Flashback to 2014 and India’s now Prime Minister #NarendraModi was the talk of the country, thanks to the holographic technology he deployed to address his rallies. With that one event it was clear that a connected India will be on top of his manifesto. Not surprisingly today he is talking about collaborating public and private enterprises to create smart cities across India.

The objective of a Smart City would be to use technology to offer services that are intelligent, advanced, affordable and accessible. Lets look at what this could mean in resolving the top 5 concerns India is facing today.

IoT Solution 1: Waste Management for Smart Cities

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Garbage, garbage everywhere!

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Every morning the one sight that a walker does not miss is that of overflowing garbage bins. Today, most cities have bins strategically placed so they are accessible by homes. However this has led to the next issue of piling up of garbage leading to stench, pests and filth. How can IoT solutions resolve this problem? Imagine smart bins placed at street corners. These bins are developed to act as trash compactors with in-built sensors. So as you dump trash into them they will compact them to take in probably 4 times more waste and additionally give out signals to the waste management system when the bins are nearing full to schedule for pickups. Wow I would love to see that on my street. Look at the multiple benefits this can have – increased waste load, eliminate overflows, efficient logistics planning and increased cleanliness. Companies like Big Belly are offering similar products. This is just the beginning; with IoT the possibilities here are limitless.

IoT Solution 2: Traffic Management for Smart Cities

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Honk Honk! Argh, traffic again!

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Thankfully I don’t have to travel on road and so saved from all the road rage that everyone else at work talks about! This definitely will be another critical agenda for a smart city to resolve. Traffic management is one of the biggest challenges that IoT can help manage. What if you could plan your travel based on the “best time to travel” recommendations thrown at you by an IoT device? What if the traffic signals were dynamic and operated depending on the density of vehicles rather than just time bands? What if your device could let you know the crowded streets to avoid if you are looking for parking? This and a lot more is possible by deploying IoT managed services and systems in a city. With IoT Solutions, traffic management can go to a completely different level, being more predictive, dynamic, intelligent and secure. Especially for a country like India, where every city operates as a country by itself, an IoT driven traffic management can be customized to the advantage of the lifestyle of that city.

IoT Solution 3: Smarter Energy Utilization for Smart Cities

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Global Warming is not far away and your city is in it too

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Considering that cities worldwide contribute to 80% of CO² emissions, better environment systems needs to be at the core of any Smart City development. Taking a cue from Paris that has taken the initiative to reduce greenhouse emissions and energy consumption by 30% before 2020, India needs to build in smart solutions to make its’ cities more energy efficient and sustainable. IoT technology embeds at its’ core the ability to work with a city to improve its air quality, reduce its water wastage and increase power generation. Now we all know that these three elements are important to function on a day-to-day basis. With smart city the day will not be far when you can actually wake up get updates on key energy metrics from inside your house and office. Technology will aid in informing you about the small steps to be taken as an individual that would have a larger impact on the community and hence on the city. Overall IoT tracking solutions can help cities maintain more efficient water supply, receive service alerts and track the consumption trends. Adding to that, with better solutions for sewage management I think the overall quality of life will be at an improved level.

IoT Solution 4: Public Safety for Smart Cities

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Better safe than sorry

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With lifestyles becoming more mobile and busy, won’t it be a dream if your city had the best in class security and surveillance system that could take away the jitters when you are alone? An IoT enabled city will be like the constant pair of eyes that can help individuals, communities and government keep a friendly safety watch on people. Smart video surveillance for public monitoring, hovering drones acting as alarm sensors, rapid action team dispatch technology and a dynamic security system can all work together to make cities safer and traceable. IoT enabled security system could be the eyes and ears that authorities needs in order to be more efficient and agile. With IoT huge clouds of data can be accessed dynamically and tracked with single clicks. By deploying smart solutions if your city crime rate could drop by 30%, like it did for Shanghai, wouldn’t that be the boon that we are looking for?

IoT Solution 5: Smarter Communication for Smart Cities

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Staying connected – online & offline

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2G, 3G, 4G, 5G and the saga continues! It is all about staying connected. India is still a long way off in becoming 100% connected. However this cannot be the case with smart cities. With everyone on a constant move, working across multiple platforms and interacting through the globe, connectivity is the lifeline that a Smart City will need to address. In India Internet has finally penetrated the rural areas and with the recent demonetization it became essential for the daily man to connect to a network. Beyond cloud backups and internet-connected devices, it is internet-connected services that will run smart cities. With connectivity arises the need for security and efficiency. People are not satisfied with just being connected. The Internet is now teaching them what architecture will keep them secure and give higher performance, leading to service providers educating their consumers on networks and their capabilities (aka Airtel open network promotions). The competition landscape for connectivity solutions is broadening, with innumerable players entering to win market share. It is now critical for the Government to step in to standardize and stabilize the services across the country.

Wrapping up..

Many cities around the globe are joining the Smart City bandwagon! With the initial focus being on energy efficiency, public safety, and sustainability the cities will soon graduate to build solutions around health, education, and system integration spanning all sectors.

The ideal city of the future will combine wireless connectivity with the traditional concepts of community and shared space. So how do we address this mammoth task? Thankfully India’s Prime Minister #NarendraModi is continuing to promote digital India and that opens a world of opportunity for IoT solutions provider like us to play a key role in building these connected cities of the future.

IoT solutions are essential to manage everything from sanitation and water to transportation, communications, and infrastructure, and we at Happiest Minds are constantly striving to build solutions around them.

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