BROWSING: Smart Cities

Vendors Nokia, Huawei and Motorola Solutions variously talked up next-generation command centres at Critical Communications World (CCW) in Berlin this week. The trio offered multi-media public safety packages that variously make use of ‘internet of things’ (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, and seek...

The ‘internet of things’ (IoT) market is moving towards new value-based and event-based pricing, led by smart cities and industrial operatives, according to Cisco. Until now, device-as-a-service, and latterly anonymised data sharing with third-parties, have thrived as business models in the nascent IoT space. However,...

Sometimes you need indisputable proof to act upon even the clearest assumptions. If you’re a city council, spending public money on infrastructure to save local communities, this burden of proof is everything. The idea the natural environment can be harnessed in urban infrastructure to manage...

Comcast has hooked up the “epicentre of IoT” by making live its LoRaWAN-based machineQ service in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California. The launch, one of 10 new machineQ networks to go live in recent weeks, will stimulate local start-ups and developers to...

The Asia Pacific (APAC) region has several smart cities under development, mainly grouped in countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Here we describe three of the region’s most developed smart city initiatives. Singapore In 2014, the government of Singapore launched its Smart Nation...

The European Commission (EC) is inviting municipal authorities to apply for €15,000 vouchers to finance Wi-Fi equipment and installation in public spaces. Vouchers worth €17.75 million in total will be made available to 1,183 municipalities in European Union (EU) member states in the next...

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has selected 10 smart city authorities and regional government agencies to explore the implications of integrating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, into US national airspace. The initiative variously involves state, local and tribal governments, in partnership with private...

The European Commission (EC) has established 5G test-beds in Barcelona in Spain and Bristol in the UK to trial of consumer oriented 5G applications. A further €2.2 million has been readies to fund new 5G test-beds in further European ‘smart cities’ over the next...

Washington-state tech giant Microsoft will set up house in Houston, Texas, as part of a long-term effort with the city authority to drive grass-roots innovation, stimulate the local economy, and develop new smart city solutions. Houston said it was the first US city to be...

Buckinghamshire County Council and Hertfordshire County Council have signed up to InterDigital mobility data engine oneTRANSPORT, taking its smart-city customer count to four in the UK. The duo will share mobility data with third parties for the development of new mobility solutions. Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire...

Mastercard and Microsoft are to pool their payment, data analytics and cloud technologies to create a smart city “exchange” to help mayors, policy makers and urban planners tackle urban challenges such as traffic congestion and economic development. The alliance will allow cities to use economic...

Proximus is launching a narrowband internet-of-thing (NB-IoT) network to run alongside its LoRaWAN infrastructure in the Flemish Region in the north of Belgium. The NB-IoT deployment, commissioned by IBM and Sagecom, is initially trained on 1.3 million digital smart meters for monitoring the supply...

Cisco appears to have found its rhythm in the enterprise IoT space by integrating communications technologies and data streams in its Kinetic platform for smart factories and smart cities. Enterprise IoT Insights caught up with Bryan Tantzen, in charge of its manufacturing IoT business,...

IBM’s new facility will focus on IoT, AI, blockchain and quantum computing   IBM has launched a new innovation center in Abu Dhabi which will mainly focus on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, blockchain, security, analytics, internet of things and quantum computing. IBM’s Innovation...

Helmut Reisinger, veteran of telecoms provider Orange, has started in his new role as chief executive officer of the French company’s enterprise division, Orange Business Services, replacing Thierry Bonhomme. His remit is to position Orange Business Services as a leading digital change agent, and...

The smart city agreement will initially focus on the deployment of a proof of concept in Las Vegas   Japan's NTT Group and Dell Technologies have expanded their existing collaboration agreement to include smart city initiatives. The partners said they will be collaborating on the first smart...

The state of Nuevo León in northern Mexico contributes eight per cent of the nation’s GDP with only four per cent of its population, according to the state government. It is also on the receiving end of the most foreign direct investment (FDI) of...

Mexico’s is a fertile manufacturing economy that is ripe for automation, and primed for inward industrial investment. That was its message at Industry 4.0 trade fair Hannover Messe last week, as the nation prepares to go to the polls to elect a new president. Mexico...

Dutch authorities are working with the Talking Traffic Partnership to deploy a nationwide smart traffic initiae   The Dutch government has implemented a smart traffic project in association with the Talking Traffic Partnership. The government said that over 1.2 million road users are now able to receive...

Initiative will focus on applications including public safety, smart transit and autonomous cars Nokia and Smart City Capital are launching a joint program to help Canadian cities fund and reduce the risks associated with smart city initiatives. With available project funding from Smart City Capital exceeding...

IoT platform provider Actility has been appointed by Öresundskraft, a regional energy and fibre broadband provider in Sweden, to help it build out an open-access LoRaWAN network, starting in the town of Helsingborg, and rolling out across the country. Öresundskraft has established a new ‘city...

Smart Dublin, a smart-city cooperative combining the four local authorities in the Irish capital, has announced €1.2 million ($1.5m) of new funding for smart city projects. The new projects, split across two funding blocks, are geared towards providing low-cost solutions to twin-sets of civic...

Integrated LoRa devices and RF tech make up smart water platform in California-based Semtech Corporation, a supplier of high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, announced that IoTsens, an Internet of Things solutions and services firm, has integrated LoRa devices and wireless radio frequency technology in...

Manchester city council in the UK has deployed a new smart city lighting system as part of its continuing CityVerve project, led by Cisco. The new lighting system can be fitted retroactively to existing infrastructure. Cisco has managed the installation with the council, in...