What is a smart city? | CNBC Explains

Summary

The transcript highlights the global trend towards smarter cities, integrating technology into every aspect of urban operations. Singapore exemplifies this with comprehensive data collection for real-time city monitoring through its Smart Nation program. Dubai's 'Smart Dubai Initiative' offers over 50 smart services via a single app, enhancing convenience for residents. Barcelona's smart systems, including adaptive street lights and automated waste collection, are predicted to save billions in energy costs. The global smart city market is projected to attract significant investment, with companies like Microsoft and Cisco vying for a share.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Governments worldwide are integrating technology into every aspect of city operations, including transportation, IT, utilities, and waste management.
• 🏙️ Singapore is a leading example of a smart city, using extensive data collection and monitoring systems to manage public spaces and predict crowd reactions.
• 📈 Singapore's Smart Nation program, launched in 2014, includes the use of cameras and data analysis to monitor crowd density and public cleanliness in real time.
• 🔍 Singapore's Virtual Singapore platform allows the government to access real-time city functioning data, aiding in disaster response and disease spread prediction.
• 🏙️ Dubai's Smart Dubai Initiative has introduced over 50 smart services through the Dubai Now app, enabling residents to manage various civic tasks digitally.
• 🚗 Dubai's app allows for convenient services like paying fines, managing utilities, and tracking personal documents, all from a single platform.
• 💡 Barcelona is implementing smart systems to save billions in energy costs, such as adaptive street lighting and parking sensors.
• 🅿️ Barcelona's parking sensors provide real-time information on available parking spots, reducing congestion and improving urban mobility.
• 🗑️ Barcelona also uses garbage sensors for automated waste collection, reducing noise pollution and operational costs while improving cleanliness.
• 💰 The global smart city market is projected to attract significant investment, with estimates of 15 billion dollars by 2021, primarily in software.

Q & A

What is the general trend in city development mentioned in the script?

The script mentions that many governments are infusing technology into every aspect of city operations, making cities smarter by the year.

What are the key areas that smart cities focus on improving?

Smart cities focus on improving public transportation, IT connectivity, water and power supply, sanitation, solid waste management, urban mobility, e-governance, and citizen participation.

What technologies are commonly used in smart cities as mentioned in the script?

Smart cities use technologies such as big data, the internet of things, and various sensors to collect and analyze data for better city management.

What is the 'Smart Nation' program launched by Singapore in 2014?

The 'Smart Nation' program is an initiative by the Singaporean government to deploy systems for monitoring and managing various aspects of daily living, including crowd density and public space cleanliness, through the use of cameras and data collection.

How does the Virtual Singapore platform benefit the government?

The Virtual Singapore platform provides the government with real-time access to how the city is functioning, helping them predict crowd reactions to events and the spread of infectious diseases.

What is the 'Smart Dubai Initiative' and what does it offer?

The 'Smart Dubai Initiative' is a program that has rolled out over 50 smart services from 22 government entities, allowing residents to perform various tasks through a single app, such as paying fines, tracking packages, and renewing vehicle registrations.

What are the three smart systems mentioned in Barcelona that could save billions in energy costs?

The three smart systems in Barcelona are smart street lights that adapt to activity levels, parking sensors that provide real-time information on available spots, and garbage sensors that automate waste collection through a vacuum network.

How do smart street lights in Barcelona contribute to energy savings?

Smart street lights in Barcelona dim when there's no activity and brighten up when motion is detected, thus saving energy by not illuminating unnecessarily.

What is the estimated annual energy cost savings for Barcelona due to smart systems?

Barcelona is estimated to save billions of dollars a year in energy costs by implementing smart systems.

What is the estimated market size for the global smart city software by 2021?

The global smart city market is estimated to attract 15 billion dollars by 2021, specifically for software.

Which companies are mentioned as being interested in the smart city market?

Companies such as Microsoft and Cisco are aiming for a piece of the smart city market.

What is the estimated amount cities could save by making their operations smart by 2021?

Juniper research estimates that by 2021, cities could save nearly 19 billion dollars by making their operations smart.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Smart City Evolution and Technology Integration

This paragraph introduces the concept of smart cities, emphasizing the global trend of integrating technology into various aspects of urban operations. It highlights the use of modern technologies like big data and the Internet of Things to enhance public transportation, IT connectivity, utilities, sanitation, and citizen engagement. The paragraph sets the stage for exploring specific examples of smart city initiatives.

