Smart Cities
February 2020
The last six months in…
In order to break ties with Chinese tech giant Huawei, the Trump administration has been tapping companies such as Microsoft and Dell to build proper 5G-centric hardware businesses as a US-made alternative to Huawei’s equipment.
Senate lawmakers have also drafted a bill to push the federal government towards creating a $1 billion fund to help develop the technology required to cut Huawei out of both domestic and overseas markets. In Europe the US hopes for companies such as Ericsson and Nokia to pitch in. In some European countries, however, the backbone of cell networks is already provided by Huawei, with the UK government having announced at the end of January that it’s already cleared Huawei purchases for the country’s four biggest telco companies.
In an attempt to pour cold water on security concerns, Huawei announced in October that its willingness to enter into a “no backdoor” agreement with India to launch 5G networks in the country. India, the world’s second-biggest wireless market, will hold an airwaves auction for 5G services before March but is yet to take a decision on whether to exempt Huawei from the test runs.
Ride-hailing company Uber and South Korean automaker Hyundai plan to jointly develop electric air taxis designed for trips of up to 100 kilometres with a maximum cruising speed of 290 kilometres per hour, according to a report from Reuters. Uber has pledged to begin demonstrating urban flights in 2020 and commercial operations in 2023 as part of its project, which also counts Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences as one of its partner firms. Although counts vary, it’s estimated that there are currently more than 170 electric aviation concepts underway. The Vertical Flight Society says that investors have sunk more than £760 million ($1 billion) into Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVtol) concepts alone.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched the UK capital’s first-ever resilience strategy, designed to address issues such as the impact of climate change and extreme weather events that lead to flooding and drought. The report that the new strategy is based on also looks at the potential impact of Brexit on London’s communities and businesses, including possible disruption to trade and food supply chains, as well as the availability of workers across a number of sectors including the National Health Service. The strategy has been developed as part of the global 100 Resilient Cities Project.
A two-story office block in Dubai is the world’s largest 3D-printed structure. Robotics construction company Apis Cor used its technology to print the building, which will be part of Dubai municipality’s innovation centre. Using a gypsum-based material, the printing took place outdoors to prove that the technology could handle a harsh environment. Pre-cast slabs were used for the floors and conventional windows and roofs were added by a contractor once the walls were printed. To see the construction in action, click here.
ISPreview, a portal for digital content related to internet service providers, reports that a new broadband operator called Optifi Limited is looking to build an open access Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to “serve primarily residential” homes, as well as some commercial properties and related communal facilities. This comes in the wake of UK regulatory and competition authority OFCOM’s statement earlier last year that only 7 per cent of UK homes and businesses are connected to full fibre broadband .
by Zita Goldman, Business Reporter
Co-creation for smart cities
Smart Cities Masterclass
Session 1 – Co-creation in Action- https://vimeo.com/378584037
Session 2 – The S-Package – https://vimeo.com/378584953
Session 3 – The M-Package – https://vimeo.com/378585262
Session 4 – The L-Package – https://vimeo.com/378586039
Session 5 – Quick-start & summary – https://vimeo.com/378585705
Connecting people, cities, regions and data with sustainable digital networks.
How can we tackle challenges such as rising populations, increasing traffic and the expectations of citizens and the economy with sustainable and future-proof solutions for safe, environmentally friendly, liveable cities and regions?
Smart cities are the answer. A digital infrastructure ensures the intelligent connection of data, technologies and people. Ideally, the new solutions benefit the public sector, the environment, citizens and the business community. Since every city and every region has a different starting position, there are no patent remedies for digitalisation in the public sphere.
One success factor, however, is to integrate different perspectives, to understand needs as precisely as possible and to use the creativity of everyone involved. To help cities in the digitisation process Deutsche Telekom offers Co-Creation for Cities, with the aim to provide cities with a guideline on how to tackle the challenges that come with digital transformation.
Co-Creation for Cities is developed based on design thinking methods. It means developing solutions or using existing ones together with all parties involved. In cities and regions, the involved parties can be citizens, but also suppliers and interest groups. The more people that are on board, the easier it is to consider possible concerns from the start. This increases joint identification with the finished “product”. In addition, early cooperation can also minimise friction losses and costs.
