Page 8 - Microsoft Word - Connected City Blueprint - V1 (JPEG TABLES).docx

1.3 The importance of the Smart City and its Challenges

Smart Cities are more than just the implementation of various technologies. “Smart” does not only refer to technology
or sensors - it is a concept and new kind of culture for how cities and its agencies can work more effectively
internally, with partner agencies and organizations and, of course, with their citizens. “Smart” is a way of transforming
from the way things have always been done because that’s the way we did them, to thoughtfully considering what
should be done based on analytics, metrics and adjusting the goals/mission of the city and various agencies based on
that analysis, while continuing to update those goals as new and more relevant data is captured and analyzed. Smart
Cities are not a destination to arrive at, but a new process for managing how cities and agencies work.
Smart Cities can be a tool to positively affect policy changes at the municipal level in terms of everything a city does
such as energy conservation, air quality/pollution, transportation, connectivity, data collection and sharing, etc.
• Smart Cities think of how their departments can better coordinate all of their activities and data.

• Smart Cities think about the data they collect and how to make it easily available to the general public to
better understand it, to use that data in new and interesting ways such as apps, etc. allowing constituents to
contribute to improved services.

• Smart Cities think about how to collect additional data that can be easily shared across departments to help
each unit make smart, more cost effective decisions.
• Smart Cities think of how technology and data can help them provide a better service to constituents, how they
can make this service equally effective, but more importantly, cost effective.

• Smart Cities think about how constituents can contribute data and information to more quickly alert the
municipality of problems such as malfunctioning lines, transportation issues, road work and construction, etc.
Smart Cities can make an urban environment easier for people to navigate, live, work, play and to experience
more out of the cities with various technologies than other cities. Examples include:
• If a city understands more about vehicular traffic flow, they can better implement changes to the existing road
infrastructure and right-of-way as well as parking issues. They can make decisions based on collected data
that can change how cars are used in a city.
• If a city understands how pedestrians and bicyclists move around the city, the data can be used to create
newer and safer pathways for them to move around. They can combine that data with vehicular data to create
a more cohesive system of movement within the city.
• If a city knows when and where their public transportation buses and trains are at all times, they can
significantly improve the quality of the experience for their constituents, reduce delays, and improve
maintenance.
• If a city knows how much trash is being generated, they can adjust their collection routes based on need
versus routine, saving money, improving efficiency and freeing sanitations services to do more general
cleaning to improve the overall cleanliness of the city.
But the real benefits of a Smart City come from the data that is subsequently collected. At the start of the process,
most cities won’t fully grasp the benefits of pooling all of their data together; but by combining as much city data as
possible, agencies will be able to answer questions that before seemed un-answerable. In addition, they will begin
transforming from a reactive city to a proactive city, and work towards predicting the issues affecting constituents
before they become major problems. Such as:

Report title: Connected City Blueprint
5 Issue Date: 15 December 2016 Wireless Broadband Alliance Confidential & Proprietary.
Copyright © 2016 Wireless Broadband Alliance
Document Version: 1.0