By Daniela Navas
Smart cities are not just a trend! Now, more than ever, they seem closer and appear to be here to stay!
For the last decade, we have seen the development of many game-changing technologies that really positively impacted our lives, and we will not cease to see them around. According to a report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), smart city technology spending reached $80 billion in 2016, and it is expected to grow to $135 billion by 2021.
The idea behind this data is that our cities are definitely transforming. The biggest cities in the world are turning into more sustainable ones; re-shaping their environmental, financial and social realities.
But, what can we expect in 2019 in order to build the smart cities of the future?
According to Chris Penrose, president of AT&T’s internet of things (IoT) organization, this may be the year of gamification. Smart cities will use this network technology to engage citizens. For instance, “City residents will get points for things like paying their water bill on time, recycling, reporting potholes, and for taking public transit instead of driving. Those points will be redeemable for discounts on services, or VIP access to events in the city.”
Sameer Sharma, Intel’s global general manager of IoT, says that in 2019 there will be citizen impactwill be more engaged and will push city leaders for impact. Millennials and social media will play a more vocal role in the smart cities conversations and start influencing electability. Remember when we told you all the actors of the industry need to sit on the same table in order to have great results? Guess what? You also play an important role here!
Ian Campbell, Airfi Networks’s CEO, claims that this year 5G technology will make our cities smarter. We will see it from fully autonomous connected cars to the explosion of IoT devices. “We expect major US cities of the future to have the infrastructure to support cars, buildings, people, and things as they all communicate and interact with each other in real time, with very low latency”
It seems that 2019 will be an important year for our cities. At EYESAFE, we are excited to keep planning the smart cities of the future through our everyday work: developing technological solutions to improve the way people travel in cities.
Are you ready to be part of our 2019 journey? We certainly are!
Image designed by vectorpocket / Freepik
