A green city is a smarter city

Europe 2020 will foster some of the smartest and most sustainable cities in the world. The sustainable growth of urban areas will be possible greatly due to smart urban technologies which willstrengthen the continent from its financial crisis.
The ever-increasing population in cities, combined with the current economic crisis, requires European cities to be more efficient in terms of infrastructures and services to ensure an improved quality of life. In July of 2012, the European Commission launched the Smart Cities and Communities European Innovation Partnership, with the aim to converge progress in energy, transport and ICT, and build towards a low carbon and resource efficient economy.
 Each year, a city is appointed as European Green Capital by the European Commission. Nantes’urban policies won over the jury this year, and reigns as European Green Capital 2013. Its victory was greatly due to its ambitious climate plan which aims to halve CO2 emissions by 2025, as well as its mobility and its sound water policy and management of natural areas.
According to the climate strategist Boyd Cohen, in his ranking of top 10 smartest European cities,Copenhagen is the hardest working to become the most advanced urban landscape followed by Stockholm. It comes as no surprise that the latter has recently decided uponmodernizing its image in an attempt to reinforce itself as a role model city for civic management.

Both Scandinavian cities ranked highly in Smart Environment, where Copenhagen boasts world-class green credentials. Denmark’s capital aspires to become the first carbon-neutral capital. There’s no doubt its 20,000 cyclists contribute enormously to reach such a bold target. The Copenhagen Wheel Project is a good example of smart mobility. The wheel is equipped with sensors which allows cyclists to use their smartphones and share information about the levels of air pollution, traffic or noise as well as allowing the cyclists to control their bikes, lock them and measure their physical effort.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=S7y3qIQu3Gc
However, it takes more than bikes to be the smartest city in Europe. As well as creating more bicycle lanes, Copenhagen intends on replacing coal with biomass, adding more wind and solar electricity to the grid and cooling buildings with seawater.
In turn, Stockholm’s upgraded image reflects a city which also aims high in terms of environmental issues and intends on becoming fossil-fuel free by 2050. One of its most notable measures was the road charging system, introduced back in 2007. This consists of cameras, sensors and laser beams which identifies cars that pass different check-points during peak times of the day and therefore enables the city to charge a tax on these vehicles.
80% of the population is expected to live in urban areas by 2030. As these urban habitats grow, cities have to be built to improve their service delivery capabilities by making their transport, public safety, government services, education and health “smarter”.
Read more: smarter city

What do Brazil or UK think about M2M modem ?

A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive for SAP among hundreds of IT Decision Makers (ITDMs) shows very interesting responses regarding M2M technologies.
Considering the results, Brazil, China, Germany and India are the most favorable countries for M2M technologies in Smart Cities. In particular, Integrated Technology and Device Manufacturers (ITDMs) from Brazil were the ones who considered Smart Cities as the best outcome (35%). This response doesn’t come as a surprise: Smart Cities technologies are having an excellent deployment and response in the country, from Rio de Janeiro and its ‘NASA alike’ operations center to Curitiba, that now benefits from an awarded Smart Transport solution provided by Ericsson and Four-Faith.      
Besides, almost all the ITDMs viewed M2M as the “natural evolution of consumerization of IT”, thanks to concepts like Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD). China and India were the countries that most embraced these ideas (92% of its ITDMs viewed so) but UK and Brazil were also very receptive.
With regards to the opportunities that M2M  modem can provide in the workplace, results by country were clearly influenced by socio-economical factors. For example, M2M for increasing productivity for employees was the top selection in China (69%). It makes total sense: its workforce and productivity have been the main core of a huge economic boom in these last decades but now its productivity growth is falling. On the other hand, in Brazil, the biggest opportunity of M2M for the workplace is the increase in efficiency.
In general, all ITDMs see undeniable benefits to M2M but they also detect some barriers: lack of offerings, management, security and big data issues were mentioned. M2M market growth proves that M2M opportunities will finally overcome these barriers but these are still a challenge, which need to be taken up. To face it and take advantage of the huge opportunities of M2M, ITDMs can find more trust in the vision and capabilities of a global company. 

Five Amazing things that M2M industrial wireless router technology has made reality

When talking about M2M we usually forget that these technologies can also be used to connect people and help them with their day to day tasks. This is why our selection for the fourth post of the series “Five Amazing things that M2M technology has made reality” focuses on social uses of M2M industrial wireless router devices that help people at home.
The first one is aimed at kids or their parents, depending on how you look at it. A startup called MessagePetz, Inc has created a Wi-Fi-enabled teddy bear that allows parents to text their children and also notifies them when the bear receives a hug:
https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/projects/498145/video-240770-h264_high.mp4

There’s no doubt that this next one has been created for adults. Durex has developed Fundawear, a  vibrating underwear that can be connected to a smartphone and activated remotely to stimulate the wearer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qb7DN3kpl2o
So maybe you’re not good at keeping track of your diet or you never quite know what you actually have in your fridge... Then you should probably start letting the fridge take care of that! The Smart Fridge, presented at the Internet of Things Day 2013 in Trento does this and more. It can even lock your fridge during customized time slots to prevent you from raiding the fridge for midnight snacks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1RzGV9ZnVSs
The technologist Tom Coates is very active on Twitter, but do you know who else is also very active on this social network? His home in San Francisco! It tweets a lot of funny stuff that you can actually understand, and not the kind of sensor reading jibber-jabber you usually get from devices connected to the Internet.

