Smart Cities: A Tech-World to Bring Smart and Interconnected Technological Revolution

By: Vishal Barapatre, Group CTO, In2IT Technologies

Stepping ahead into the whole new era of interconnected things, the world has moved beyond the boundaries in order to create a smart space and lead a smart lifestyle. We are rapidly adapting to the continually transforming technology at a faster pace than ever, which has marked the beginning of a smart revolution along with a smart economy.

Information and communication technology (ICT), smart grids, wireless sensor systems and Internet of Things (IoT) have enabled smart ecosystem where everything will remain interconnected to each other with minimal human intervention. In the present Machine to Machine (M2M) era, manpower has lesser role to play due to effective implementation of digital systems and technologies. Smart cities are simply a platform where this digitization and interconnection of surroundings will remain the area of development apart from creating the best infrastructure to rely upon.

Smart Cities are a result of innovation and advancements in modern technology where governance and infrastructure will be connected to the lives of people which would subsequently raise the standards of lifestyle. Smart Cities will lead to the exponential growth of the economy as a whole and various diversified industry sectors- retail, manufacturing, automobiles, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, consumer electronics, home automation applications, energy & utility, security and surveillance, BFSI, so and so forth will explore major benefits through this highly interconnected platform.

IoT has helped businesses to create new business intelligence models and Cloud Computing made the storage as well as accessibility of big data possible extremely well. According to technology research firm Gartner, IoT devices installed base (excluding PCs, tablets and smartphones), will grow to 26 bn units in 2020, up from just 0.9 bn in 2009, which shows the embedded potential that IoT holds. Big data analytics is further being leveraged as a tool to deal with the menace of cyber crime, which is a major concern for the whole IT industry.

Businesses can now store, share and exchange data over the cloud and leverage the potential of cloud-based service models i.e. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). Cloud in collaboration with IoT enables effective utilization and management of resources including human skills, efficiency of machines and improving technology. Smart cities would thus eventually emerge as a perfect spot for businesses to grow and expand globally while meeting the demands of digital economy.

To drive a long-term growth, it is necessary to build adequate digital infrastructure as this is one of the major challenges that slows down the transformation process of present economy to smart economy. Technology cannot play it all alone; it needs the subsequent support of best infrastructure as it lays the foundation stones of smart cities and strong IoT network. Foundation needs to be strong otherwise there is no point to dreaming high.

With government’s push to new reforms and development, there emerges a new ray of hope that we would be walking towards a digital planet but a practical approach is the need of the hour. Smart cities need strategic investments in building the technological infrastructure and meeting the IT industry needs apart from a robust policy framework to curb the root cause of cyber crime. Data security should never be compromised in the forward-looking countries as it is something that matters the most.

Let’s say yes to smart traffic including smart street lights which will switch itself off to conserve energy when there’s no one around; Smart transportation include self-driving cars; Smart Infrastructure; Smart City System Integrator;  Smart accessing and monitoring of devices with a single touch on your smart screens, Smart water; Smart Electricity; Smart Governance and simply what not. Let’s break the chain and explore the power of “being smart”!