These challenges relate to the efficiency of public services, the well-being and security of citizens, and environmental concerns. Air quality, building maintenance, traffic flow management, safety of citizens and equipment, parking spaces, street lighting, waste management; numerous connected solutions already exist today to make the city smart and sustainable.
Sustainable development at the heart of the smart city
The past decade has seen the emergence of new technologies that contribute to the digitization of our cities. Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as new wireless networks dedicated to the Internet of Things facilitate this digitization.
These technologies allow for the connection of objects over wide areas, both indoors/outdoors and underground. They can have an energy autonomy of up to 10 years and are cost-effective. Indeed, the cost of objects and connectivity is competitive, but their energy autonomy significantly reduces maintenance costs.
Particularly notable is LoRa technology for its very mature ecosystem, reliability, robustness, and ease of integration. Its characteristics are particularly relevant for data remote reading (filling rates, energy and environmental data, location, security).
IoT SIM solutions are most appropriate for uses requiring significant throughput, for use cases requiring voice and video, such as for urban digital signage, Wi-Fi hotspots, or mobile video surveillance with, for example, 4G.
Nevertheless, the diversity of technologies allows for growth and meets the increasing number of use cases.
IoT in smart energy and fluids management
Reducing the carbon footprint is a challenge for everyone. To optimize a building’s energy consumption, it is essential to:
- Precisely measure consumption.
- Identify improvement areas.
- Connect various sensors simply and cost-effectively.
- Continuously record real-time water, gas, and electricity consumption and analyze it.
An abnormality relative to predefined parameters on the management portal will trigger an alert and corrective actions. The Community of Communes Pays d’Apt Luberon has detected 700 leaks thanks to connected water meters. In addition to energy optimization allowing savings of more than 20% on bills, other use cases benefit from IoT technologies.
Reducing the carbon footprint also means promoting new alternative and intermodal transports.
Streamlining and Securing Traffic, a Major Concern for Communities
Shared cars, bikes, and electric scooters need to be connected for use and to interact effectively with users and charging points. Very popular, they represent an alternative or complement to public transport and private vehicles.
Two-thirds of French people claim to be delayed due to looking for parking spaces. By using connected solutions, it’s possible to get real-time information on available parking spaces. Indeed, 20% to 30% of car consumption dedicated to parking search could be avoided. This could lead to a real reduction in pollutant emissions, noise pollution, traffic, and save time and peace of mind for citizens.
Road safety is also a constant concern, especially in winter. Indeed, frost and snowfall can quickly paralyze a city (accidents, traffic jams, falls…).
To address this concern, connected solutions for road temperature remote reading exist. The portal available to winter duty officers allows for near real-time monitoring of the roads and to carry out preventive actions if there is a risk.
Air Quality and Indoor Comfort, a Mandatory Approach for Municipalities and Citizens
Pollution is a major issue in our societies. The new regulatory framework for 2018-2023 requires communities to implement a prevention action plan today. This plan aims to improve air quality in public buildings, especially those frequented by children.
The Beaune Côte et Sud Urban Community has chosen to equip its public buildings with air quality sensors. Without major investment and in a simple and rapid manner (without an installer), this solution has met regulatory constraints and contributes to the comfort and well-being of citizens, including the young.
While the Internet of Things is an essential foundation for the digitization of cities, it remains only one component of the overall value chain. Once data collection is complete, the data enrichment and analysis phase is crucial for efficient and high-value business exploitation. There are still major challenges in the interconnectivity of the different layers and existing solutions to facilitate this digitization while securing it.
By 2050, our planet will have 9.8 billion inhabitants, 75% of whom will live in cities. Through the digitization of the city, IoT enables the reconciliation of technological innovation, social benevolence, sustainability, and local collaboration while privileging humans at the heart of this evolution.