Finally, If you have an hydroponic garden, you might find Bitponics very useful: it is an IoT hydroponics gardening manager which includes sensors to hook up to your hydroponic plants, an electronic device that connects to the cloud and a web app to manage all the information presented. This way, users receive helpful reminders when it's time to take care of their plants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=At8_-Aq5t6U

Elevating M2M wireless zigbee module to a higher level

You can hate elevators for many reasons. It takes a momentary dimming of the lights and an abrupt jolt to become overwhelmed with an odd anxiety which accompanies many of us when we get into one. However, could M2M (wireless zigbee module )technology possibly put an end to our aversion to them?

The moment you step into the confined space of an elevator you probably want to feel the reassurance that if anything were to happen you would be able to get out of there in the shortest possible time. Getting stuck in the lift needn’t be such a nightmare with the aid of machine to machine technology.

Lifts and escalators are used one billion times per day across Europe alone, so it comes as no surprise that safety and reliability are manufacturers’ and maintenance operators’ top priorities. All it takes is a sensor which operates around the clock to remotely monitor and collect information on the elevator.

Facts have it that 45% of all elevators in Europe are more than 20 years old which gives M2M an important role to play in the upgrade of existing systems. This smartened-up elevator would respond in real time to any failure you may have the misfortune of encountering, as well as sending an emergency warning and triggering an alarm.

As well as looking out for our safety, M2M-enabled elevators cut down on maintenance costs where technical alarms substitute for maintenance and routine personal testing of the emergency call system. Also, the possibility of integrating the maintenance and telecommunication in an all-in-on contract is extremely cost effective.

The European directive EN81-28 instructs all elevator manufacturers and operators to equip them with an emergency call and diagnostics system. This obviously requires voice and data connectivity which depend upon technical availability when using a fixed network communications infrastructure via cable. However, wireless communications fulfill legal requirements whilst reducing installation and connectivity costs.

Smart grids = smart development in Latam

Efficiency, reduction in energy losses and sustainability are some of the characteristics of any Smart Grid. Furthermore, deploying them to developing countries brings some other advantages. For instance, they are key to providing an accurate and reliable electricity supply which is essential for supporting an expanding economy.

This is the idea supported by Michele De Nigris and Manlio F. Coviello in their report Smart grids in Latin America and the Caribbean. They analyze the current infrastructure in the region with a deep study into Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico and Jamaica. “Smart grids can be instrumental in enhancing the sustainability of the energy system in the region, contributing to the long term security of supply and to the global system competitiveness”, they conclude.

The authors also make a decalogue with the challenges that the smart grid development has:

• Develop regional and national road maps for smart grids
• Develop a policy framework to promote smart grids
• Adapt the energy regulation to promote smart grids
• Create, collect and disseminate business cases
• Develop and demonstrate smart grids technologies
• Demonstrate distribution automation and smart meters
• Share best practices and know how
• Promote standardization
• Engage public awareness
• Build up on regional skills and excellence

Smart grids’ deployment in the region would bring opportunities in three fields. There are economic ones, such as reduction of direct and indirect labor costs or fraud prevention; environmental ones, such as reducing carbon emissions and finally social advantages, such as the integration of users in managing their energy.

The report assures that “the development and roll-out of smart grids technologies is not a goal per se but a means to achieve the objectives of an accessible, reliable and sustainable electricity supply”.

However there are obviously some handicaps to implanting smart grids in Latin America and the Caribbean. Beyond the economic cost of deploying new grids, the authors point out another difficulty: the electrical engineering studies in the region do not yet address smart grid application. Nevertheless, they trust in the “natural skill of local engineers to address problems and projects using a very pragmatic approach and setting up solutions”.

Actually, there are already some projects to deploy smart grids in some of these countries, such as Chile, Brazil and Panama, where governments are realizing the importance of this technology and they are starting to build the future of their countries.

read more: Smart grids

How M2M will be making your day to day easier before you know it

If you’re here, it’s more than likely you know a fair amount about M2M. However, ask anyone outside of the industry what machine-to-machine actually is and they may have no idea, let alone know that this technology has already made its way into their everyday lives. If this is your case, here’s a look at how M2M will be making your day to day easier before you know it.

Let’s start the M2M adventure on your daily commute to work on public transport. Your everyday bus stop is a smart object integrated in an infrastructure of many other smart objects, which provide your city with intelligence. How else would it be possible to know the estimated time of arrival of your next bus whilst waiting at the stop? In some cities, information is shared between bus and subway systems enabling transport authorities to react efficiently to overcrowding. 

Perhaps you are victim of rush hour traffic. You’ll be happy to know that some traffic control centers already have sensors buried under main roads to measure the volume of traffic in real time and get that information to you before you decide on taking the same route to work.
Your car itself will be enhanced by M2M (industrial router) technology. For instance, eCall will be deployed in every new car by 2015. This device will automatically dial 112 in the event of a serious traffic accident as well as wirelessly sending airbag deployment, impact sensor information and GPS coordinates to the local emergency centre.

