With 5G earmarked as a game-changer for cities, wireless technologies are already widely deployed by Australia’s leading smart cities. However, cities do not want to be locked into proprietary technology solutions, rather seeing themselves as a platform on which many organisations can build infrastructure, applications and services for the benefit of all citizens and all […]
Smart Cities Smart Energy
These are excellent examples of how ICT infrastructure can be used in a horizontal way, allowing organisations to cut through silo-based systems, and enabling councils and whole industry sectors to strategically transform their organisations based on a clear vision of their future. In order to develop the city/community as a new social and economic platform collaboration between all levels of government, citizens, private industry and the R&D community is essential.
Newcastle: Australia’s leading smart city
Over the last five years, I have seen from close the city of Newcastle moving towards becoming a smart city. Most certainly, the phrase “smart city” is a rather nebulous one, but it basically means utilising new technologies to enable communities to build a city that delivers more and better social and economic outcomes for […]
Smart Cities moving into 5G
Later this month, I will be sharing three masterclasses organised by the Australian Smart Communities Association (ASCA) and the Australian Computer Society (ASC) on the potential of using 5G as an infrastructure solution for smart cities. Just to make sure, I am doing this pro bono so no financial gain or otherwise for me. What […]
City-as-a-service – new business and investment model
While there are plenty of opportunities for local councils to create cost savings – especially by cutting through their internal silos and using ICT and infrastructure technologies on a sharing basis across the various city systems – the problem remains that before these cost savings can be made, significant ICT investments are needed. The reality […]
New push for cheaper energy costs and a much more efficient energy industry.
As the initiator of Smart Energy Australia in 2007, I looked with the experts of this industry association at how we could use technologies to make our energy system more efficient, cheaper, and less polluting. Of course, this included the arrival of renewable energy and technology developments in areas such as microgrids, distributed energy and […]
Digital economy essential for regional Australia
Back in the early 1990s, I was a founding board member of Service Providers Action Network (SPAN), which later became part of Communications Alliance. The key aim of this organisation was the promotion of new value-added services that could be provided over the telecommunications network. At this time there was no public internet and we […]
Smart City Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay Regional Council in South-East Queensland is one of the smart cities that is part of the Global Smart Community and City Alliance (GSC3). In all, some 25 cities formed part of this Alliance, which is no longer active. It is amazing to see the progress that Moreton Bay has made over the last […]
Building independent Gig Cities: this happens when you have a 2nd rate NBN
Adelaide was one of the first cities to build a gigabit fibre optic network but soon others followed. Newcastle, Wollongong, Launceston and the NSW Central Coast Council are now all developing their own gigabit infrastructure. Now, the NSW Government is putting $100 million dollars aside for the provision of “innovative systems” to improve the price, […]
Broadband driven Smart Energy Developments
There is no doubt that we are in the midst of an energy revolution. Not only is the nature of energy changing from fossil-generated energy to renewable – there is a total change in the distribution structure occurring with less focus on centralisation and more on distributed energy. Concerns about issues such as energy security, […]
The power of data in smart city developments
A few weeks, I attended a one-day conference at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) at the occasion of the launch of their new $7.5 million Centre for Data Science. This laboratory is also the lead node of a new Australian Data Science Network, bringing together data science organisations from across the country. The new […]
Power, Hope and Social Change: The Rise of the City?
A recent event addressed the fact that the world’s liberal democracies are faltering. Many of the problems that result from this are acutely felt in cities. And if we look at some of the more dramatic fallouts of the crises, we see that there are the people using their combined “people-power” to try and demand […]
Smart devices ready to flood the energy market to force prices down.
Over the last decade there have been excellent reports from the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) as well as from various industry bodies on reforming the energy market. The reports state this should be done through opening the market up to modernisation, more competition, better interoperability arrangements and better levels of transparency, all based on […]
Successful smart cities require significant ICT infrastructure
Telecommunications infrastructure plays an important role in providing the backbone for building the Smart Cities and Smart Homes which are emerging around the world. It is encouraging to see that so many governments and telecoms operators are working hard and investing heavily to deploy this underlying infrastructure which we will need for the future. Fixed-broadband […]
Power, Hope and Social Change: The Rise of the City?
