How Innovative Charging Station Software is Integrating with Broader Smart City Initiatives Featured
Today’s urban centers are starting to look and feel different from the cities of the past. The “smart city” boom has transformed the way cities are structured and how people live in urban areas. As smart city urbanization continues to surge, the electric vehicle revolution is surging along with it. EV adoption has been a pivotal aspect in the ongoing transformation of cities, playing a critical role in sustainable mobility.
The cornerstone of EV charging infrastructure is the software that runs the stations and keeps charging accessible to EV drivers. In smart cities, the meld of EV charging software and other smart technologies, such as renewable energy sources, smart tech grids, and IoT devices, contribute to the building of a cohesive, responsive, and ultimately sustainable urban environment.
They didn’t go away — it’s just more about the buildings in the cities now
In May 2020, the smart city concept appeared to have been dead and buried when Sidewalk Labs ended its collaboration with the City of Toronto to create Quayside, a data-infused, sustainability-focused experiment in urban living.
Killed by a combination of Sidewalk Labs’ opaque vision for the techno-neighborhood, conflicts about public funding of the built world over enhancing the natural environment, privacy concerns, and the 2-month-old COVID-19 pandemic, Quayside’s death seemed to herald the demise of the smart city. In December 2021, Alphabet folded Sidewalk Labs, its urban innovation arm, into Google.
How do you define a smart city? If you’re an average urban resident, you believe it’s the use of electronics, devices and systems that collect and interpret digital data to improve resource efficiency and quality of life. While most utilities and technology providers would agree, the term “smart city” has evolved, and is born out of the technological advancements a given society has available or is developing at the time. Many resources and technologies intersect to deliver the current smart city experience — all tied together by one feature: data. Whether it be traffic pattern data informing street light timing and public transportation schedules or solar arrays powering local schools, hospitals and businesses, optimizing the quality of life for smart city residents requires secure, accessible data collection.
Read more: Smart Communities: Building Equitable Energy Resilience in Our Cities
Being the catalysts of growth, smart cities are founded on a technology-powered infrastructure. Digitisation in global economies has led the way to a transformative shift to smart security, universal convenience, and accelerated advancements.
By 2026, smart cities will be expected to generate an economic benefit of USD 20 trillion globally.
Read more: Advancing security in smart cities with facial recognition technology
Smart city technologies are expected to become a $100 billion industry in 2024 as more and more cities look for innovative solutions for urban challenges, a new report showed on Wednesday.
According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, the market size of smart city technologies has increased by an impressive 140 per cent over the past five years. Smart cities use the Internet of Things (IoT) and various software, user interfaces, and communication networks to deliver connected, innovative solutions for urban challenges, from public and cybersecurity threats, traffic congestion and energy management to e-governance.
Read more: Smart city technologies expected to become $100 bn industry in 2024: Report