Co-creation involves using a working method with which designers will be familiar. The five steps to Co-Creation for Smart City are:
- Understand and explore: what are the core challenges of citizens and administrations?
- Define the challenge: which are the most important challenges we need to focus on first?
- Ideation: what are the most promising solutions and problem-solving approaches?
- Prototyping and testing: does an idea work? How can it be optimised?
- Implementation: how to bring a solution to life.
Deutsche Telekom can support cities in all co-creation phases. With many years of experience in the application of the methods, Deutsche Telekom can contribute further competencies in research, design, production of prototypes, consulting with regard to cooperation and selection of the right provider, as well as in securing the technical feasibility.
In this video series you will be introduced to the co-creation approach from Deutsche Telekom, the main benefits of it, and how this method can help your city. Additionally, Telekom has designed three different co-creation offers – small, medium and large – that are tailored to fit your city’s needs.
Deutsche Telekom’s experience and proven methods can drive the changes in your city to truly make it a better place in which to live.
by Ole Schilling, VP Market Development Smart Cities & Regions, DTAG andMarkus Feikes, Co-Creation Smart Cities & Regions, Deutsche Telekom
For more information, click here.
Top principles for smarter cities
The effects of digital transformation are already all around us in our everyday lives, and cities are embracing the benefits. New technologies and online tools allow us to introduce e-governance, improve public services and reduce carbon emissions to create more liveable and sustainable cities.
Yet, as we embrace ever smarter cities, we need to be increasingly aware of how we use, manage and store data, and to keep in mind that at the heart of any smart city lies its citizens. Without a doubt, data should be regarded as the backbone of the smarter cities revolution. It is only by harnessing its potential that we can reveal patterns and behaviours that can inform better policy making. As authorities dedicated to the public interest, cities want to use data in a socially responsible way.
This comes with obvious risks and tensions, however. Principle among these is ensuring that citizens’ data is anonymised and not traceable to an individual. Another top priority means that people should have access to use, manage and control any datasets that they generate and are then used by others.
City-led, citizen-focused
At EUROCITIES, the network of major European cities, we’ve done a lot of work this year with pioneering cities such as Edinburgh, Ghent and Zaragoza to create a set of 10 principles on the responsible use of citizens’ data. Citizens’ data includes both personal and non-personal data, which can be aggregated and anonymised to maintain personal privacy. Our principles recognise that data generated by citizens in this way is a valuable public asset and offer a set of guidelines for local administrations to try to manage these data better and put them into practice in their smart city projects. This includes putting in mechanisms and practices to give people better control over their data.
Many cities, including several EUROCITIES member cities, are already going above and beyond in this area.
Citizen data can be used to have a real public value, generating benefits for citizens and society as a whole. Bordeaux is monitoring tourist behaviour in its metropolitan area by analysing social media data from, for example, TripAdvisor, Instagram and Flickr, where tourists leave a digital trace through photographs and posts. Once anonymously processed and analysed, this data reveals the area’s attractiveness and enables the development of cultural and nightlife activities tailored to tourist interests and needs. This data also allows for the development of public policies and investments in culture and tourism.
The city of Eindhoven is working with an electric car sharing firm to gain access to the company’s data on the use of shared cars within the city. From this anonymised data, Eindhoven will learn about the number of vehicles involved, timeframes and the areas of greatest use. This agreement enables Eindhoven to analyse how shared mobility solutions are developing, where electrical charging stations and parking facilities are needed and where mobility innovations are lacking. This allows the city to improve smart mobility hubs to stimulate the use of shared cars.
The potential of a well-managed digital transformation, where we handle people’s data in a responsible way and for the benefit of all, can have a long-lasting impact on the ability of cities to drive economic and social development, without negatively affecting our environment.
Barcelona has worked with students between 14 and 16 years old to analyse data available through the Barcelona open data website, to develop apps using open-source programmes, as well as visual and graphic representations of their findings. The students’ findings are being used by local politicians as well as developers to create new apps and take new decisions to improve services for a more liveable and sustainable city.
Disruptive technologies such as the IoT and AI also have an important role to play in unlocking the potential of local administrations to offer better public services. However, rather than focusing only on the data produced, we advocate for interoperable platforms, preferably built with open source technologies, that make it easier for more actors, especially local actors, to get in on the game.
