Enabling technologies in smart city
Utilizing technology to lead a simple, effective life is not a new idea. Since ancient times, people have incorporated technology into their daily routines to some extent automating and making decisions. As business 4.0 and industry 4.0 slowly take hold in the world, numerous new technologies are also being used to promote a smart and sustainable way of life. A step in the right direction is the idea of smart cities. Today’s technical advancements have made it possible to implement the idea of smart cities. Numerous existing and emerging technologies are incorporated to assist the growth of a linked network of devices and entities in a smart city (Ahad et al., 2020). The main enabling technologies in a smart city are presented in Image 4.
Image 4
Source: (Ahad et al., 2020)
Cloud/edge computing
In terms of operating platforms, software, and infrastructures, cloud computing technology has made a significant contribution to offering more affordable and quick solutions. Users can purchase physical infrastructure as a service from any cloud service provider, including Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and others, without having to make a substantial financial investment. Instead of sending all the data to the cloud for processing, edge computing allows users to do speedy and lightweight computations right at the network’s edge. As a result, the system now responds considerably more quickly and makes decisions almost instantly (Ahad & Biswas, 2019).
Cyber-physical systems (CPS)
A typical CPS consists of several networks, entities, and devices (both real and virtual), as well as processing, administration, computations, and related real-world physical activities. It can be viewed as an all-encompassing term that refers to computing, processing, networking, and storage. We can have a generic CPS and a domain-specific CPS at the same time, such as a CPS for healthcare, robotics, transportation, etc.
Sensory devices and IoT
A smart city’s central components are sensory devices. These are tiny chips that have been inserted into the participating entities’ equipment and parts. These sensors can detect their environment and transmit that data to the network gateways for additional processing. Their main objective is to gather information about a phenomenon (such as temperature, pressure, humidity, stress, strain, etc.) from the environment or an event. The phrase “Internet of Things” refers to a network of such sensor-embedded devices that are linked together and have the ability to interact both with one another and with their surroundings (IoT)
Big data
Current data management systems cannot keep up with the rate at which data is being generated, necessitating the development of new technologies for processing and management. This is made more complex by the diversity of the data. Big data has a lot of potentials, and if we can efficiently use it, new opportunities for business and procedures may arise. Big data makes it possible to perform analysis jobs like predictive analytics and predictive maintenance (Ahad & Biswas, 2019).
Security Protocols
Any ecosystem for a smart city is centered on security and privacy. Every entity (people, systems, sub-systems, processes, etc.) needs to be constantly safeguarded. Due to several obvious limitations, including scalability, heterogeneity, power, storage, and computational capabilities, traditional security techniques are unable to address all aspects and scenarios of a smart city. As a result, new security mechanisms are being developed to address the varied nature of the current security needs of a typical smart city.
Information communication and technology (ICT)
This technology serves as the backbone for offering all the services necessary to connect the participating entities in the ecosystem of smart cities. By security protocols, which also encompass network technologies, authentication, authorization processes, and access privileges.
Artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML)/deep learning (DL)
The vast amounts of data that a smart city produces are useless unless they are processed to extract meaningful and useful information. In a smart city setting, AI makes it easier to interpret and analyze the data produced by machine-to-machine communication. With the use of machine learning and deep learning technologies, it is possible to make predictive
and preventive decisions and gain comprehensive insights into intra and intersystem settings.
Wireless sensor networks (WSN)
The WSNs’ advanced sensing, translation, and data transmission capabilities make them a crucial part of a framework for smart cities. Additionally, among many other diverse uses in a smart city, they are actively employed for decision-making in traffic management, climate control, and location sensors.
Blockchain
IoT device connectivity and distributed data management are made possible by blockchain technology. Blockchain integration in a smart city setting ensures secure, open, reliable, immutable, and authenticated data flow. This technique has the potential to be a game-changing idea for applications in smart cities.
G technology
In a smart city, 5 G networks provide greater flexibility and allow for increased information flow. It provides improved connectivity and makes it possible to gather and analyze more data, acting as a catalyst for technological progress in a smart city environment. Through improved infrastructure, sustainable development, accessibility, and equality, 5 G may help cities improve the public experience and construct smart urban environments (Skouby & Lynggaard, 2014).
Geospatial technology
In a smart city system, geospatial technology aids in the process of urban planning. Getting the precise location of the underlying entities and the spatial data for aiding in real-time decision-making is one of the primary issues for the construction of city plans. The creation of intelligent transportation, intelligent parking systems, effective healthcare services, smart navigation systems, and the administration of other public utilities is made possible by technologies like LiDAR and remote sensing, internet mapping, GPS, and GIS. By facilitating effective collaboration and coordination between the numerous processes and various components of smart city systems like healthcare, emergency services, transportation, agriculture, waste management, tracking services, and navigation, geospatial technologies play a crucial role in the development of smart city infrastructure (Al-Hader et al., 2009).
The following video provides a nice depiction of some of the available technologies in a Smart city:
References
Ahad, M. A., Paiva, S., Tripathi, G., & Feroz, N. (2020). Enabling technologies and sustainable smart cities. Sustainable cities and society, 61, 102301.
Ahad, M.A. and Biswas, R., 2019. Request-based, secured and energy-efficient (RBSEE) architecture for handling IoT big data. Journal of Information Science, 45(2), pp.227-238.
Skouby, K. E., & Lynggaard, P. (2014, November). Smart home and smart city solutions enabled by 5G, IoT, AAI and CoT services. In 2014 International Conference on Contemporary Computing and Informatics (IC3I) (pp. 874-878). IEEE.