A recent event addressed the fact that the world’s liberal democracies are faltering. Many of the problems that result from this are acutely felt in cities. And if we look at some of the more dramatic fallouts of the crises, we see that there are the people using their combined “people-power” to try and demand […]
Successful smart cities require significant ICT infrastructure
Telecommunications infrastructure plays an important role in providing the backbone for building the Smart Cities and Smart Homes which are emerging around the world. It is encouraging to see that so many governments and telecoms operators are working hard and investing heavily to deploy this underlying infrastructure which we will need for the future. Fixed-broadband […]
Smart Energy review – Transactive Energy Models
In my review of the smart energy market I looked at new technological developments and innovations that the industry discussed a decade ago, but that never led us anywhere as successive government have failed to come up with a smart energy policy for the country and as a consequence we have not seen any of […]
Smart Energy Exchanges – engaging consumers in the electricity market.
During my time as director of Smart Grid Australia and the Global Smart Grid Federation I often used my experience from the telecoms industry to look at new opportunities in the smart energy market. While I started to talk about distributed energy infrastructure over a decade ago, nothing much has happened in the meantime. The […]
Macau’s smart city project gains momentum
Macau boasts a sophisticated, independently regulated communications market. Gradual liberalisation has now fully opened the telecoms market with the full impact slowly becoming evident. Fixed line subscriptions in Macau continue to fall. Macau’s fixed-line market is transitioning to a fibre broadband market as CTM invests significantly in fibre access networks, a project made possible given […]
Christmas Blog – Political, economic and cultural effects of connectivity, communications, surveillance and data analysis
This is a good time of the year to reflect on our industry and its place in today’s society – not so much in respect of all of the important issues of the day, or from the year past, but on the broader developments in society in which our industry plays a key role and […]
Barcelona’s Smart City Strategist visiting Australia
As the Digital Business Strategist for the Barcelona City Council, Joaquim Alvarez has been instrumental in helping transform the City of Barcelona into what Fortune Magazine recently called the Most Wired City in the World. Joaquim comes from a telecommunication engineering background, and is a specialist in software development and telematics communications. His passion for […]
High-speed broadband infrastructure plays an important role in Smart Cities
With the majority of citizens living in urban centres around the world, there has been a growing interest in ensuring these highly concentrated populations are living in the most sustainable and efficient environments possible. Smart Cities offer the ability to manage our growing populations and the limited resources and environmental issues we face. In […]
Smart housing is an essential part of mega-city strategy
There are many reasons for the current significant problems with housing in our major cities. A rapid increase in population, the move to cities and the often unaffordable house prices are among the most serious issues. If we look at this in the context of smart cities, it is clear that a far more holistic […]
Australian/New Zealand ‘Smart Urban Solutions’ mission to the Netherlands
Following the Smart City mission from the Netherlands that coincided with the visit of the Dutch Royal Couple in November 2016, earlier this month a combined Australian/New Zealand ‘Smart Urban Solutions’ mission visited the Netherlands. The week-long visit focused on urban (re)development, smart mobility, the future of energy and sustainable building and innovative solutions created […]
Smart cities – hype or reality?
Smart cities – hype or reality? I have recently read several critical and sceptical articles and announcements in relation to smart cities, and I have to say that I do share some of that cynicism. Unfortunately in most the cases projects, pilots and technologies that are carried out in the name of smart cities are […]
Infratech reality or marketing plot.
Infratech seems to be a new buzzword in our world of technology. It covers the area of convergence between technology and infrastructure. I have been involved in this market since its early beginnings, some 25 years ago (since the internet became mainstream) and I have seen first-hand how difficult it is to marry the two […]
National Plan of Settlement: Good content – wrong strategy
I must have missed the run-up to this and so was surprised when the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities last week published a report called National Plan of Settlement. According to this report Australia needs a national plan to encourage denser, better-connected and more sustainable cities. Among its 37 recommendations are two […]
Smart Armenia – suggestion for a national approach
Last month I was honoured to be invited to be the special guest at BreakFAST, a Sunday morning breakfast meeting organised by Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, this allowed me to share my telecoms and smart city insights with a group of select government, business and academic […]
Political commiserations with a new Australian government – more power to (smart) cities.
