April, I will chair a series of presentations and discussions on how Scandinavian cities and utilities are driving innovation in energy distribution and energy efficiency.  The discussion will center how Scandinavian cities, leaders in many areas of smart city and smart grid development, are building on their investments, how they are addressing the challenges of integration, and what other cities and countries can learn from their experience.

Source: PikeResearch, By: Eric Woods

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Smart city spending to reach $20 billion by 2020

As more and more people flock to urban centers, the idea of smart cities has increasingly captured the mind share of civic leaders and planners around the world.

Consider that cities already are responsible for approximately 70 percent of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, according to some estimates, and you can see why city planners are scrambling for some semblance of control.

"City leaders face the continuous challenge of meeting rising citizen expectations within tight financial constraints," according to a smart cities report that Pike Research released in February. "In North America and Europe in particular, the tough economic climate is forcing local governments to become even more innovative in their use of technology to drive down operational costs and in the way services are procured and delivered."

The challenges are only expected to grow: In just 12 years' time, there will be more than 37 megacities globally that support populations of more than 10 million — 22 of them will be located in Asia, Pike predicts. And by 2050, the number of city dwellers is projected to reach 6.3 billion, compared with approximately 3.6 billion today.

Pike defines a smart city as one that has integrated "technology into a strategic approach to sustainability, citizen well-being and economic development." Five "industries" are integral to that vision: smart energy, smart water, smart transportation, smart buildings and smart government.

And while there has been progress — including plenty of spending on smart city technologies, as well as discussions about what the model smart city should look like — there is no one city today that embodies all of those systems or characteristics, said Eric Woods, the research director in charge of the report.
"Each city has to respond to its own unique environment and will be smart in its own way," he said. "You have to see smart as an aspirational concept."

Transportation drives most growth

That said, much of the early smart city spending currently centers on spurring multimodal transportation policies, partly because it's easier for city governments to control investments in these areas, Woods said.

"Transportation is close to the heart of the definition of the city structure," he said.

Pike estimates that spending on smart transportation solutions, such as intelligent traffic-management systems or infrastructure that links electric vehicle charging infrastructure with other transit options, will reach $5.5 billion annually by 2020. That would represent a compound annual growth rate of 19.5 percent between 2012 and 2020.

Source: GreenBiz.com, By: Heather Clancy

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