M2M has also enabled insurance companies to develop tailored policies for each of their clients by monitoring their driving performance. Keeping in mind you are a good driver, this could benefit you by paying for how you drive and not for other drivers’ risks. On a very unfortunate day, you may find your car isn’t where you swear to have parked it. Insurance telematics will surely brighten up your day by locating your vehicle in case of theft. 

Throughout the day, you’ll be getting your wallet out to pay for all sorts of different products and services, be it a taxi fare, your morning coffee, or an evening meal. However, thick and heavy wallets will be a thing of the past as soon as the mobile banking frenzy settles down into our day to day norm. Mobile applications can hold our payment and loyalty card details which transform our phones into digital wallets. This allows us to pay with our credit cards just by swiping our mobiles at the NFC machine.

M2M will also be able to put your mind at rest from worrying about your elderly loved ones. The number of elderly people is steadily increasing, but emerging tracking solutions are suitable for protecting the elderly and people with health problems. This includes remotely checking their health condition and sending an alarm signal in case of any sudden health scare.

As you can see, machine to machine technology is certainly taking off more than you may have expected. The Internet of Things is a revolution which has already commenced and will form part of your not so distant future.

90% of new cars will be connected by 2020

“The Connected Car is one of the most exciting innovations we have seen in over a century of automotive development” writes Carlos Morales, M2M Director, Four-Faith Digital,  in the Connected Car Report 2013. It will open “incredible opportunities for the consumer, the automotive industry and the mobile industry alike”. The event Connected Car 13, that starts tomorrow in Amsterdam, will be a great occasion to discover  what is happening in the sector

More than 30 keynotes and discussions will discuss business models, how the industry is engaging with the app developer community, the connection of smartphones to cars, the payment for infotainment, how the user will control his vehicle through apps and the safety on the road that the connected car brings.

Mark Dawson, senior conference researcher for Informa Telecoms explains that the industry debate is focusing on unearthing the business models and monetizing strategies that will guarantee the financial success of the Connected Car. “With contributions from leading Auto-OEMs, innovative connectivity and infotainment providers and the whole connected car ecosystem, Connected Cars is where you need to be to identify you future connected car monetisation strategy”, assures Dawson.

Four-Faith  will provide a valuable document to be discussed coinciding with the event. The Connected Car Report, launched on June 20th, offers detailed information about what the challenges of the industry are, how it’s facing them and how the future of vehicles will be thanks to machine-to-machine technology.

According to the prediction that Machina Research makes in the report, we will see connectivity become the norm in vehicles in the next 10 years: “Today, this market comprises primarily aftermarket devices. However, the next few years will fact, we predict that by 2020, 90% of new cars will feature such a platform, growing from less than 10% today”.

We will keep you updated on everything that’s happening around the event on our web（wireless industrial router ） and on our Social Media channels (Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +).

90% of new cars will be connected by 2020

“The Connected Car is one of the most exciting innovations we have seen in over a century of automotive development” writes Carlos Morales, M2M Director, Four-Faith Digital,  in the Connected Car Report 2013. It will open “incredible opportunities for the consumer, the automotive industry and the mobile industry alike”. The event Connected Car 13, that starts tomorrow in Amsterdam, will be a great occasion to discover  what is happening in the sector

More than 30 keynotes and discussions will discuss business models, how the industry is engaging with the app developer community, the connection of smartphones to cars, the payment for infotainment, how the user will control his vehicle through apps and the safety on the road that the connected car brings.

Mark Dawson, senior conference researcher for Informa Telecoms explains that the industry debate is focusing on unearthing the business models and monetizing strategies that will guarantee the financial success of the Connected Car. “With contributions from leading Auto-OEMs, innovative connectivity and infotainment providers and the whole connected car ecosystem, Connected Cars is where you need to be to identify you future connected car monetisation strategy”, assures Dawson.

Four-Faith  will provide a valuable document to be discussed coinciding with the event. The Connected Car Report, launched on June 20th, offers detailed information about what the challenges of the industry are, how it’s facing them and how the future of vehicles will be thanks to machine-to-machine technology.

According to the prediction that Machina Research makes in the report, we will see connectivity become the norm in vehicles in the next 10 years: “Today, this market comprises primarily aftermarket devices. However, the next few years will fact, we predict that by 2020, 90% of new cars will feature such a platform, growing from less than 10% today”.

We will keep you updated on everything that’s happening around the event on our web（wireless industrial router ） and on our Social Media channels (Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +).

