Smarts Cities: innovation to improve the lives of citizens

For some time now, the concept of smart cities has been part of our lives. There are many examples that we can find all over the world: New York, London, Paris, Malaga, Salamanca or Gijón, these are just some examples of them. As you can see, size does not matter, but knowing how to make the most of the resources to improve life in them.

What are the Smarts Cities?

When we talk about this concept, we are referring to those who have opted to apply, in an intelligent way, information and communication technologies, bid data or the internet of things. With this, what they seek is to manage in an efficient and sustainable way, the services and benefits they offer.

According to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2050 the world population will rise to 9,000 million inhabitants, of which 70% will live in urban centers. It is therefore necessary for cities to evolve for an increasingly urban future, which can respond to major global challenges such as population growth, energy efficiency, water management, the impact of pollution or the shortage of certain resources among others.

In Spain there is Spanish Network of Smart Cities made up of 83 members who account for 40% of the total Spanish population. In addition, at the more local level, the Ministry of Science and Innovation supports the Red Innpulso-Network of Cities of Science and Innovation, to which 72 municipalities are attached and is a meeting forum for all those municipalities that want to advance on the path to be smart and innovative cities.

Ecosystem to foster innovation

From the Mile of Knowledge Margarita Salas de Gijón / Xixón, the space where companies and entities that work for the smart future of the city are located and from which Gijón Boosts is a driving agent, innovative projects promoted by the City Council are being carried out such as the project of asmart lighting for the next 15 years, that will guarantee a minimum energy savings of 45.33% and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 30% per year.

The initiative is also being carried out by the municipality Gijón-IN – Innovative, Intelligent and Integrative City as a selected project of the smart cities program of the Digital Agenda for Spain, in the modality of individual participation, and its objective is the intensive use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

In this way, Gijón is positioned as a city that advances and adapts to new technological advances to offer its inhabitants a more efficient management of the city, a higher quality of life, a better economic environment capable of attracting new agents and innovative companies

Keys to a Smart City

But It’s not just about digitizing or sensorize a city. The use of technology to improve the habitability and resilience of cities and the quality of life of citizens requires a know-how capable of applying multiple technological concepts to achieve a connected city.

From Gijón Impulsa, they have analyzed what are the keys of a Smart City, and they show that, to achieve the digital transformation of a city, it is necessary to foresee a high efficiency of the solutions applied together with a commitment to the environment and sustained costs. Among the challenges to transform a city and make it disruptive, they mention the following:

• Efficient use of resources. All Smart City starts from the fact that resources are limited, especially energy and water resources, that is why an efficient management supported by technology is necessary that improves people’s quality of life and is based on the principles of environmental sustainability.
• Urban mobility and sustainable transport. It involves optimizing connections, promoting sustainable public transport, shared vehicles. Smart sensors, connectivity, access to data and applications in the cloud are some of the key factors to achieve this.
• Shared data and transparency between governments and citizens. Through management based on open data, in order to streamline bureaucratic procedures to be more decisive and achieve a more digital citizenship.
• Efficient urban planning and building automation. With the aim of adapting the service provision processes to the new requirements that society demands today in matters of intelligence, sustainability, safety, hygiene, control and traceability of people and goods.
• Constant collaboration and public-private alliances, as well as the exchange of information and knowledge with uniuniversities, research centers and support for an innovative and entrepreneurial culture.

With all of these factors, an X-ray of how cities will evolve in the next decade, becoming experimental laboratories to promote the best solutions for environmental and energy sustainability, urban designs that promote business growth and the well-being of citizens to achieve more livable cities.