🏙️ Singapore's Comprehensive Smart Nation Initiative

The paragraph focuses on Singapore's advanced efforts in creating a smart city, with a strong emphasis on data collection for daily living. It details the government's deployment of systems to monitor activities in prohibited zones and the use of cameras for crowd density and vehicle movement tracking. The Virtual Singapore platform is introduced as a real-time city monitoring and predictive tool for emergency and disease spread scenarios.

📱 Dubai's Smart Services and Citizen Convenience

This section discusses Dubai's 'Smart Dubai Initiative,' which has rolled out over 50 smart services from various government entities. The Dubai Now app is highlighted as a multifunctional tool for citizens to perform tasks such as paying fines, managing utilities, and handling vehicle registrations, showcasing the convenience brought by smart city services.

💡 Barcelona's Energy-Saving Smart Systems

The paragraph examines Barcelona's implementation of smart systems to save on energy costs, including adaptive street lighting, parking sensors, and automated waste collection. It explains how these technologies work to improve efficiency and reduce pollution and costs, contributing to significant financial savings for the city.

💰 Economic Impact and Market Potential of Smart Cities

The final paragraph discusses the economic benefits and market potential of smart cities, with an estimate that cities could save nearly 19 billion dollars by 2021 through smart technologies. It also mentions the global smart city market's expected growth, attracting significant investments and interest from major tech companies.

Keywords

💡Smart City

A smart city is a municipality that uses different types of electronic data collection sensors to supply information which is used to manage assets, resources, and services efficiently. The concept is integral to the video's theme, as it discusses how various cities are integrating technology to improve urban living. For instance, Singapore is highlighted for its extensive data collection efforts to monitor daily living and enhance city operations.

💡Technology Integration

Technology integration in the context of smart cities refers to the incorporation of various technological solutions to improve public services and infrastructure. The video emphasizes this by showcasing how cities like Singapore, Dubai, and Barcelona are using technology in public transportation, IT connectivity, and waste management to create a more efficient and responsive urban environment.

💡Big Data

Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data, both structured and unstructured, that inundates a data system. In the video, big data is used to describe the massive amounts of information collected by smart cities, which are then analyzed to improve city operations and services, as seen in Singapore's Virtual Singapore platform.

💡Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals, or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network created by the Internet of Things. The video mentions IoT as a key technology used in smart cities, with examples of smart street lights and parking sensors in Barcelona.

💡E-Governance

E-governance refers to the use of the Internet and World Wide Web for delivering government information and services to the public. The video discusses e-governance in the context of Dubai's 'Smart Dubai Initiative', where services such as paying fines, tracking packages, and renewing vehicle registrations are made accessible through a government-provided app.

💡Citizen Participation

Citizen participation is the involvement of citizens in the decision-making process of public policies and services. The video touches upon this concept as it describes how smart city technologies can enable and encourage citizens to be more engaged in the management of their cities, through apps and platforms that provide information and services.

💡Smart Nation Program

The Smart Nation Program is a national initiative in Singapore aimed at using technology and data to improve the lives of citizens and create economic opportunities. The video highlights this program as an example of a government-led effort to collect and utilize data to monitor and manage urban environments more effectively.

💡Virtual Singapore

Virtual Singapore is an online platform that serves as a digital twin of the actual city, providing real-time data and simulations to help the government understand and manage the city's operations. The video describes how this platform uses data collected from various sensors to predict crowd reactions and disease spread, enhancing the city's preparedness and response capabilities.

💡Smart Street Lights

Smart street lights are a type of IoT device that uses sensors to adapt lighting based on the presence of people or vehicles. The video mentions these lights in Barcelona as an example of how smart systems can save energy costs by only illuminating when necessary.

💡Parking Sensors

Parking sensors are devices that detect the presence of a vehicle in a parking spot, often used to provide real-time information to drivers about available parking spaces. The video discusses parking sensors in Barcelona, illustrating how they can improve urban mobility by reducing the time spent searching for parking.

💡Garbage Sensors

Garbage sensors refer to smart waste management systems that use sensors and automated collection methods to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The video describes compact drop-off containers in Barcelona that are part of an underground vacuum network for waste collection, which lowers noise pollution and operational costs.