10 key challenges of the Connected Car

The Connected Car Industry Report takes a deep look into an ever-growing industry that alongside the vast opportunities it offers will have to face a series of challenges. As seen in the report, these can be summed up in the following 10 points.
There is a disconnect between mobile and automotive industry lifecycles
Automotive OEM manufacturers work on 5 year cycles as opposed to the constant operating system upgrades and new applications we have at our disposal. The difference in lifecycles between both industries is starting to be tackled by some manufacturers through taking a modular approach to the technologies they have deployed in their vehicles.
Automotive OEMS fully prepared for connectivity regulation
Vehicle manufactures are already prepared to comply with regulation mandatories such as the e-Call, although to what extent and when these requirements will be implemented remains unknown.
Built-in vs brought-in connectivity
The Connected Car industry is still divided between dedicated connections or smartphone tethering. The pros and cons of built-in vs brought-in connectivity or a combination of both are still fueling a debate about how to connect the car.
Collaborative business models must be developed between operators and OEMs
Mobile operators are key to supporting automotive OEMs with connectivity solutions. However, objectives between the two vary creating challenges such as overcoming the permanent roaming prohibition in some countries.
Connected car will cause an upheaval in the traditional dealership model
It is of upmost importance to continue working on the relationship between automotive manufacturers and dealers to ultimately benefit the customer.
Connected car will lead to new types of ownership model being developed
Car sharing is just one example of the many forms of mobility and car ownership models that the connected lifestyle and Connected Car will bring.
Autonomous vehicles are not on the immediate agenda for most OEMs
Semi-autonomous vehicles are certainly on the horizon, but autonomous vehicles based on autonomous driving technologies or vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure solutions are still on the long-term roadmap.
Payment models for how consumers pay for connected car services are still not yet developed
Connected Car services entail added costs which automotive OEMs will need to justify to the customer who is used to a one-off payment when purchasing a car.
Manufacturers remain cautious towards the open app ecosystem
Due to security and reliability issues, innovation in Connected Cars will be more restricted in comparison with the smartphone app market.
A connected lifestyle is a given
The report stresses that the Connected Car is no longer an option but a necessity which meets customers’ expectations of continuous connectivity.
read more: M2M Solutions

Vehicle connectivity is becoming a desired feature

The Connected Car 13 has given us the opportunity to meet some of the key actors of the M2M industry, from analysts from the most prestigious companies to leaders of some of the main car brands, such as Fiat, Kia, Audi and Ford. From a private roundtable we could extract some conclusions about the road this industry is taking:

• More localization is needed to tailor connected car services vs. a mass global approach.
• Payment flexibility is critical to support the emerging business models.
• The car will never be a smartphone, so “don’t force it”.
• A vehicle integrated service is the desired service experience as opposed to smartphones which distract drivers from focusing on the main task of driving.
• Similar to handsets, upgradable / switchable vehicle head units are on the horizon.
• Societal changes (urbanization, unique severe economic downturn, digital generation) are demanding new business models in the industry.
• Vehicle connectivity is becoming a desired feature, very much similar to the “type of engine”.

Furthermore, Four-Faith Digital launched the Connected Car Report 2013, a deep analysis about the industry with the collaboration of Machina Research, and a lot of interesting articles have been published due to the occasion. Here’s our selection: 

• Connected Car Market to Hit $98.42 Billion by 2018
• The connected car: destination mass market
• Connected cars will be the norm by 2020
• How manufacturers are tackling the Connected Car
• Car industry must remodel itself to exploit the 'connected future'
• Research and Markets: Global Connected Car Market - 2013
• Connected cars: what’s in store

Smart citizens make the city of the future possible

In a world where the population is becoming increasingly urban and less rural, cities face the challenge of becoming more efficient and sustainable urban habitats for its citizens. These advancements configure what is popularly referred to as smart cities. However, we should put the focus on smart citizens who contribute their own intelligence and creativity to making the city of the future possible.

The symposium on smart cities which took place recently in Madrid was an excellent opportunity to discuss the important role that citizens are playing to create sustainable urban habitats. The high penetration mobile rate which reaches a staggering 60% in Spain is a phenomenon which transforms citizens into sensors with their phones alone. Citizens are a valuable source of information who now have the necessary tools to play an active role in generating and crossing data to make cities more intelligent.

Smart cities wouldn’t be possible without smart citizens. E-citizens will be capable of generating networks and making change happen in their immediate environment. Questions is, does the average citizen even know what a smart city entails? The public administration has the need of educating and managing a progressively hyperconnected citizen. 

Open data is a step forward for the administration to interact with citizens where a new cloud of information and feedback is generated at their service. Crossing data with the information citizens can provide is a source of added value which transforms data management into a transversal process. Public administrations must also be prepared to manage data as to respond to citizens in real-time.

So in which ways are citizens already contributing toward a smarter city? In thecase of Madrid’s municipal transport company, it launched a mobile app which provides all kinds of useful real-time information regarding bus routes and schedules. However, their open data strategy gives citizens free access to this information on the internet. This enables them to cross this information with other data regarding the subway and trains, for example, and create enrichened mobile applications which cover different needs. These applications created by the citizens themselves are used more than the official application itself.

Smart Citizen is an interesting project and a great example of how citizens take a leading role in rendering information about their environment. Smart Citizen consists of an open-source monitoring platform which each citizen can have in their home to collect all kinds of environmental data. This data can then be crossed with other peoples’ data to provide valuable information for the city as a whole.

Chile faces challenges for mining, Four-Faith provides M2M solutions

Around one third of the copper in the world comes from Chile, according to the International Copper Study Group. This means more than 10% of its GDP and 47% of its exports. Moreover, thanks to the copper, Chile’s economy is growing by nearly 6% annually with impressive low inflation and unemployment rates. The economic landscape is looking bright for Chile but its mining sector faces some challenges.

The country has a strong dependency on China. As the world’s first manufacturer, China buys 40% of the total production of copper for hundreds of applications (wiring, electronics, architecture, etc) so Chilean exports and the price of the metal depends mostly on its demand.  Another challenge  -also related with exportation- is the competitiveness of other countries for the production such as USA and even China itself.

