Smart cities are going to be amazing
community hubs that will be more sustainable, efficient, and supportive of
citizens.
The concept of smart communities is based on intelligent
infrastructure such as broadband (FttP) and smart grids, so that connected and
sustainable communities can be developed. However, they cannot be built within
the silo structure that currently dominates our thinking; a holistic approach
is needed – one that includes environmental issues such as
energy-self-sufficient buildings, exchanges for renewable energy and e-cars,
delivery of e-health, e-education and e-government services, as well as digital
media and internet services.
To date, the easiest path to incorporating these concepts
into a smart community has been with the development of ‘greenfield’
residential communities. These projects essentially start with no existing
legacy utility infrastructure, and involve the construction of new dwellings
capable of incorporating a range of new technologies. Greenfield development
sites can be used as test beds and lead the way for other existing communities
to follow suit.
How data and information is processed and utilised will
be a key to the success of smart cities, which is why developments in big data
management, M2M communication and cloud computing are of particular importance
to smart city developments. The home automation market has certainly caught the
interest of some of the industry heavyweights, with Qualcomm, Samsung and Apple
all developing their own smart home automation solutions. Reportedly Google
acquired Nest in order to develop home automation offerings also.
With the national broadband network slowly becoming a
reality, cities, regions and communities are starting to become involved in
developing strategies that will see them taking advantage of the social and
economic benefits that the NBN can bring. It is therefore vitally important
that communities take charge of the development of their knowledge-based
environments. A proactive local government is a crucial element in the
deployment of broadband to the point where it can begin to deliver community
benefits in education, healthcare, community services, job creation and export.
To date the lack of infrastructure has led to very limited action being taken
by either state or local government in Australia, which is in stark contrast to
events overseas.
Under the current Coalition government councils may have
to become more actively involved in infrastructure, especially if local
councils wish to become involved in smart cities based on gigabit
infrastructure.
M2M
and the internet of things
With the NBN and LTE now well and truly underway it is
important to look at what will be the real value of this new infrastructure.
The infrastructure that is now being built offers a range
of features such as ubiquitousness, affordability, low latency, high speed and
high capacity. It will link millions of devices, such as sensors, that will
enable us to manage our environment, traffic, infrastructures, and our society
as a whole much more efficiently and effectively.
This ‘internet of things’ – other names used include M2M,
pervasive internet and industrial internet – is going to be a real game-changer.
It will transform every single sector of society and the economy; and it will
be out of this environment that new businesses – and indeed new industries –
will be born. This is one of the reasons so many overseas ICT companies are
increasing their presence in Australia. LTE will take a leadership role in the
development of M2M but the NBN is also an ideal test-bed for such developments.
A great deal of attention is being paid to cloud computing and the NBN can be
viewed as one gigantic cloud.
The number of connected M2M devices will grow to
somewhere between 25 million and 50 million by 2020
Connected
homes
The connected home covers many areas – from data, video
and audio delivery, through to smart appliances, security and home automation.
The technologies in these domains have existed and been evolving for many
years, but implementing connected home solutions has traditionally been costly
and complex.
People are becoming more connected, with an
ever-increasing number using broadband, wider and deeper uptake of tablets,
smartphones and a range of other devices, and the services.
The ‘broadband connected home’ can be viewed as a fixed
location/premises where a number of devices share a connection to the outside
world. It is recognised that there can be multiple separate networks within the
home, and also multiple points of connection to the internet.
Smart
transport
Smart transport systems, or intelligent transport
systems, encompass a range of wireless and wired communications-based
information technologies that can be integrated into transportation
infrastructure and vehicles.
Current intelligent transport system technologies use
dedicated short-range communications to transfer data over short distances
between in-vehicle mobile radio units and roadside units – that is, fixed
point-to-point services. Arrangements to facilitate the use of intelligent
transport systems have been developed internationally in the 5850-5925MHz band
(the 5.9GHz band). However ACMA still classified this as a medium priority for
finalisation, and waiting on international standards has made progress fairly
slow.
Progress in the sector has been rather slow and new
developments are coming from others wanting a share of the new activities. A
large number of smartphone apps are now available for drivers to optimise their
trips, become more energy-efficient. Car manufacturers are also using the smart
car platform as a possibility for additional (energy) services that can be
offered to the marketplace.
Smart infrastructure is also looked at in the context of
the NBN, the aim of which is to supply the basic telecommunication
infrastructure for a range of sectors, including transport. Special access is
provided for utilities in the NBN Act. Smart transport systems may be able to
reduce the carbon footprint and energy use across many of the transport
industries, while at the same time lowering GHG emissions. The government of
the time also announced its Managed Motorways project.
However more government leadership is needed to push smart
transport deeper into the market.
Electric
vehicles
A new generation of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) will
start entering the market in larger numbers over coming years. Companies such
as Ergon Energy and ChargePoint are among the innovation leaders in this
market.
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