💡Economic Savings

Economic savings in the context of smart cities refer to the cost reductions achieved through the implementation of smart technologies and systems. The video cites a Juniper research estimate that by 2021, cities could save nearly 19 billion dollars by becoming smart, highlighting the financial benefits of such initiatives.

Highlights

Many governments are integrating technology into all aspects of city operations, including public transportation, IT connectivity, water and power supply, sanitation, waste management, urban mobility, e-governance, and citizen participation.

Smart cities use technologies like big data and the Internet of Things to enhance operations.

Singapore is a leading example of a smart city, with extensive data collection on daily living.

Singapore's government is deploying systems to monitor smoking in prohibited zones and littering from high-rise buildings.

Launched in 2014, Singapore's Smart Nation program aims to add more surveillance cameras for monitoring crowd density, public space cleanliness, and vehicle movement.

Data collected in Singapore feeds into Virtual Singapore, an online platform for real-time city functioning insights.

Virtual Singapore helps predict crowd reactions to incidents and spread of infectious diseases.

Dubai has rolled out over 50 smart services as part of the 'Smart Dubai Initiative'.

The Dubai Now app allows for various services like paying fines, electric bills, calling taxis, tracking packages, and more.

Barcelona is implementing smart systems to save billions in energy costs annually.

Smart street lights in Barcelona adapt and dim based on activity, saving energy.

Parking sensors in Barcelona provide real-time information on available parking spots through an app.

Garbage sensors in Barcelona use a vacuum network for automated waste collection, reducing noise and odor pollution.

Juniper Research estimates cities will save nearly 19 billion dollars by 2021 by becoming smart.

The global smart city market is projected to attract 15 billion dollars by 2021, primarily for software.

Major companies like Microsoft and Cisco are targeting the smart city market.

Uptin Saiidi from CNBC reports from Singapore on the advancements in smart city technology.

Transcripts

Just how smart is your city?

Chances are it's getting smarter by the year.

Many governments around the globe are racing to infuse technology into just about every

aspect of its city’s operations.

And I mean every part.

Including public transportation, IT connectivity, water and power supply, sanitation and solid

waste management, efficient urban mobility, e-governance and citizen participation.

And it does this using every buzz word imaginable, from big data to the internet of things.

So how does a smart city work?

Let's look at three examples.

Here in Singapore, the city-state might be the gold standard of the most extensive effort

to collect data on daily living.

The government is now deploying systems that can tell when people are smoking in prohibited

zones or littering from high-rise housing.

Singapore launched its own smart nation program in 2014 and will add more cameras like these

so the government can effectively monitor crowd density, cleanliness of public spaces

and even the exact movement of every locally registered vehicle.

Much of the data its collecting will be fed into an online platform called Virtual Singapore

that gives the government access to how the city is functioning in real time.

It could help the government predict how crowds might react to an explosion in a shopping

mall or how infectious disease might spread.

Over in Dubai, more than 50 smart services from 22 government entities have been rolled

out as part of the government's 'Smart Dubai Initiative'.

Using the government-provided app, Dubai Now, you can do things like pay a speeding ticket

which likely captured you on a public camera and was then emailed you the ticket directly.

You can also use the same app to pay your electric bill, call a taxi, track a package

you sent your friend, find the nearest ATM, renew your vehicle registration, track the

visa status of a relative and report a violation to the Dubai police.

Now head over to Barcelona where one research firm estimates the city will save a billions

of dollars a year in energy costs just by installing smart systems like these.

Number one: smart street lights.

Public lighting that adapts and dims when there's no activity but brightens up when

sensors detect motion.

The second - parking sensors.

Instead of driving in circles looking for a spot to park, drivers can get real-time

information on an app which locates free parking spots.

Sensors on the street curb use lighting and metal detectors to know if a parking spot

or loading area is occupied.

And finally, garbage sensors which are actually compact drop-off containers which have a vacuum

network through pipes which sucks up trash below ground.

The automated waste collection not only lowers noise pollution from garbage trucks, but also

lowers costs and keeps bad odor away.

Juniper research estimates that by 2021 cities will save nearly 19-billion dollars

by making their city smart.

But of course to save money, sometimes you have to first spend it first.

The global smart city market is estimated to attract 15 billion dollars by 2021, and

that's just for software.

So now companies from Microsoft to Cisco are aiming for a piece of it.

In Singapore, Uptin Saiidi, CNBC.