As copper resources are not infinite, the mining sector in Chile should focus on increasing its efficiency and profitability to strengthen its leadership and overcome this competitiveness. Machine-To-Machine technologies can approach these issues in several ways.Every mine requires several big haul trucks to carry tens of tons of ore. Their location and loads must be meticulously controlled.Fleet management technologies, with the flow of data provided by M2M sensors in trucks, can carry out this duty with great efficiency.

Furthermore, mining installations and machinery can improve its processes thanks to the Managed connectivity solutions. It increases productivity and reduces costs thanks to the automation, Real Time management and optimization that M2M sensors and data provides.

However, it is not all about production and control of machines. Mining workers are exposed to some dangers inherent to their activity. Chile is very conscious of these risks because, unfortunately, it suffered infamous accidents in the past. In this sense, human safety must be key for mining companies. M2M can help to improve safety with adapted e-health solutions: workers can wear M2M sensors that immediately send alerts if its body movement is not detected or something else goes wrong, speeding up emergency assistance. This is especially useful for lone workers at huge mines who at times can find themselves to be several kilometers away from their most close colleagues.

Competitiveness for the mining sector is becoming stronger but Chile has all the elements to face the challenges. M2M solutions are and will be among these elements.

Smart meters in UK: a technological challenge for Four-Faith

United Kingdom has taken a technological leap in its smart meter management infrastructure. There are a lot of important benefits (environmental, economical, social ones), but technological implications are also very interesting.

The nationwide smart meter tender was divided into three regions (Northern, Central and Southern). Each one of these areas have different geographical and demographic characteristics, and the companies which offered their services put diverse technologies forward. 

Finally the communications for the Central and Southern regions, awarded to Four-Faith UK, will be based upon the public O2 2G/3G networks. A low bandwidth radio network will be deployed in the Northern region for this project.

The main difference between the Northern region and the rest of regions is its complicated orography and a greater dispersion of its population which results in an inferior mobile coverage.

The use of public networks for M2M as opposed to private networks will be an important issue in the upcoming years. The outcome of this confrontation is hard to foresee and there will probably be mixed solutions. Due to the virtues and and defects of both kinds of network, either a private or a public one will be used depending on the needs of each case. Four-Faith  UK’s offer is in fact not only based on the 2G/3G network.

Mobile communications are produced by specific hardwares called CHs (Communication Hubs) which have a SIM card. However, the final transition to smart meters is made possible by using low bandwidth radio technologies which can also use dynamic routing (mesh) whenever it is necessary to alternate between various CHs to reach the meters.

The SMART M2M communications service by Four-Faith  is responsible for the provision of communication systems for mobile lines and Communication Hubs. It manages the lifecycle of the lines and it supervises its correct performance with the use of DMM (Device Management and Monitoring) capacities which apply to the Communication Hubs.

The analysis of M2M communication technologies from an economic and functional point of view is a very interesting aspect which will influence how fast the evolution of M2M deployments in the world will be. We’ll have to wait and see.

Technology around a smart city will create life will be more efficient

Smart cities is one of the main topics at the ITU Green Standards Week that is taking place this week in Madrid. Sekhar Kondepudi is one of the panelists that has taken part in the discussions. He is an Associate Professor of Smart Buildings and Smart Cities at the National University of Singapore and he is currently a Vice-Chair for the Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities at the ITU. We had the opportunity to interview him to understand his personal opinions about the matter.

When does a normal city become a Smart City?

It is likely that there is no “normal” city today. In many cases, there is some form of “smarts” or “intelligence” in every city. Reason is that technology is now become very pervasive –just as an example, smart phones are almost everywhere– even in remote places in India and Africa. However, pockets of smart technologies do not make it a smart city. In my opinion, Smart Cities are well managed, integrated physical and digital infrastructures that provide optimal services in a reliable, cost effective, and sustainable manner while maintaining and improving the quality of life for its citizens.

What are the essential requirements for a smart city ?

• A “smart city” must have technology underpinnings / foundation which enables the connectivity between the different activities / attributes of the city life. These technologies need to be reliable, scalable, and standards based to allow for interoperability.
• It must have sufficient information / data / metrics about the different aspects of a city (for example health, transport, energy use, environmental quality, air pollution, water quality etc).
• The smart city must be reliable, environmentally sustainable, secure & safe for its citizens, flexible – to allow for dynamic changes in its infrastructure. 
• The “Quality of Life” of its citizens / society is a critical aspect, so a city which maybe “smart” yet does not maintain or improve the quality of life of its citizens, has not met its real goal.
• A smart city will be constantly tuning itself, honing the individual efficiencies of the different vertical infrastructure operations such as real estate, industry, utilities (energy), water, waste, education, healthcare and mobility.
• However to achieve a higher order of optimization, these very seemingly “independent “ vertical infrastructure silos will need to coordinate with each other in order to making living more convenient and comfortable while at the same time balancing the fragile environment.

In which way are smart cities profitable? In an economic, ecological or citizens’ well-being point of view?