In general this new government is a further thrust to the right– looking at the developments during the period of the Turnbull government – where little progress has been made in relation to more progressive policies – this further push to the right will most likely have a further negative effect on progressive policies, innovations, […]
Armenia using digital technologies to speed up its development
We are now on our last leg of our 3-month trip and are leaving Europe on a day the Netherlands is sweltering in 37C, we basically had three months of unbelievable good summer weather. The reason why we were attracted to Armenia is twofold. I was inspired by the passion for his country by my […]
Smart City in Greater Copenhagen
I am still traveling through northern Europe, after Iceland, Netherlands, Germany and Russia it is now Denmark. On a private note I am visiting two early medieval Viking towns Hedeby and Ribe. These were already ‘smart’ towns between 800 and 1000, becoming part of the handful of leading trading cities in those days. Those who […]
The city of Eindhoven promotes a smart society
The next Dutch city that I would like to focus on after Amsterdam and ‘s-Hertogenbosch is Eindhoven. This is the city where Philips started its business some 150 years ago. And they developed this from light bulbs to some of the most sophisticated electronic devices in the world. But, as is the case for so […]
Smart ‘s-Hertogenbosch is driven by data
After Russia I am now back in the Netherlands and, as mentioned in my previous blog on Amsterdam , I would like to highlight some of the smaller cities in the Netherlands. Amsterdam continues to receive most of the smart city attention, both internationally and in the Netherlands itself; but lots of interesting developments are […]
Saint Petersburg Smart City 2030
When I travelled to Russia back in 1972 I was very much impressed by St Petersburg (then called Leningrad) as it was, at that time, already more westernised than Moscow. And on this trip, while this city also has seen massive changes I found the atmosphere still comparable to 1972 – rather different from what […]
Big data portal for smart cities – and indeed a smart country
After Iceland, back in the Netherlands again and, as promised, a bit more information from this part of the world. It certainly is not just Amsterdam that is active in smart cities. In this article I will point to some 40+ local councils in the Netherlands that are providing smart city information. Setting an example […]
The Greater Lyon data platform
Further to my blog on Lyon a few weeks ago, here is some more information on the city’s data platform, which is based entirely on free software and has many features to facilitate the use of data. This data platform offers broad access to metropolitan data. It contributes to the objectives of the Lyon Métropole […]
Update on Amsterdam Smart City
During our European trip (see also my previous blogs on France), the Netherlands has been our home base; so there are and will be plenty of opportunities to also make contact with our many smart city friends and colleagues here. Amsterdam remains the smart city capital of this country, but cities such as Eindhoven, The […]
Lyon’s smart city strategy
Leaving Toulouse and Marseille (see previous blogs) we travelled to Lyon. The main reason for our visit to this city was that exactly a year ago I sold the research arm of my company to Ubiquick, and the new owners of BuddeComm are based in Lyon. We caught up with the management team and it […]
Smart Marseille: a changing port city
For those of you who did not read my report on Toulouse. I am visiting a number of smart cities in Europe. Next is Marseille, this is the second-largest municipality in France and the third-largest conurbation, with over 1.5 million inhabitants. As a metropolis, a port and a city steeped in history, Marseille faces a […]
Smart City Metropolis 2015-2020 – Toulouse open!
This is the first report from my smart city trip, which will take me from France to the Netherlands, Iceland, Russia and Armenia. We are also combining this trip with pleasure. Over the next three months you can expect regular travelogues from relevant smart city developments in the places I visit. We started in the […]
Don’t miss Australia’s leading smart city event
In just over a month Australia’s leading smart city event will take place in Melbourne (10 and 11 May), organised by the Australian Smart Community Association (ASCA). One of the main reasons I call this the leading smart city event is that this is the only smart city conference in Australia where half of the […]
A new smart suburb for the city of Helmond in the Netherlands
The city council of Helmond (a city in the south of the Netherland, close to Eindhoven) has approved plans for the construction of their Brainport Smart District (BSD). They will start with the preparation for its first projects, the building of around 1,500 new homes in a totally new suburb; a 12-hectare industrial estate will […]
Green Smart Cities Expo 2022 in the Netherlands
GSC3 will play an instrumental role in the Smart City Floriade Expo which will take place in the Netherlands in 2022. What can ‘green thinking’ do for you and for the world? Exhibits and presentations at Expo 2022 Floriade Almere will show how the green city concept can be implemented and how to deal with […]
Big data for the common good of local communities
There is no doubt that big data is going to be one of the most important tools that will assist human society in the future. Our increasingly complex society has been able to move forward, and it will continue to do so, based on rational, scientific facts and figures within the context of the needs […]
Disruptive technology can benefit our society
Disruptive technology can benefit our society There are plenty of discussions concerning the various disruptions that are taking place; this not only effects industries and markets but also politics and in society in general. Although technologies are key tools used by nearly all of us who are, willingly or unwillingly involved in creating disruption, however, […]
Will 5G trigger smart city PPP collaboration?