The Decode project, which is being piloted in Amsterdam and Barcelona, aims to give back control of data to citizens. Its open-source tools respect privacy and rights, and are decentralised so that people retain their personal data in a wallet but anonymised data is available for use by innovators, start-ups, NGOs, cooperatives and local communities to build apps and services that respond to their needs and those of the wider community.
We hope that EUROCITIES’ data principles will serve not only as inspiration for other cities, but also for companies involved in developing smart city solutions and perhaps even for a European-level framework. The potential of a well-managed digital transformation, where we handle people’s data in a responsible way and for the benefit of all, can have a long-lasting impact on the ability of cities to drive economic and social development, without negatively affecting our environment. With cities leading the way, a smarter future is in sight.
by Anna Lisa Boni, Secretary General, EUROCITIES
Jargon buster
Why it pays to empower the whole organisation with customer feedback
In this fast-changing retail age, experience now ranks higher than product or price. Research shows that over half of customers won’t return to a store after just one unresolved negative experience. So understanding customers and what they think and feel has never been more important.
Yet it’s becoming increasingly difficult to gather customer feedback, and to tap into its true business value. Today’s customers are overrun with surveys, emails and special offers tempting them to share their views. Low engagement and dropout rates are a growing challenge. There is also a huge risk that the data customers share across the many channels now available to them gets stuck in disparate silos and spreadsheets, where it delivers zero benefit to the business.
So how can companies successfully get the insight they need and use it to drive their business forward? It all comes down to learning how to listen to customers – and how to effectively take action as a result.
Securing the voice of the customer and deploying the resulting insights can have a transformative effect on performance, profit and customer experience. But only if it’s collected and used in the right way.
For Critizr, that means a whole company approach. We view customer feedback as a driving force at every business level – from HQ to shop floor, not just in the marketing department. Our approach hands the keys to customer-centricity to front-line teams, making them more agile and effective. This local empowerment is the core factor in the success of our platform
. So, while Critizr generates feedback and insight for senior management to plan for the long term, staff in the field can quickly and efficiently take action at local level – doing what it takes to solve problems, win back dissatisfied shoppers and drive loyalty and revenue.
The money story behind local empowerment is compelling. A recent study conducted by Critizr in conjunction with the CX Institute assessed the value of improving customer experience. Our study showed that 53 per cent of customers who’ve had a bad experience can be turned into promoters if their issue is addressed within 48 hours. Promoters spend more, are more loyal and will actively advocate on a brand’s behalf.
Critizr’s experience with leading brands across Europe proves the positive results of transforming all employees into powerful customer champions in their own outlet. On average our clients see a 10-point increase in NPS (the Net Promoter Score, one of the most effective customer satisfaction metrics for modern businesses) in their first year of working with Critizr.
The future of retail relies on businesses and brands using customer experience and feedback to differentiate themselves, drive value from their retained customers and ultimately increasing the bottom line. What better approach could there be than to empower the entire organisation to truly understand what customers want – and then to take action to provide it.
By Douglas Mancini, VP Sales EMEA, Critizr
To understand how to empower your whole organisation using customer feedback with Critizr click here.
Digital twins for smart places
Current global population trends indicate that by 2050, more than 80 per cent of us will live in congested urban areas. If we simply scale our current ways of living and operating, we will face disaster. An alternative approach is to use a digital twin of a place – a replica that can be used for testing ideas before unleashing them on the real thing. The digital twin will help city leaders, planners, citizens and visitors better manage resources by gaining a clearer understanding how their actions impact the world around them.
Yet digital twins will not simply materialise – development requires nurturing and targeted “plugging in” to the surrounding environment. We must start by understanding purpose, and only then can we identify the data required to deliver that purpose. Twin development is a journey that will take time, effort and a lot of collaboration.
In partnership with Atkins, the IET recently published a whitepaper on digital twins for the built environment. The paper introduced an industry-agnostic maturity spectrum to help communicate the complex concept and explain benefits along the development journey.
Table 1 – The digital twin maturity spectrum by IET
The reality is that most places will currently be hovering around Elements 0 and 1. The digital interaction required for Element 2 (taking into account time and cost) is limited to district level projects at this time. However, as smart places engage with the IT required to derive digital twins from conventional places, Element 2 will become common across cityscapes.