There are three key pillars: Societal, Economy, and Environmental. All of these must co-exist for a successful Smart City. If we have a city which is good for the environment and the society (citizens) but runs a budget deficit or is not viable economically, there is a problem. How can it become economically viable –Technology will create jobs, citizens will become more productive, life will be more efficient (better transportation for example will save time and therefore will be more time– less time in traffic jams) and the citizens can be more planned. Improved productivity and efficiency will hence lead to greater job creation, lower prices –leading to increased purchasing power and this cycle will overall lead to improved viability. I will caution that it will not be economically viable / profitable from day 1. This will take some time and as a society or government, we must be prepared to make the necessary investments and have a long time horizon to realize the benefits.

What are the first steps for a city to become a smart city?

Establishing a Dedicated Core Team of the different Stakeholders –from Government, Academia, Industry, Financial institutions, Citizens etc. o Creating a Vision, Timeline o Study other cities, their successes and failures– lessons learned o Start to measure / monitor– collect data to gain a fundamental handle on what are the most pressing issues. This will lead to an understanding of the different issues / problems / pinch points affecting the city o Develop a Project Plan with appropriate activities to implement including resource (people and financial) allocation

What are the features that all smart cities will have within the next 10 years?

This is a very difficult question to answer, since it is not like a telecom product or router with a defined set of features / specifications. The end specifications / features of a smart city will vary from one city to another based on many variables such as geography, culture, climate, location, size, economy, industry etc. It is better to look at the following characteristics that Smart Cities will have in the future . Actual smart cities will be some permutation and combination of the different attributes in the graphic below.

 

When will be facing the consolidation of real smart cities?

There are many smart cities today which are pretty much ready – for example Songdo or Masdar in the case of new or Barcelona and Amsterdam in the case of existing cities. However in the case of new cities, success will be only when the smart city becomes “mainstream” and population migrates to live there. For example, currently Songdo is only 10 – 15 % occupied, despite its technologically superior offerings –primarily due to the economic macro factors such as the real estate market in Korea– a factor which a “smart city” cannot control. In my personal opinion, by 2025, we will start to see more “Songdo or Masdar” like cities but they will be fully operational only in 2040. So we MUST have a long term horizon.

What are in your opinion the most interesting projects of smart cities today?

There are too many good projects out there to count. Each of them have good aspects and some not so good, so it is difficult to say one is better than other. There are different parameters or dimensions that one can look at including Technology, Environmental, Governance, Cost etc. Common examples which are often quoted include Songdo, Masdar, Tianjin, Singapore, London, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Barcelona.

What is most important in a smart city: public or private involvement?

Both –a smart city will not be successful unless both public and private involvement and commitment is there. The concept of PPP (Public-Private Partnerships) is critical. Since private companies will not participate unless there are financial incentives for them or potential / possibility to make money, the construct or framework agreement of such PPP activities must be crafted carefully. The Public portion can help get things kick started when the risk is the highest and Private can take over and operate / run it once the city gets going. In many cases, Private will ensure efficiency on the operation of a smart city, since in many cases, public agencies are not motivated or even trained / knowledgeable to keep costs down and maximize profit – leading to a lack of efficiency and wastage of money and resources.

Are there currently enough consolidated standards to build a smart city?

Not really – there are many standards efforts around “smart cities” but they all look at the city from a different “lens” or view point. The ITU will have the ICT lens, the IEC and ISO a different lens. So, it is important that the different Standards Organizations start to collaborate and work across a comprehensive view of a Smart City, but the problem is so large that a true consolidation may not ever happen. At a minimum, each Standards body / organization must be aware of what other key standards bodies are doing in the topic of Smart Cities and if they feel appropriate, they can leverage it, or not. Standards are important to allow interoperability and a sense of consistency and less “one offs” o Users / Consumers of these standards such as Cities, Governments, Private Industries etc will use these standards as they decide to move forward as per their own plans / priorities. They will need to be able to interoperate across multiple dimensions and hence the need for standards. Some extra effort may be needed on a customized basis to create interoperability layers (for example in the software parlance – APIs or “glue logic”).

Read more : http://www.four-faith.com/En/Solutions/Industries/23/  

M2M Industrial wifi router in trains, connectivity on rails

One of M2M’s main revolutions is referred to moving things. Vehicles like cars are now taking a new route that will change the way in which we interact with them. However, trains have already gone down this road and they offer a vast amount of services which are made possible thanks to machine-to-machine technology.

Wagon monitorization, control of air conditioning, engine maintenance or provision of information about the trip to travelers are some of the connected features that many railway companies already include.

Switzerland, one of the countries where the train is implanted most, is one of the leaders in M2M deployment in this field. Jan Richard, Technology Manager at Swiss Federal Railways (SBB),explains that the operator is using M2M innovations on 3,039 km of lines across its network. “And with the railway aiming to make cost savings of up to 15% from more efficient technologies by 2017-2018, there are significant plans in place to introduce further M2M solutions that will improve performance and efficiency over the next few years”, he assures.

Richard highlights a more efficient maintenance system as the main advancement that M2M brings to this field: “One example of where M2M is helping to improve operations is in point maintenance. If a point starts to become worn or faulty we can see that happening and can schedule maintenance to address the fault before it becomes a problem.”