As discussed in previous analyses, the arrival of 5G will trigger a totally new development in telecommunications. Not just in relation to better broadband services on mobile phones – it will also generate opportunities for a range of IoT (internet of things) developments that among other projects are grouped together under smart cities (feel free […]
Smart City Barcelona goes open source
When talking about smart cities Barcelona has a special place in my heart. You might recall my blog from Barcelona late last year, reporting on the changes in that city. Barcelona was one of the first to tackle so-called smart city issues. Over the years they received internal criticism – claims that it was all […]
Long-term investment opportunities in smart cities
Questions for the investment community The federal government’s Smart City Plan, with a follow-up $75 million in grants as well as its City Deals, is stimulating a more strategic approach towards smart cities. In all, there are a dozen cities in Australia that have a solid smart strategy in place, backed up by high-level city […]
The Dutch Smart City Strategy
There is close collaboration between the Australian and Dutch smart city movements – Amsterdam has presented its smart city activities here in Australia at many events over the last five years; there has been an Australian-Dutch Smart City Summit in Sydney in 2016; there have been ministerial visits from both sides; and most recently the […]
Smart cities should be based on social considerations
While there is a general positive vibe regarding smart cities ther are also serious concerns about the way developments are currently taking place. This has mainly to do with a general lack of a people-focussed strategy – in particular in relation to social elements and personal morals, beliefs and emotions. We have been following what […]
Unstoppable smart energy
Regardless of whether there are leftish, right-wing or central politics at play, people power and market forces are pushing the use of smarter energy forward at considerable speed. The deployment of the largest battery storage facility in the world in South Australia, together with the many solar and wind farms that are relentlessly being developed […]
Smart city the long-term investment dilemma
Tell me what your problem is and I’ll tell you what the solution is – money. There is little doubt that citizens, their cities and communities as well businesses, all support the development of smart cities with its promise of increased liveability, sustainability, mobility, social and economic infrastructure and so on. The enormous increase in […]
National vs city-based democracy
There are some interesting but at the same time frightening developments in politics around the world. This is mainly driven by the fact that people no longer trust their traditional politicians and authorities. The differences between socialist (workers) and liberal (business/professionals) parties have been turned upside down. The liberals are now more conservative, with a […]
Call for national smart city collaboration and the formation of the Council of Smart City Mayors
With the announcement of the government’s first smart city grants in WA and the NT – with others to follow soon – it is time to start looking at national smart city collaboration in order to achieve a maximum outcome from the funds that are made available and to ensure that we don’t simply end […]
Smart City World Congress Barcelona: Dutch Australian Collaboration
A key reason for my participation in the Smart City World Congress in Barcelona was to further work on international smart city collaboration that was started exactly a year ago at the Dutch Australian Smart City Summit in Sydney, which was attended by Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. Since that time there have […]
Housing affordability and smart cities
Only a few decades ago there were only a handful of megacities around the world. Now there are more than 1000 cities with between 1 and 2 million inhabitants, and 40 cities with more than 10 million people. If we look at population growth in these megacities it is interesting to note that in general […]
Hello from Smart City Barcelona
I am in Barcelona at the moment for the Smart City World Congress. With Catalonia and its capital city Barcelona currently in the international political spotlight it’s a fascinating time to be here again. From my visitor’s perspective life looks normal – perhaps a few more Catalonian flags around, but most were there already when […]
The Smart City Expo World Congress 2017 in Barcelona
The Global Smart City and Community Coalition (GSC3) is running the famous Holland Pavilion (those who have been in Barcelona before, know what I mean 😊. At the GSC3 stand also the eight Australian GSC3 cities will be on display: Adelaide, Bendigo, Canberra, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Sydney, Ipswich and Moreton Bay. Several representatives of these […]
Cost savings on petrol could propel EVs in Australia
There recently have been reports in the Australian media about a report from the Australian Institute that the country is internationally lagging in the sale of electric vehicles (EVs). Only 0.1% of all cars sold in Australia were electric in 2015 (just over 1100 new EVs were bought here), compared with 23% of all new […]
Smart states and cities will not let the government wind back the energy clock
A big yawn and finally the federal government has woken up from its decade-long ‘sleep at the wheel’ to launch its energy policy. Perhaps it would have made some sense if it had launched this plan a decade ago, but the world has moved on while they kept bickering in parliament. Unfortunately for the government […]
Australia progressing as a major APAC data centre hub
BuddeComm describes ‘big data’ as looking at intelligent outcomes that can be achieved from data collaboration. The most critical issue here is strategic management, rather than technology. Big data has become a vital tool as competition is forcing many companies to transform their organisations from a company-centric approach to a customer-centric one. The fact that […]
Will we miss out on the next multibillion dollar smart energy opportunity?
