Top 10 Smart City Trends for 2018

Did you know that Smart Cities are poised to drive significant change in how we work, play and learn in 2018? Thanks to the explosion in big data analytics capabilities and mobile, real-time video/information sharing, historians may someday look back on this year as the fulcrum upon which technology and government fully meshed to turn their communities in a more vibrant direction.

So it’s critical that those who lead our state and local governments at every level, not just IT, understand and integrate these technology shifts proactively. From city operations and public safety to transportation and utilities, it’s time for your community to start turning aggressively towards big data analytics and real-time video/information sharing solutions as the core of your Smart City initiative. If not, you may be left behind. You can start by focusing on the following trends that are emerging for 2018:

Introduction of city-wide digital platforms that can gather, aggregate, and analyze data from a variety of sources, resulting in cities that are smarter and more resilient. Learn more at Kinetic for Cities.

Development of Connected Intersections as test beds and launching points for Smart City initiatives. Check out Connected Intersection.

Use of computing at the edge to process data at the source for faster and more accurate impacts. See how the Edge and Fog Processing Module helps you do just that.

Merging of GIS, big data, and analytics to create real-time “living maps” to model community behavior. Dig deeper on some examples at Harvard University’s Data-Smart City site.

Public safety vehicles as digital hubs to scale mission fabric in real time (via ruggedized routers), allowing government to respond faster and more accurately to emergencies and natural disasters. This will include greater deployment of mobile, real-time video and data sharing. Watch how Houston is taking their first steps with Emergency Telehealth and Navigation (ETHAN).

Growth in connected vehicle capabilities, especially real-time data sharing with government. This is being driven in part by NHTSA suggestions for Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) communications. Did you know Cisco is already leading the Connected Car revolution with Jasper?

Greater real-time citizen interaction with government through personal wireless devices. This will be driven by an enhanced user experience as a result of new government-citizen collaborative tools, including real-time video and data sharing and base-level artificial intelligence. It’s easy to get started with WebEx and Jabber.

Linking autonomous vehicles with government sensors/networks to gather critical data, rather than relying so strongly on onboard sensors. You can use Connected Roadways to get started.

Increased focus on human-centric technologies via app development by government. This will greatly enhance transparency of government-gathered data, leading to more trust in local government. Start by developing your own apps here.

Adoption of smart city requirements into municipal codes. From the number of trees and shrubs to square footage of glass fronting streets, communities already require certain minimums for new construction. As WiFi continues to grow in recognition as a necessary utility, minimums for bandwidth, access, security, and linkage into a larger city-wide fabric will become standard code. Get up to speed on municipal codes.

Every day, Smart City technologies are enabling a better quality of life for people around the world. Through creativity and persistence (and a whole lot of passion), Cisco has become the number one Smart City solution provider in the world. And we’re excited to have successfully helped lay the fulcrum upon which our society’s future will now pivot. Thanks to the explosion in big data analytics and mobile real-time video/information sharing, 2018 will be the year that, together with our partners in government, we turn the potential energies of those technologies into Kinetic. Is your community ready for the turning?

Next Steps

“To learn more about Smart Cities, big data, and urban planning, I suggest bookmarking these great sites for future reference” – Kenn

Cisco Smart City Solutions: http://cs.co/SmartCitySolutions

Smart Cities Council: https://smartcitiescouncil.com/

100 Resilient Cities: http://www.100resilientcities.org/

Urban Land Institute: https://uli.org/

Harvard Data Smart Initiative: http://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/