Three Reasons Why You Should Invest In Smart Cities Now

Imagine you’re heading to work on a cold winter day. You step outside your perfectly climate-controlled home and your self-driving car pulls up to the curb as scheduled. You enter the car from the extra-wide, pedestrian-friendly sidewalk. The car warns you there is ice on your standard route that has slowed traffic considerably. Using data culled by sensors embedded in roadways, shared by other commuters and analyzed by your local transportation department, it offersseveral other route recommendations.

Smart cities are the urban landscapes of the future. Powered by the ubiquitous connectivity of the Internet of Things (IoT), smart citiescollect data on a variety of factors – from totraffic – and employ that data to make citiessafer and moresustainable. By 2050, themajority of the world will be living in cities – now is the time to lay the groundwork for smart building and infrastructure.

According to Consumer Technology Association’s The Evolution of Smart Cities and Connect Communities Study, the smart city market, valued at $14.85 billion in 2015, is expected to hit $34.35 billion by . Many cities have chief technology officers and innovation offices that are implementing smart city technologies. Business leaders should engage with these leaders who have a vision and understanding of their local needs.

Here are three reasons why business leaders should take advantage of this key moment in smart city development:

Having a say in rules and implementation. City rules shape how energy is used andhow buildings are designed. As digital infrastructure evolves, the rules that govern it will become only more complex.

Ultimately, the needs of a city’s workers, employers and residents ought to shape how a city develops. But too frequently,poor communication between the public and private sectors prevents this. Companies that will eventually be affected must start weighing in on policy and planning now.

Getting ahead of the curve on innovative business strategies.Disruptive companies such as Uber, Lyft , Expedia and Airbnb have already started to do this by employing technology to meet local transportation and lodging needs. With the rise of smart cities, more companies will have the opportunity to develop these kinds of game-changing strategies.