Nine key digital solutions in Smart Cities

Transforma Insights’ recent report, ‘Digital Transformation in Smart Cities’ identified nine key domains of change that are enabled by disruptive technologies such as the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. In this article we examine each of these domains of change and the impact that they can have in real-world deployments.

Smart Traffic Management

Smart Traffic Management solutions employ digitally transformative technologies to monitor and control traffic flow in urban centres. They alleviate congestion, reduce fuel wastage, and lower CO2 emissions. For instance, implementing well-timed traffic management signals in Chicago and New York could potentially reduce annual CO2 emissions by 655,000 and 14 million tonnes, respectively.

Some of the key aspects of Smart Traffic Management are:

• Smart traffic monitoring. Previous research by Transforma Insights’ has found that road traffic monitoring can cut fuel consumption during traffic signal idling by 40%. AI-enabled traffic management systems are increasingly deployed to decrease accidents and congestion. 
• Smart parking and toll management. Over 25% of vehicles spend 35% of their commute time searching for parking, resulting in 30% of urban traffic congestion and emitting 28 million tonnes of CO2 annually. Smart parking solutions use sensors or AI-enabled CCTV to locate the nearest available parking space.
• Digital twins for traffic management. Digital twins can also be used to reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions by collecting data from multiple sources to streamline and provide near-time traffic information and forecasts. For instance, Chattanooga (USA) partnered with Oak Ridge and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to develop a digital twin model and improved traffic flow by 30%.

Smart Streetlights

Smart Streetlights enable intelligent lighting in public places using a combination of sensors network connectivity, and control systems. These systems can save financial resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, the Indian Ministry of Power deployed around 10 million smart streetlights in 2019 and as a result decreased associated carbon emissions by 4.8 million tonnes.

In addition to helping to prevent crimes, smart streetlights can support remote monitoring and maintenance and so reduce manual maintenance and repair work. For instance, San Diego (USA) is saving USD250,000 annually by remotely monitoring the city’s 3,000 connected streetlights.

Public Safety

Public Safety solutions utilise digitally transformative technologies for enhanced security in public areas, driven by rising crime rates and police shortages in urban areas. These kinds of solution can reduce crime response times and improve policing, indirectly cutting insurance claims and property damage.

Police departments often employ predictive techniques when planning policing for high-crime areas, as seen with the Vancouver Police Department achieving 80% accuracy in prediction of, and a 27% decrease in property crime. Drones can assist in navigating challenging terrain, capturing aerial footage, monitoring crowds, and streaming live events, with the Swedish Police Authority for example utilising drones for crime scene documentation, mountain rescues, and crowd control. Robots, such as the New York Police Department’s Digidog, can also offer solutions to avoid direct engagement with gun violence.

Waste Management

Waste Management involves using sensor-equipped smart waste bins to assess fill levels and communicate data to waste management authorities, enhancing collection efficiency and reducing trips. For example, a US university’s facility management team cut waste collection vehicle driving time by almost 50% by deploying smart trash cans. Additionally, technology-driven waste segregation minimises health hazards by avoiding workers’ exposure to hazardous materials.

Two key aspects of digitally transformed Waste Management are:

• Connected waste bins. Smart bins with sensors provide real-time waste data, helping to optimise collection processes, reduce overflow issues, and minimise collection frequency.
• Waste processing. Digital solutions can ensure accurate waste sorting, streamlining and accelerating the process.

Environment Monitoring

Environment Monitoring solutions include using environmental monitoring sensors to monitoring temperature, humidity, various particulate matters, and other pollutants. This group of solutions also includes the installation of audio-based monitoring tools to detect noise pollution and events (like gunshots) and share near real-time data with the relevant authorities.

These solutions ensure regulatory compliance with various pollutions directives, exemplified by Chevron Phillips Chemical Company’s USD 118 million penalty after violating the US Clean Air Act. These kinds of solution offer real-time pollution monitoring allowing for the optimisation of construction progress by managing pollution levels, and can also assist first responders with timely information during emergencies.

Some key aspects of Environmental Monitoring are:

• Pollution monitoring in cities and urban areas. According to the World Health Organisation, outdoor air pollution causes 4.2 million premature deaths per year, which underlines the criticality of deploying solutions such as smart traffic systems to reduce pollution levels.
• Aggression and gunshot detection. Using sensor-equipped analytical tools can reduce assaults and gunshot detection devices are often employed to prevent gun violence and mass shootings. For instance, SoundThinking reports a 36% year-on-year reduction in homicide cases in Pittsburgh following deployment of their solution.
• Manmade disaster monitoring. In California in 2018, approximately 8,500 wildfires incurred a USD 148 billion economic loss. IoT-enabled wireless sensors can be used to predict, detect, and respond proactively to fire incidents, facilitating timely evacuations of vulnerable residents.
• Natural disaster monitoring. In 2022, weather-related disasters caused a global economic loss of USD 313 billion and around 31,300 deaths. Companies are implementing machine learning-enabled early warning systems for natural disasters and to quickly identify future seismic activities.

