The future of smart cities starts with smart light poles

　　 Currently, German scientists are studying the impact of artificial intelligence systems on social and economic inequality in smart cities. In these technology-filled interconnected cities, will everyone get the same opportunities? Or only those with the technology can enjoy the benefits of this smart city? As a small example, connected lampposts or traffic lights can indicate There is a place for parking. Very convenient...but all these sensors and connected technologies can cause parking costs to skyrocket. Maybe this is just a hypothesis of German scientists.

　　 However, Signify’s smart street lights prove the fact that parking fees do not have to be increased. According to Signify's Eng Yong Liang, this boils down to energy saving. Liang is the head of the smart city department and has a lot of cooperation with the city government in this position. He pointed out in the Signify webinar: 'You haven't seen LED street lights in many cities.' 'LED is not only more energy-efficient than traditional lighting, but with motion sensors and dimmable lighting, you can actually save more energy. 'He believes that if cities do buy LED lights, then they can use the money saved in energy costs to keep free parking. This is just one example.

　　 However, reducing transportation costs is not the most important goal of a smart city. 'It may start as simple as street lights, but all these street lights generate data and connect to each other. You can link them to other systems, such as traffic lights or security cameras. You can use all these data streams to do things to improve The life of urban residents. On the one hand, by providing low-income communities with better access to the Internet through 4G or 5G in the future.'

　　Taking action to improve air quality

　　Climate change The temperature in the city is getting higher and higher. Light poles can be equipped with temperature sensors so that municipalities can accurately see where the temperature level rises the most. 'Using this data, they can take action: plant trees or provide shade in other ways. The same is true for other known problems in the city, such as air quality or noise pollution. Continuous monitoring through connected street lights, city authorities will know where hot spots are Where.'

　　 For example, a lamppost in New York has a system that can detect snow and ice. Can assist relevant departments to clean up the snow in time. Liang believes that connected street lights can also make streets safer. 'Suppose you are walking on the street at night and are harassed. Then, the light can shine brighter to make you safer. Especially if the system is linked to a security camera and the emergency service will be automatically notified when an incident occurs.' Liang said.

　　There are still many questions about data and digital infrastructure

　　 Eric Woods of Guidehouse Consulting Firm believes that smart street lighting is a growing market. By 2029, there will be approximately 109 million smart light poles worldwide. 'In theory, every light pole is also a charging point for electric vehicles; I will definitely see this happening in the future. Especially now, electric vehicles have become the norm. Energy conservation is a good thing, and city authorities are getting more and more See the potential of digital infrastructure related to this. By using WiFi networks, it is possible to create an entire IoT structure in a city where everything is connected.” Woods explained. For example, consider connected trash cans that will signal full to the waste disposal service.

　　 But all these connected systems and other technologies have also attracted a lot of attention. So what about privacy? Where does this data go? Who owns all this publicly collected data? 'All these concerns are reasonable. I think that's why citizens are more actively informed, and at the same time, they have more say. For example, look at what Barcelona is doing. There, you can only establish your own company in the city if the big companies provide data to improve the city’s conditions. This is a good thing. But I think this should happen more.'