Odd exceptions to this (like intelligent transport systems) are already using data to drive broad operational efficiency, but these tend to be single-mode, and service provider/asset focused. They are not really at Element 3, yet.
Element 4 is a step away from being truly smart. These places are starting to be thought of and even a few would consider themselves to be on a pathway to achieving this level. An example of this would be the latest 5G testbeds. This new infrastructure provides a two-way data channel and the opportunity to automate decisions based on mass data acquisition that a 5G network will enable.
Nirvana is the realisation of Element 5. Self-governing smart places ruled by principles and desired outcomes that have been agreed upon and set by citizens. When this happens, places will be interactive, sustainable, citizen-centric and outcome-focused.
What does the future hold?
An Element 5 smart place will be able to make predictions and operate autonomously – adapting city infrastructure in the event of floods, for example, by automatically redirecting traffic and turning road tunnels into storm drains. The role of the digital twin is essential to run simulations and encourage experiments of the various what-if scenarios.
Not all sunny uplands
Despite this, there are barriers to implementation. In the short term, these relate to the ownership and secure handling and management of data – especially against the backdrop of high-profile data breaches.
In smart places, the digital twin will always compete with its physical asset. The virtual replica needs to add value by supporting a reduction in overall costs, increasing efficiency and improving user experience and engagement. It can never deviate from reality or trust in the digital twin will be lost.
What’s next?
From a smart places perspective, the digital twin is just one aspect of a multi-faceted programme. The digital twin has to be relevant and provide value on an ongoing basis, hence it will need to grow in scope and function as the data, the outcomes and business value are defined.
Where to Start?
• Embrace the concept now. All new projects should adopt a digital twin approach. Project managers should reach out to digital twin leaders and explore how they can maximise return on investment. We must then guide stakeholders to preserve the value of the innovation, not lose it to blind “value engineering”
• Respect the journey. The creation and management of a digital twin is a journey relevant to the entire project lifecycle. We should focus on purpose at each stage, understand the benefits of each milestone and expect value to increase along the journey.
• Collaborate. Overall success will only come through collaboration between government, industry, academia and society. We must all be actively involved in the conversation and push for industry standardisation.
• Regulate. Governments must take the lead and drive national policy to create shared frameworks and ecosystems.
• Get out of silos. We must learn from each other and contribute to a common good, working collectively to meet global challenges.
• Be sustainable. Adopting a digital twin approach now will enable society to make the necessary shift to more sustainable operations.
In conclusion
Ultimately, digital twins provide us with an opportunity to improve the environment where we all live and work. Their form and formats are yet to be fully developed, but it’s already possible to appreciate the benefits that could be realised.
by Chris Cooper, Director, KnowNow Information Ltd,Simon Evans, Director, Digital Engineering at Atkins, Cristina Savian, Managing Director, BE-WISE and Allan Burns, Director, Telemental
Future of smart cities
Deeper thoughts
How infrastructure simulations will help us plan for the UK’s future
Matthew Evans, Director at techUK, explores how digitally twinning national infrastructure can help today, while building a national twin will do the same for tomorrow.
In December 2017 the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) released its Data for the Public Good report, in which it recommended a “digital twin” of Britain’s infrastructure be developed to help plan, predict and understand our assets.
When this report was released, there was scepticism in the tech sector about whether this was realistic and whether there was the willingness to make the changes required to deliver this from the infrastructure side. We are pleased to say that we are seeing progress in addressing these questions, and we are more convinced of the value in tackling a challenge of such unprecedented proportions than ever. We want a national digital twin – a Brit-twin, if you will!
A digital twin can most simply be described as a realistic digital representation of something physical. A more detailed description could be that it “integrates artificial intelligence, machine learning and software analytics with data to create living digital simulation models that update and change alongside their real-life counterparts.” [1]
They can provide comprehensive, almost real-time insights into a physical asset or service, [2] meaning that asset owners can better test, plan and manage the asset. If you have been on an airliner recently, you have enjoyed the benefits of digital twin technology. Rolls-Royce is a noted user of digital twin technology, using it to examine, understand and predict how an engine will react in varied contexts, including extreme conditions.
