Smart city innovations are the future. Cities are becoming smarter by introducing innovative technologies to track trends on a city-wide level and improve the lives of residents. Technology innovations are enhancing the municipal-resident relationship. Valuable data is captured and is then used to make data-driven policy decisions. We’ve researched 6 of the most innovative solutions advancing smart cities and summarized them for you below. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for smart cities across the globe. It’s an exciting period!
Taoglas is a system that uses a distributed network of IoT devices to monitor community waste bins. It monitors their rate of use, capacity levels, and several other data points. This strengthens the waste management system by providing municipalities with a great number of data points that empower a deeper level of analysis.
The IoT devices are clipped inside waste bins to monitor the materials within. In doing so this means that bins can be monitored closely and collected only when needed. It saves cities fuel expenses by reducing unnecessary trips for waste collection.
The devices also monitor the temperature of the environment, making it a great system for capturing climate data within and outside the bin. This data can be used to identify overheating bins and prevent bin fires before they occur.
The more IoT devices that are installed, the more valuable the service becomes. It allows administrators to identify and monitor trends and direct the attention of administrators to where it is most needed.
Opower brings rich AI technology and intuitive behavioral science methodology to municipalities and their residents. The Opower system monitors the energy consumption of individual households and uses this information to issue feedback-based utility billing. The utility bill is really where the impact of Opower shines. Opower provides residents with predictive analytics. Data captured provides energy consumption insights, differentiates between different types of energy used (water, heating, appliances, etc.), and lastly uses peer comparison tools to provide residents with their energy consumption metrics compared to their neighbors.
Opower uses behavioral science and peer comparison to improve energy consumption in individual households and reduce overall energy usage. Residents are provided with information to help them learn about their consumption habits. These highly personalized insights appeal to the unique needs of each household so that each individual can make a meaningful change. By improving the energy consumption levels of individual homes within a larger community, utility programs can reach their consumption goals. It just takes one to make a difference for many!
Sustained behavior change is the goal of Opower programs, and has the potential to decarbonize the grid without destabilizing it. It’s got the potential to be a very successful technology and we can’t wait to see its impact.
City Brain is applying artificial intelligence technology to transportation within cities to reduce traffic congestion and ensure a safer, more efficient transportation network. City Brain captures data from street lights, roadways, and cameras, and then processes this data using its AI and machine learning algorithms. This data is then sent back to the city in real-time to make changes and adjust for transportation demands.
The data captured by the City Brain platform is incredibly valuable, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai, Macau, and Malaysian cities are all benefitting from the data-rich decisions that are being made using the City Brain platform. City Brain is also able to assist with security, municipal construction, and urban planning. It has already become one of the largest public artificial intelligence systems worldwide and plans to continue to provide valuable data to smart cities across the globe.
Smart City Water empowers municipal stakeholders to predict and manage drainage flow, model and simulate overland systems, and monitor the water capacity of cities. It works by installing telemetered monitoring systems at water stations and major water junctions within a municipality. Using these IOT devices digital information is sent to a self-correcting hydraulic modeling engine, resulting in near-real-time predictions of water flow. The smart system inspects, monitors, predicts, and verifies performance at all locations under multiple scenarios.
So why is this important? The data captured from Smart City Water provides cities with enhanced data for one of their most important assets, water. Data insights provided by the platform allow municipalities to avoid flooding while managing wet weather flow, preventing natural disasters. The Smart City Waste platform allows municipalities to stay ahead of local regulations, identify weaknesses in their current water flows, and prevent disasters from arising.
Cocoflow is a platform that connects community stakeholders to improve the citizen and municipal administration experience. Cocoflo provides municipalities with a customizable dashboard that can be used to communicate with residents. The platform brings a digital approach to the citizen-municipality relationship. Utility billing, permits, inspections, and other historical documents are all provided and stored on the platform. Residents no longer have to maintain large paper files of their previous bills or track down municipal officers to get an update on their permit requests. Cocoflow brings transparency for citizens and an easier way to store and transfer information for municipalities. Everything is wrapped up in one platform!
Cocoflo has three products that adjust to municipal needs, SmartLiving allows residents to manage taxes, utilities, licenses, and permits, SmartDevelopment allows residents to track permits and inspections, and SmartTransportation allows residents to pay for transport-related fares and manage their travel analytics.
Cocoflo is committed to the smart city movement and aims to revolutionize the municipal-resident relationship through its dynamic digital engagement. Not to mention, it’s a great way to save on unnecessary use of paper!
Of course, we saved the best until last! Prairie Robotics is making recycling simple by addressing the largest issue facing recycling programs across the globe, contamination. Prairie Robotics provides automated recycling cart audits for every household and powerful education tools to help residents make sustainable recycling behavior changes. We’re simplifying the recycling program process by providing custom education to assist residents on their recycling journey.
Prairie Robotics is supporting cities in their smart-city efforts by providing a comprehensive platform that features a complete overview of recycling operations within a city. Contamination types and a heat map of areas with heightened contamination are identified, allowing city officials to make data-driven policy decisions. Residents are met wherever they are in their recycling journey and meaningful feedback is provided to reduce contamination rates and increase program buy-in. Personalized communication is a big part of this program, making it so impactful as a result.
So there you have it, 6 technologies advancing smart cities, and innovating in unique ways to improve municipal operations. Enhancing the municipal-resident relationship is a leading goal of each of these technologies and will continue to drive smart city innovations. Residents have a lot to look forward to as cities become smarter, and municipalities are continually provided with rich data to assist in their policy decisions. We can’t wait to see how these programs continue to grow and make a positive impact in the future.