While Australia was a relative latecomer to the smart energy market over the last five years it has climbed quickly up the ladder and is now in the global top ten countries. Close to 1.5 million households now have solar panels on their roofs and Australia is one of the leaders in the development of […]
Smart energy – or tilting at windmills
I have been involved in smart energy developments since 2001 (UtiliTel, Digital Economy Working Group, Smart Grid Australia, Global Smart Grid Federation). During this time I have been in contact with all levels of government and all major energy companies as well as with the broader business and R&D eco-systems around them. See No smart […]
The end of the Foxtel wars
The announcement of the proposed merger of Foxtel with Fox Sport Australia, combined with Telstra’s agreement to dilute its shareholding in the pay TV operator, paves the way for the end of the Foxtel war between News Corp Australia (formerly News Limited) and Telstra. The decline in revenue and subscriber numbers will most certainly have […]
Various drivers are propelling Smart City developments
The impetuous towards developing Smart Cities can be driven by a number of factors. It may be that citizens, who have increasingly becoming accustomed to the convenience of services being made available through the internet and through apps on their smart phones and tablets become frustrated when ICT services and infrastructure aren’t keeping up. This […]
The smart city market moving towards 2018
Back in 2001 I initiated the very first smart city event in Australia. In all some 75 representatives of Australian local councils gathered in Brighton-Le-Sands in Sydney. The focus of that event was the broadbanding of local communities around the country. This was seen by the local councils as one of the most important elements […]
Smart Cities: Technologies, Challenges and Future Prospects
As you can see below I am one of the authors of this publication. On behalf of the publishers, I can offer a 20% discount on any pre-orders of the book (I am not receiving any royalties nor do I have any other financial interest in this publication). There are several different definitions of “smart cities” […]
Update on Singapore’s journey towards a smart nation
Just over two years ago Singapore announced its proposals for a program which was entitled Smart Nation. The ambitious project was designed in order to fasten the city, residents and government into a new digital age of innovation and industry. Singapore is making the bold transition from a successful city to Smart Nation. It already […]
Global Smart Energy Developments
There is no doubt that we are in the midst of an energy revolution. Not only is the nature of energy changing from fossil-generated energy to renewable – there is a total change in the distribution structure occurring with less focus on centralisation and more on distributed energy. Concerns about issues such as energy security, […]
Dutch Smart City Delegation back in Australia
It will be the third time in six months that a Dutch Smart City Mission will visit Australia. This time the visit will coincide with next week’s Smart Communities Conference in Adelaide, organised by the Australian Smart Communities Association (ASCA). The first visit took place in November last year when Queen Maxima of the Netherlands […]
People are ready for smart environments
With an increased awareness of the importance of digital infrastructure many local councils are disillusioned by not having access to infrastructure such as FttH and smart grids. The organisations involved in the delivery of this are slow in upgrading their infrastructure since in many cases they will not be the recipients of the benefits derived […]
Smart budget – potential for smart developments
Will this be the turnaround for the government that many of us hoped for when Malcolm Turnbull took over from Tony Abbott? While politics remains politics, and governments remain governments, the tone of this Budget is completely different from the shock horror Budget of 2014 that resulted in political uproar, a gridlocked parliament, and the […]
Smart Homes
Back in 1980 when I still lived in the Netherlands I worked with the Dutch futurist Griet Titulaer (an astronomer by trade) in building ‘The Home of the Future’. I would say that at that stage it was more built around innovative interior design with automation features. Home entertainment also played a key role in […]