However, customer service is also an interesting issue to develop. Deutsche Bahn launched a new passenger information system last year, which gives connectivity to distribute real-time train travel updates on the train platforms. This solution is being deployed in more than 4,000 railway stations with 3,000 display units and another 3,500 expected by 2015.

Furthermore, there is another very obvious M2M use in trains, which is the possibility to connect to Wi-Fi on the train. A machine-to-machine network is the one that delivers connection to the train, where passengers can connect their devices. It is the same system which is used to provide information about the route on the screens in wagons.

Recommend: Four-Faith Industrial wifi router Widely used in the train,

Design for Industrial Application

1  High-powered industrial cellular module

2  High-powered industrial 32bits CPU

3  Support low-consumption mode, including sleep mode, scheduled online/offline mode, scheduled power-on/power-off mode(optional)

4  Housing: iron, providing IP30 protection.

5  Power range: DC 5~35V

What is behind a smart city?

A smart city brings many advantages to both citizens and the environment. However, to make them possible, it is necessary to have an an infrastructure which supports all technological deployments. This is one of the topics that will be discussed this week in the 3rd ITU Green Standards Week.

One of the challenges of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is to achieve some technological standards for smart cities. These are rules to make all these innovations compatible and easily manageable. This enables us to unify criteria for the study, development and implementation of new services, as well as for the measurement and continuous improvement of the already implemented services.

London, Málaga and Manchester are just some of the cities that will discuss their experiences and needs in the event. There will also be interventions from UN representatives, institutions such as ISOand Gartner and some of the most important companies in the smart city field: Nokia, Huawei and Fujitsu, for instance. Furthermore, the event will have an area with display stands to showcase the latest innovations of theses companies and others, such as Smart Taxi and Green Momit, which belong to Wayra, Four-Faith’s start-up accelerator program. 

These actors play an important role in smart cities: the city council coordinates and boosts the technological development; institutions contribute toward making the most accurate decisions in the city; and companies have the expertise to deploy all the infrastructure. Four-Faith, for instance, has developed an M2M Industrial 4G router that will certainly be very useful for the progression of smart cities.

Above all these actors, we mustn’t forget about the citizens, who benefit from the comfort and savings that a smart city brings: 30% in the electricity bill, up to 50% with smart lighting, and between 30% and 50% thanks to the smart irrigation systems are just a few examples. 
You can access more information about the 3rd ITU Green Standards Week here.

Five amazing things that M2M technology has made reality

There will come a day when new connected inventions will cease to surprise us. But people who work in the M2M industry are not willing to let this day come soon. Our new delivery of ‘Five Amazing things that M2M technology has made reality’ proves it.

A connected mirror

This could fit perfectly in any sci-fi motion picture: imagine waking up and starting to get ready in the morning in front of the mirror, which then reflects back all sorts of information such as your friends’ activity on social media or alerts you on the weather. This is just what the Cybertecture mirror does when connected to a mobile device. But it goes even further. The mirror can help  women with their make up or prepare a fitness program.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L0oK-Gn9LWY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A beer that cancels any kind of cellular signal

The team behind Polar beer defends that bars are places to enjoy with the people around you and a good drink in your hand. They are not places for mobile phones to be the sole focus of people’s attention. To achieve this, they have created a crafty device that eradicates any mobile signal, be it 3G, 4G or Wifi,  in a given place. Just put a bottle of Polar inside the device and people will lose their coverage. 

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RFdHoGYiDMY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Something happens in your home

Canary is a little sensor that measures acceleration, motion and sound. It also has an HD camera that records what happens around it. So, if you put the device in your home, it will alert you when something happens, whenever a normal parameter is altered.

Don’t lose your objects

There are many things that we tend to lose on a daily basis: keys, wallet, handbag, glasses… Tile is a small label that you can fix on to any of these objects in order to have it located.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pqDm3gZNZPM?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Smart socks

We have talked about smart sleepers, smart diapers… smart this and smart that. Well, believe it or not they have now come up with smart socks! It is actually a device attached to them that records stats like calories burned or distance traveled.

http://vimeo.com/58811851

the application of Four-Faith industrial router based on lottery machine wireless network solution

In recent years, China’s various sports and welfare are concerned and valued by more and more people, in order to raise social funds and promote the development of public utilities, sports and welfare lottery has emerged. Lottery network growing, distribution means increasingly rich, raised a lot of money, and played a more and more important role in all kinds of social activities.

Currently the business center of lottery and the operating points use DDN or telephone line to transmit data. Lottery business single data flow is very small, the monthly fee for DDN or IDSL special line is too high, and the telephone line to transmit data billing by time, it’s very inconvenient, the cost is not cheap.According to the above problems, Four-Faith proposed the lottery wireless network solution based on industrial router.

System components:

  （1）terminal betting machine: provide betting, lottery, query and other functions

 （2）wireless communication terminal device: the requirement for terminal betting machine interface, choose Four-Faith F3X25 wireless router, it has the advantages of small volume, low power consumption, simple configuration, plug and play

 （3）lottery center system: handle a variety of data uploaded by eachter minal betting machine, provide a service platform for the terminal betting machine

     

     System terminal betting machine is connected with Four-Faith industrial router F3X25 through Ethernet interface, lottery center system can adopt special line as the network access mode. Industrial router F3X25 access Internet through wireless network, and there are two kinds of network mode to realize the connection between terminal betting machine and lottery center: first, using VPDN special network or ANP special network; second, through VPN mode. After the terminal betting machine is connected with center system, can directly exchange data with lottery center system server.Terminal betting machine will directly exchange data with center server through Four-Faith  industrial wireless router F3X25.