Smart Mobility 

Smart Mobility includes bike and scooter sharing, micromobility, self-driving vehicles and demand-based routing solutions which are encouraging commuters to shift away from personal vehicles, thereby combatting traffic congestion and the shortage of parking space across major cities around the world.

Some of the key aspects of Smart Mobility are:

• Bike and scooter sharing. The US Department of Transportation estimates that bike sharing can cut traffic congestion by nearly 4%, offering a cost-effective, time-efficient solution for cities aiming to ease congestion and public transport burdens. The emergence of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks supports the longevity of bikes through maintenance tracking and location updates.
• Micromobility. This category includes compact and lightweight vehicles, often operating below 25km/hr and with onboard connectivity. The key features of such devices encompass embedded displays, automatic emergency calls, integrated navigation, social media connections, anti-theft systems, performance logging, health monitoring, and remote diagnostics.
• Self-driving vehicles. Autonomous vehicles can reduce car accidents (according to the National Highway Travel Safety Administration in the USA, 94-96% of accidents happen due to human error) and offer more suitable options for the elderly. They can also reduce carbon footprints since they typically use less harsh braking and acceleration, increase fuel efficiency and can allow platooning.
• Demand-based routing. These kinds of solution combine users’ travel patterns and public/private transportation data to create dynamic, demand-driven routes, reducing waiting times and traffic congestion. For example, Go-Coach in the UK increased vehicle utilisation by 77%, decreased driving hours by 62%, and reduced waiting time from 1 hour to 11 minutes.

Integrated Transport Systems

Integrated Transport Systems support multiple modes of transportation from a unified platform by combining mass transit, car sharing, bike sharing, and taxi services using a single interface. This approach can reduce congestion, unnecessary fuel consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The three main aspects of Integrated Transport Systems are:

• Consolidating existing transportation networks. Cities are consolidating public and private transportation into effectively a single platform, enabling users to conveniently book optimised journeys. For instance, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority reduced passengers’ waiting time by three minutes through use of an integrated transport system.
• Real-time information on public transport services. Integrated transport systems provide real-time service information to commuters, so increasing the utility of services and promoting usage. For example, Transport for Wales introduced real-time passenger data, offering live train locations and estimated arrival and departure times. 
• Smart ticketing. Digitally transformative technologies support migrating towards cashless transactions, which can eliminate waiting times to purchase tickets at ticketing terminals or vending machines and reduces unnecessary paper wastage.

Smart Data Management

Smart Data Management involves the use of data portals to consolidate information from various sources to create a unified data source which promotes better data sharing among government departments, local authorities, businesses, and citizens. For instance, the Italian government is leveraging Pronto Soccorso Lazio Ospedalis, a mobile application which estimates emergency ward waiting time, identifies less busy hospitals, and reduces waiting time. The application can help to guide patients to hospitals that are relatively less busy at any particular time.

The adoption of Smart Data Management ensures quicker information access and reduced data duplication resulting in economic gains. Smart city data portals can also foster innovation, create jobs, boost GDP, and promote service consumption.

Wearable Cameras for Personal Protection

Wearable Cameras for Personal Protection involves using body-worn cameras to reduce the potential for violent clashes. They can also serve as evidence in court, reducing reliance on potentially biased eyewitnesses. It has been shown that the use of such devices can decrease the use of force by police and also complaints against officers. For instance, a study revealed that after adopting bodycams, police’s use of force decreased by about 10% and complaints against the police fell by 17%.

Bodycams are also being adopted by firefighters (for training purposes and gathering evidence during rescue operations) and emergency medical service agencies. For instance, France wants its firefighters to be equipped with bodycams and the Cypress Creek EMS (USA), London Ambulance Service (UK), and Australian South Wales Ambulance (Australia) have all adopted bodycams.

Smart Cities offer a significant opportunity for digitally transformative solutions

Many city authorities have sought to modernise their city infrastructure with the aim of improving the quality of life for their residents. With rising urbanisation, increasing traffic congestion, air quality challenges, and security concerns authorities often feel obliged to introduce technological solutions and so contribute to the evolution of cities into smart cities. Currently, the majority of the world’s population resides in cities and most of the world’s GDP is generated by urban centres, which puts pressure on generally limited city resources.

To be successful the smart city ecosystem requires a cohesive collaboration between residents, businesses, and the relevant authorities to transform a city into a smart, environment friendly, and secure place to live and work. The adoption of new emerging digitally transformative technologies is a key element of the development of many of today’s fastest growing metropolises.