360VR video of Australia’s leading smart cities
Last November the Global Smart Communities and Cities Coalition (GSC3) started to set up partnerships with Australian cities. ASCA was one of the first organisations who signed a MoU with GSC3 in the presence of the Queen Maxima of the Netherlands during the Australian – Netherlands Smart City Summit co-hosted by ASCA. GSC3 was back […]
Netherlands Smart City Strategy and the role of GSC3
As mentioned in last week’s blog, as we speak Assistant Minister Angus Taylor is now in the Netherlands. He will also be briefed on the Dutch Smart City Strategy that was launched last week. After Australia, the Netherlands is now the second country with a national smart city strategy and there is obviously interest on […]
Rhineland economic model is closest to smart city developments
It is interesting to compare the major economic models in the western world – the American Anglo-Saxon model, the European Rhineland model and the Scandinavian model. The Anglo-Saxon model is very much driven by small government, market-driven economic and social policies, and in general has a large focus on shareholders value. By contrast the other […]
No smart energy policy for Australia
My involvement in the Australian energy market started in 2001 when I brought the energy companies together in Sydney, be it at that at that time we were looking at utilising their infrastructure to assist the ailing telecommunications market that was dominated by Telstra who was at that time unwilling to introduce residential broadband services […]
How can smart communities assist in addressing populism?
The fact that the election of Donald Trump came as such a shock shows the deep division, especially in America, between the people in the upper echelons of society and those who are less-educated, underserviced, and in many cases poorer. While the top 50% of society has, in general terms, done well economically over the […]
Golden Ratio statues presented to five Australian smart city organisations
At the Dutch Australian Smart City Summit that I organised today, five Australian smart city organisations have received the Golden Ratio statue in recognition for their future collaboration with the Global Smart City and Community Coalition (GSC3). The presentation followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the GSC3 and the Australian Smart […]
Venice: a model for smart cities?
Hello from Bella Italia and in this case from the previous Republic of Venezia. The town has long been a city state and this has helped them in being strategic about its role in a world where more and more policies are pushed back to a city level. Furthermore as we all know Venice has […]
Report from smart city Naples
This time a report from Napoli; an amazing city more authentic Italian than the ‘real’ holidays cities in Italy. It has a very long history it started as a Greek city (Neapolis) around 600BC. During the Middle Ages it was – after Paris – the 2nd largest city in Europe. As of the whole of Southern […]
Hello from Amsterdam
This time to report, not on developments in the Netherlands, but on the progress of the Dutch Smart City mission that will be arriving in Australia at the end of October. This year is the 400th anniversary of the landing of Dirk Hartog in what is now Shark Bay, Western Australia. He placed an inscribed pewter […]
Technology and the fight against inequality
Referring to our recent report: Smart Cities – How cities can contribute to social stability and security, I agree that technological and economic developments over the last few decades have led to an increase in inequality. The financial benefits of technological developments and globalisation have – in the western economies – largely been delivered to the […]
From DSL to FttN, G.FAST, Fttdp, XG-FAST – building the NBN the tortuous way
In September 2016, NBN Co indicated its interest in a technology known as XG.Fast, it is a next level up from the G.Fast technology they started to trial in 2015 and it also needs to be seen in the yet still bigger picture of Fttdp (fibre to the distribution point). The development and deployment of […]
Tesla doing a Google in the Australian electricity industry?
