Four-Faith’s vision of a smart city

There is no one universally accepted definition of a smart city, but all of them have something in common: they are cities that make the most out of technology. Four-Faith’s concept is quite flexible and our aim is to provide solutions which suit the needs of every urban environment.

Four-Faith(Wireless Industrial Router) is trying to boost a change in the way that citizens interact with their cities thanks to more efficient services. This is a factor which fits in with the current economic crisis and which coincides with the moment where technology for smart cities is reaching a certain level of maturity.

We offer a service model rather than a model based on investment. So much more can be done with the money that cities currently spend on services. Four-Faith doesn’t just look to implement technology, but to improve services thanks to it.

Following our vision, we have seen that services in cities are isolated. Rather than working together, they are independent from each other. The way to manage these services used to be through dedicated resources: a number of people, of trucks, etc. Four-Faith supports a more transversal approach. We offer a platform that enables the City Council to have a complete vision of all the services that it provides which is focused on results which is what matters, not on resources. If the city is clean, who really cares about the number of trucks that pick up litter? Our city platform makes the exchange of information possible for optimal decision-making.

There are many examples which illustrate integration. One of them is the integration between weather stations and irrigation systems. It allows parks and gardens to be irrigated only when it is necessary. This can save up to 20% in water.

Since we are one of the few players which are able to offer end-to-end solutions, we also provide the City Council with vertical systems, such as smart parkings, waste management, public lighting, building efficiency (that gets energy costs savings around 30% for our customers)... Everything depends on the particular needs of each city. A smart city doesn’t happen overnight. The City Council decides the starting point of what is in reality a never-ending process.

Four-Faith’s vision of a smart city

There is no one universally accepted definition of a smart city, but all of them have something in common: they are cities that make the most out of technology. Four-Faith’s concept is quite flexible and our aim is to provide solutions which suit the needs of every urban environment.

Four-Faith(Wireless Industrial Router) is trying to boost a change in the way that citizens interact with their cities thanks to more efficient services. This is a factor which fits in with the current economic crisis and which coincides with the moment where technology for smart cities is reaching a certain level of maturity.

We offer a service model rather than a model based on investment. So much more can be done with the money that cities currently spend on services. Four-Faith doesn’t just look to implement technology, but to improve services thanks to it.

Following our vision, we have seen that services in cities are isolated. Rather than working together, they are independent from each other. The way to manage these services used to be through dedicated resources: a number of people, of trucks, etc. Four-Faith supports a more transversal approach. We offer a platform that enables the City Council to have a complete vision of all the services that it provides which is focused on results which is what matters, not on resources. If the city is clean, who really cares about the number of trucks that pick up litter? Our city platform makes the exchange of information possible for optimal decision-making.

There are many examples which illustrate integration. One of them is the integration between weather stations and irrigation systems. It allows parks and gardens to be irrigated only when it is necessary. This can save up to 20% in water.

Since we are one of the few players which are able to offer end-to-end solutions, we also provide the City Council with vertical systems, such as smart parkings, waste management, public lighting, building efficiency (that gets energy costs savings around 30% for our customers)... Everything depends on the particular needs of each city. A smart city doesn’t happen overnight. The City Council decides the starting point of what is in reality a never-ending process.

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 +).

the data transmission via Wireless Industrial Router

More than 30 million homes in the UK will start to be ‘smart’ thanks to the smart meter implementation program awarded by the Government. Four-Faith is one of the companies that will be part of the deployment of this solution which will contribute to save energy and money to both consumers and companies.

Smart meters will form the essential foundations for a revolution in energy consumption and management. They are the modern day infrastructure equivalent of building railways. They pave the way for the smart homes, grids and cities of the future.

 In the United Kingdom, a cut in energy bills for end users of £6 billion in 20 years is estimated, which is a total of 11,5£ per household per year. They represent 26% of the UK’s total energy use, which will reduce carbon emissions due to the fact that the overall electricity demand will be reduced by up to 5% annually.

Furthermore, customers will have visibility and control over their energy usage leading to accurate and more predictable bills and cost savings. There will also be new opportunities for pre-paid energy payment or tailored tariffs, offering greater control of energy usage. However, the benefits of smart meters go beyond energy saving. They will open the door to a wide range of potential new services through the connected home: remote control of energy usage (turn heating on via your smartphone, remote control household appliances), service integrations such as electric cars and manage via mobile, renewable micro generation integration (i.e. solar panels), link in new eHealth services and connect via Home Area Network...

 This will be possible thanks to the real time monitoring of energy consumption (gas and electricity) thanks to the data transmission via Wireless Industrial Router (M2M communications). Here is the point where telcos as Four-Faith will play a key role: more than 30 million SIM cards will be deployed by 2020. More than 7,000 people will work to make it possible, reaching a peak installation figure of 20.000 Comm Hubs each day.

 Four-Faith´s propietary Smart M2M platform will be the main system to support all m2m services provided by the operator like managed connectivity and device management. Furthermore, the company will be in charge of supply chain, security operations, service desks, event management and network planning and deployment.

Your house is your new follower on Twitter

It’s hard to believe that the social media hype could ever be matched. However, the ubiquity that social media has in today’s world could soon apply to M2M. The integration of social media and machine to machine technology is developing fast.

There are some clear initiatives which have anticipated the coming together of two of the biggest trends today: Web 2.0 and the Internet of Things. Had it not been for M2M technology, it wouldn’t have been possible to carry out Guarana Antarctica’s advertising action which fueled a campaign car with likes and comments from its Facebook page, driving it to its destination.

Another example of how to combine social media with web-based M2M applications are NFC tags. By tapping the card on any activated station, a wireless connection is established which sends a message to the user’s social platforms or information to the user’s email address. This social application of NFC is becoming more and more common. Cutty Sark, for instance, uses it for socializing party moments, as we saw in a previous post about connected drinks which includes some other examples of the combination of M2M and Social Media.

Furthermore, many people who work with Wireless Industrial Router have had the same thought: if people can tweet, then why can’t objects do the same? Perhaps in a more experimental way, there are already many objects tweeting about what happens to them. Tom Coates’ house is one of the most well-known examples. From its account on Twitter,  @houseofcoates published when the owner arrives or when the lights are turned off thanks to a full intelligent management system.

Arduino is a platform which is widely used for this kind of experiments.Four-Faith’s Jesús Zorzano has tested a chair that tweets when anybody sits on it. It may seem like a pretty useless application of M2M, but it is just a prototype that shows how objects will be able to communicate in the future. Your computer could alert you when somebody turns it on, or your bed could send you a message if someone is lying on it. Let your imagination run wild.