How open data is connecting the smart city to people
Demands on a city’s resources and services are increasing everywhere and developers are responding with an evermore sophisticated approach. As technology transforms the way we interact with transport, health, retail, education and everything else within the lived environment, the data and devices we use to communicate in this landscape will become even more important.
Recently, a United Nationsreport stated that by 2030 two-thirds of the world’s population will be urban. This will put considerable pressure on stakeholders to streamline and revolutionize the inner workings of the city to accommodate the influx and evolution of the urban populous. Imagine navigation systems automatically rerouting your car due to an accident on your intended route or perhaps effectively tracking bus arrival times via smart sensor applications. These applications have the potential to transform how we live forever. Cue the birth of the smart city.
Supported by the Internet of Things (IoT), the premise of smart cities has been explored for some time, but it hasn’t reached its potential for complete integration into our daily lives for a number of reasons. Namely, the lack of standardization of interfaces and data availability is challenging for developers. Open data can considerably advance the quest to provide more efficient and sustainable service delivery within cities. It underpins the smart city by ensuring the surfeit of information gathered by numerous IoT devices in various formats is available to central computing arenas for interpretation and subsequent action.
However, implementation of this pioneering technology requires a framework that intrinsically hinges on an open data structure. Connected technology is vital to ensure delivery on the promise of smart cities. Interconnectivity and interoperability between the IoT devices, the cloud and servers provide the basis for far-reaching assimilation into society as connecting citizens to smart cities requires access across all sectors. By opening up data, developers can focus on solutions to quantifiable problems in metropolitan areas rather than bothering with the vagaries of integration and data collection. Subsequently, they can exploit the data analytics to forge links between technology and city planning in the interest of urban development.
The basis of a smart city is that all components are connected through the IoT with each other and the public, essentially phasing out the need for physical presence for interactions that do not contribute to work or personal satisfaction. In other words, time consuming and mundane tasks are taken care of by the relevant applications, leaving time for the individual to enjoy an experience or receive a service.
The linchpin of this technology is the smartphone, acting as a node in the IoT and the gateway to the smart city.