Back in 2001 I established Utilitel, an industry alliance of all the major electricity companies in Australia. The initial set-up was aimed at looking at business opportunities for the utilities in the telecoms industry and over the subsequent years various new telecoms businesses were established by the utilities. Obviously this was a tough market and […]
The complexity of multifunctional smart city projects
One of the so-called low-hanging fruits in smart city plans is street lighting. Significant savings can be achieved by replacing the existing system with LED light and allowing for the management of light contingent on the level of traffic. This, of course, also results in cost savings. I discussed the street lighting project with my […]
How cities can contribute to social stability and security
Interestingly, during the process of establishing the Smart City Industry Collaborative one of the blue chip companies I contacted indicated that they were not a big fan of smart cities as their company was not really in the business of ‘making people happy’. They were selling ICTs to ‘make cities smarter’. This conversation took place a few […]
Are blockchains the solution to financing smart cities?
One of the most difficult elements in the development of smart cities is how to finance them. Local government doesn’t have the money for it and while state and federal governments might have more money to spend there is no way that their current tax funds could pay for even a fraction of the investments […]
Lake Macquarie Smart Council, Smart City
Lake Macquarie City Council has laid the foundation for creating a more connected, innovative and resilient city, with the adoption of the Lake Mac Smart City, Smart Council Digital Economy Strategy. A key development here has been that the council started this project by looking internally. They understood that if they were to develop a […]
Smart Cities and the open data dilemma
Many city councils are grappling with the big data issue. A key driver for their city to become smarter is to provide citizens with access to data sets that they can use to build new applications and services. As mentioned before, the smartest city will be the one with the smartest apps. On the one […]
Waiting 30 years for smart homes and still counting
Back in 1980 when I still lived in the Netherlands I worked with the Dutch futurist Griet Titulaer (an astronomer by trade) in building ‘The Home of the Future’. I would say that at that stage it was more built around innovative interior design with automation features. Home entertainment also played a key role in […]
Hamburg – Smart Seatropolis
For some time now Hamburg has been working on becoming the world’s first Smart Seatropolis through a partnership between the City of Hamburg, the Hamburg Port Authorities and Cisco. With an advanced, end-to-end network being built that connects real-time information between urban services and adjacent port operations historic Hamburg is leapfrogging into the 21st century. […]
Sunshine Coast leading the smart city movement
Sunshine Coast Council hosted the inaugural Australian Smart Communities Summit in Caloundra. The fact that the event happened there is a reflection of the commitment that this council has to the development of a smart city. One of the most critical elements here is leadership, and both the mayor and the CEO are passionate about […]
Smart City Ipswich
When the Australian government’s National Broadband Network was announced in 2009, Ipswich partnered with surrounding regions to create what they called the Western Corridor National Broadband Network in order to attract national interests and investments. This early start paid off well for the council as it became one of the first recipients of the NBN […]
Smart City Geelong
As with so many forward-looking cities Geelong started to implement a ‘smart’ project well before the term ‘smart city’ became fashionable. But, as we have been discussing, like most of these projects also this one was at the start not undertaken in a strategic context, and again like most other projects elsewhere being implemented as […]
City-as-a-service – new business and investment model
While there are plenty of opportunities for local councils to create cost savings – especially by cutting through their internal silos and using ICT and infrastructure technologies on a sharing basis across the various city systems – the problem remains that before these cost savings can be made significant ICT investments are needed, and the […]
Will telcos become the OTT players in smart energy?
As I am involved in both the smart energy and the telecoms market I am in a good position to make comparisons and observations in relation to these utility markets. I have been following the telecoms market for over 30 years and the electricity market for 15+ years – in both cases well and truly […]
Smart community conference Tokyo
Last week I attended this most interesting conference. One striking element of the event was that every Japanese presenter mentioned ‘the disaster’ at least once in their presentation. This is how they refer to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. They almost never specify the ‘nuclear’ disaster; if they don’t just use the word ‘disaster’ they refer […]
The highway of the future – Oss, The Netherlands
On my recent trip to Europe I also visited my hometown Oss, Brabant, in the southern (better J) part of the Netherlands. Here I drove on the ‘Highway of the Future’, a 6km access road from one of the main the freeways into the city and its industrial areas. This local project has national significance […]
Trans sector meeting with Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs
The following is a translation of the press release that was issued by the Ministry after my meeting with Minister Frank Heemskerk in 2009 whereby I officially presented him with a copy of the Big Think Report on Trans Sector Thinking. The Minister, on June 3rd met with Paul Budde to discuss broadband policies. Minister […]