The UK already has the technological capabilities necessary for delivering a national digital twin, but this exciting opportunity does not solely rely on the technical aspect. It will require continued strong leadership and ambition from government, but will only be delivered by a coordinated, collaborative approach involving the tech, construction and infrastructure sectors. This will involve changes in business practices and processes, but the tech sector stands ready and willing to be a partner on this journey. It is also important that we bring everyone on the digital twin journey with us. Realising the full economic and social potential of a national digital twin will only be possible if we build trust and confidence in this data-driven project from the beginning. After all, it is worth remembering that the name of that NIC report was “Data for the Public Good”.
So, how do you get from an airline engine or ticket barriers on the underground to a national digital twin while building that trust? There are two challenges which are of vastly different scale. There is the need to define what a national digital twin will be and what it will require. But at the same time, we need to start driving uptake of digital twin technologies across a variety of industries. These two processes need to take place simultaneously, but we are confident that sufficient progress is being made in each to create a virtuous circle rather than two isolated tracks.
On defining what a national digital twin would be, we have the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) which hosts the Digital Framework Task Group (DFTG). These bodies are helping to shape our understanding of a national digital twin and, crucially, they bring together both the infrastructure, tech and academic spheres. There is widespread agreement that a national twin will not be one all-encompassing computer model of every infrastructure asset in the country. What we are on track to see, as developed by the DFTG, is “an ecosystem of digital twins that are connected by securely shared data” [3].
Delivering the Brit-twin will be a challenge, but one that the tech sector is ready and willing to help make happen from a technology viewpoint.
The DFTG has also recently published a roadmap of how a framework for information management would enable the creation of a national digital twin [4]. This builds on the Gemini Principles [5], which set out the values and objectives of a digital twin to ensure that they remain for the public good.
So far, so good. But what is the value for those creating digital twins at a bigger scale then an aeroplane engine but smaller than a national model? That is where we need to start small and build the business case – because it will not just be about creating a model, it will also be about digital transformation of the construction and infrastructure sectors, traditionally regarded as digital laggards [6].
techUK has been working with our members and infrastructure operators who are starting to seriously consider scalable digital twins. The key is that they are aimed at addressing specific business challenges, be that leakages in the water sector, air quality around the strategic road networks or having a better understanding of the demands that electric vehicles place on the distribution network. These are big questions, but by starting relatively small we can build a business case for a twin which should be able to bring additional insight and value into those businesses – as well as contributing to a national ecosystem.
Delivering the Brit-twin will be a challenge, but one that the tech sector is ready and willing to help make happen from a technology viewpoint. The industrial strategy set out a grand challenge to “put the UK at the forefront of the AI and data revolution” [7].
With our “world leading data science research capability and AI expertise”, the UK has a unique opportunity to position itself as an ambitious trailblazer for the development and application of digital twin technology scalable to sizes yet to be seen around the world.
In order to do so, we need to think big while starting small. techUK will continue to engage in the work at a national level while also working with infrastructure operators and owners, and our members, to drive implementation of digital twins.
by Matthew Evans, Director, techUK
The power of cities
Events
Smart city events, expos and get-togethers to add to your calendar
Smart Cities UK – International Conference and Exhibition
13 February
Now in its fifth year, Smart Cities UK has established itself as a forum for learning among UK cities and towns looking to meet economic and social challenges. The 2020 edition examines the barriers that remain in place for economic and social growth, and also sees the third annual Smart Cities UK awards. Click here for more details.
URBAN FUTURE Global Conference
1 April
Lisbon
Europe’s largest event for sustainable cities takes place this year in the Portuguese capital. A great opportunity to meet “city changers” and thought leaders who are at the cutting edge of smart city development, this years themes include mobility, water, districts and leadership. Click here for more details.
Smart Island Live
28 May
East Cowes,Isle of Wight
The second Smart Island event will focus on the technology and sustainability of the food, water, waste and built environment sectors. Visitors can browse the expo, listen to inspiring speakers or sit in on business support seminars. Click here for more details.
Smart to Future Cities
9-10 June
Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London
A conference that brings together local authorities with specific solutions to empower the implementation of sustainable technology. The focus of the event is on practical, scalable applications of smart city initiatives that can improve urban infrastructure and the quality of life. Click here for more details.
by Zita Goldman, Business Reporter
