What is the Smart City?

The Internet of Things, Smart Home, SmartWatch, IoT in Logistics, Smart Gym Trainings – what will introduce the next year of technological development? Today we will concentrate on the main features of the Smart city, most probably you already live in one of them.

First of all, we should answer the question – what is Smart City? The Smart city is the mix of technologies implemented to make the life of citizens more comfortable. This includes security systems, e-health, smart education systems, smart mobility, the latest energy solutions and creative hubs. Let’s review those components in details.

Security System

A smart security system includes video monitoring of all districts of the city, together with the centralized emergency system. This system is ought to decrease the level of crime in the city. Everyone would be able to connect the video camera, taking into account requirements to the quality of the video, and improve monitoring of the area. One more advantage of the video monitoring is the face recognition function. This topic was described in our previous article, regarding the influence of big data to our daily life.

For example, London subway is equipped with 12 000 cameras, so we can only imagine how much cameras are all over the London. They are installed to prevent crimes and incidents, for instance, if someone is staying too close to the platform, the train will not arrive. If video monitoring is equipped with face recognition function – the number of crimes will decrease and there will be more chances to find a robber.

Transportation System

What makes transportation system smart? The answer is simple – availability of single ticket and possibility to track the public transport. All those components make use of public transport more comfortable. Almost all European cities have the single ticket for all types of transport (tram, bus, etc.), so you should not buy hundreds of different tickets for trips around the city.

Transport tracking systems are available in many cities, there are monitors that show how much time is left until the next bus/tram arrives. Also, smart bus stops are equipped with free Wi-Fi and USB charging stations.

Smart transportation system does not only belong to the public transport, this project also includes traffic routing, parking planning, bike/car renting services and traffic light systems.

Telemedicine and Improved Healthcare

Healthcare should be available for everyone, even though, having an insurance doesn’t mean that you will be able to visit a doctor immediately. Smart healthcare is here to optimize the service, track all changes in health and prevent illnesses. As well as, in some places the telemedicine is available, so the user may contact doctor online, get the referral for analysis and treatment, without leaving the house. There are few ways how the telemedicine is implemented: Live video-conferencing, store-and-forward or asynchronous video, remote patient monitoring and mobile health. Of course, it cannot be applied for more serious illnesses that require face to face meeting with a doctor.

New Era in Education

Education means learning and getting smarter, right? So how can education be improved? A part of studying process may move to the online mode. E-learning is common practice for many Universities, when a student has tasks which should be done during the lecture, and some tasks should be finished via the Internet. It makes studying process the way more flexible and gives students opportunities to work and gain more practical experience.

Creative Hubs

An important part of any kind of development – possibilities for brainstorming. That is why the availability of creative hubs is extremely important in the technological, cultural and artistic development. This is the place, where people of the same profession may meet, share the knowledge and work on new interesting projects.

Generally, a lot of us are citizens of the smart cities, even if we don’t pay attention to changes that are happening around. The most important thing to understand is that each of us is an influencer. If you have an idea, how to change your city. Want to introduce a new project, but do not know how to start? Contact us! The Inoxoft developers are ready to bring about crucial changes through innovative software implementation.