ShareOxford finally makes The Internet of Things ‘official’

It isn’t necessary to be in a dictionary for a word to exist, but somehow it makes it more official. One of the most prestigious dictionaries in the world, The Oxford English Dictionary has recently included the term Internet of Things, which establishes the importance that it has gained in recent years.

Although the Internet of Things is a very common expression among tech people, the inclusion in the Oxford Dictionary makes it symbolically accessible to everybody. Furthermore, it reflects the aim of the dictionary of being updated with the buzzwords of the moment.

The editors have chosen this definition: “A proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data”. They also include this example: “If one thing can prevent the Internet of things from transforming the way we live and work, it will be a breakdown in security”.

This definition, of course, is a simplification of what the Internet of Things really entails as we explained in our post about the difference between the IoT and M2M industrial router. Time will tell when ‘Machine to machine’ is included in the dictionary to give echo to commonly used technological terms.

Alongside the Internet of Things, The Oxford English Dictionary has also included other terms of the same field, such as ‘bitcoin’, ‘click and collect’, ‘hackerspace’, ‘selfie’, ‘emoji’, ‘digital detox’,‘MOOC’ (Massive Open Online Course), ‘space tourism’, ‘twerk’, ‘squee’ and ‘unlike’, among others.

The Oxford English Dictionary will continue to include all the relevant terms that revolve around technology. Which ones do you think will be included?

Four-Faith industrial 3G router successfully applied in Guangzhou vehicle intelligent video surveill

Recently, in Guangzhou more than 160 vehiclesusing the vehicle intelligent video surveillance based on Four-Faith industrial3G router. To ensure thenormal communication of data, audio, video during transportation, realize thedynamic information collection of vehicle, achieve real-time remote monitoringin a short time.

Guangzhou vehicle video monitoring project is thehighlight application of intelligent transportation, supports “wireless city”construction in Guangzhou. In this project, Four-Faith provides industrialrouter terminal, and ensure management, installation, maintenance and all othersoftware and hardware that is required for the normal operation of the system,also realize interface integration of management software and the existingmonitoring platform.

　　Vehicleintelligent video monitoring system using 3G network to realize real-time online of networkcamera, the backstage can be very convenient for video browsing and front-endcontrol, and using the newly developed video analysis module, the front cameracan be provided with a plurality of prefabricated bit, and adopt solar energyand battery power to supply.

    According to the plan,every car front camera is installed a Four-Faith 3G router, the system transmits the image in the frontcamera to the video server, then transmitted to the operator’s network throughFour-Faith industrial 3Grouter, finally arrives at the monitoring center platform, to realize the datainteraction, sending, receiving, link control maintenance function. In thesystem, the images from the scene and other statistical information in vehicleterminal, all data is transmitted through VPN tunnel, safety is the powerfulguarantee.

10 features that the city of the (near) future will have

The city of the future will provide citizens with a more comfortable life thanks to M2M technology ( 3G Industrial Router ). Some advances are already making their way into our urban environments and many others will come soon. We have highlighted ten features that the city of the future will have. You can see many others in our web-section about Smart Cities.

Smart parking. There will be systems that will alert drivers when there is a free parking spot. Citizens will no longer waste their time looking for a place to park and the city will be less polluted. Did you know that by reducing the average time required to park a vehicle from 15 to 12 minutes can reduce CO2 emissions by 400 tonnes in a city such as Barcelona?

Intelligent transport system. You probably won’t have to wait to take advantage of this feature. Many public transport systems are already interconnected. This allows for different public transports to be coordinated and to provide information in real time.

Tele-care. Some medical consultations will no longer be necessary. There are monitorization systems for patients which keep their doctor up to date when something such as a rise in blood pressure or sugar occurs. 

Traffic management. Monitoring road systems will inform drivers about which route is best at any given time. Also, it will automatically manage the traffic lights in order to reduce congestion to the minimum taking into account the traffic volume at certain times of the day.

Smart grids. They will provide the necessary amount of electricity depending on the demand. This way the power efficiency will be maximized. There are some cities that are testing these systems, as Málaga, for instance.

Smart urban lighting. Why waste energy if nobody is on the street? Smart urban lighting will adjust the intensity of the light depending on the people who are around.

Waste management. Not all places generate the same kind or the same amount of waste. With smart containers and a good fleet management system, the routes can be tailored to any situation. Thanks to this kind of solution, the efforts in waste collection will be much more efficient.

Smart city maintenance. Citizens will now be able to rely on systems to notify the City Council of any damages in the urban elements through their smartphones. This way things will be repaired faster.

Smart taxi. Taxi fleet will be connected and customers will be able to book a taxi with an application. The localization system will notify the closest one without the need of human interaction. There are already some mobile applications for taxis, such as My Taxi.

Digital-signage. Urban ads will be tailored to each citizen and advertising will provide services. Whereas now we see many concert posters around the city, in the future the customer will have the chance to actually buy the ticket via the billboard.