How Does IoT Affect the City and its Citizens?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a set of technologies that gather and make accessible real-time data from various connected assets, objects, machines, and digital devices in general. IoT technology enables citizens to interact with smart city ecosystems via connected buildings, mobile devices, and public infrastructure to increase productivity and create an effective IoT smart city architecture. An IoT-based smart city can reduce costs and streamline city infrastructures, such as energy distribution and water usage.

Increasing Cost-Effectiveness

Adding IoT devices as a part of innovative management is a great way for cities to improve the quality of life of their citizens, improve safety and boost smart city development. IoT-based smart city solutions are constantly sensing the city environment and generating huge amounts of data sending it to a central cloud platform for future use by city officials, city government, and public utilities. As you see, the data can be used for different purposes, such as helping citizens stay safe, improving infrastructure, and quality of life, and resulting in a rise in cost-efficiency as well.

The Internet of Things connects billions of physical sensors and devices to the network and gives them the ability to communicate and share data. This new technology has many applications, ranging from sensors that monitor environmental conditions to wireless networks that allow us to interact with objects and smart devices. Taking into account that these smart sensors produce data of a cloud-based nature, they can be remotely updated and improved, allowing businesses to be more efficient and responsive using machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence analytics. The Internet of Things is a massive, complex project that has many moving parts and other devices involved working together to reduce maintenance costs and increase efficiency.

Impact on Public Safety

IoT applications, smart city technology, and other types of connected sensors make a great impact on safety within smart cities. Applications of IoT in smart cities are currently fragmented into different components, applications, verticals, and regions so data storage is sometimes scattered as well but, at the same time, even collecting data without proper sorting gives city planners necessary information on how to improve safety in the cities. The report generated by a bunch of devices as a rule provides in-depth market analysis, identifying the key drivers, restraints, and opportunities for future smart cities. With such reports, city officials can make data-based decisions taking into account key market players, their recent developments, and the goals the world’s population is pursuing.

Safety in the cities is formed with the help of many factors and IoT devices have an important role here as well. IoT vendors provide platforms, solutions, and associated services to city infrastructure, helping to create a real smart city. The IoT in cities is usually used to perfect and optimize safety infrastructure through better consulting services, system integration, support, and maintenance. These IoT applications for smart cities help public safety agencies design, implement, and operate their planned and emergency services.

Fast Arrival of First Responders

IoT for public safety can increase efficiency and productivity for first responders as devices send alarms immediately when any danger arises. Besides, when emergency personnel has wearables or any portable IoT device connected to the network, they will receive timely updates on traffic flow, and traffic congestion, with the updates on traffic lights so drivers can choose the fastest route even during busy times.

Reduce Criminal Cases

Moreover, IoT-connected cities could help the police improve the collection and analysis of crime big data. For example, innovative city programs can analyze social media posts and trace gang ties. These systems use data from multiple sources and AI to assess risk and are a thing to be considered by most major cities. The Internet of Things is a significant advancement in the field of public safety and it greatly affects the way how smart cities cope with their issues.

Public safety is a key issue for every nation, and the IoT for public safety applications is revolutionizing this field. IoT for smart cities is helping governments protect their citizens, and prevent terrorist attacks, and even minor burglaries. In addition, IoT solutions for public safety have helped many industries improve security and safety in their facilities.

For example, TEKTELIC VIVID is a perfect option to increase building safety, getting alerts when somebody opens or closes doors/windows on your property. Additionally, it has a PIR lens detecting motion, so if someone enters the facility o your house you’ll be notified right away as well. The important thing to mention here is its small size as well, so it can be mounted anywhere and remain unnoticed by third parties. It has a battery life of up to 10 years and has user-configurable parameters and thresholds, so you can have it customized and configurable just for you.

Impact on Sustainability

Smart cities can be healthier, more sustainable places with organized waste collection, advanced traffic management, and optimized energy consumption. All this, in turn, is possible IoT solutions and advanced infrastructure. With the use of IoT technologies, cities can optimize their supply chains and processes, and even address environmental issues caused by climate change. This technology can be beneficial to all parts of a city – from the citizens to the buildings and here are some decent reasons why.

Better Air Quality

With a smart city initiative aimed at air quality improvement, both the city and its residents will benefit greatly. Installing smart devices to track air pollution and collect data on traffic can optimize and reduce health issues cases residents have and give a necessary background for government to introduce the necessary measures for sustaining better air quality.

TEKTELIC has a complete end-to-end solution for this case, BREEZE-D, which consists of a sensor itself and an E-Ink display. It measures CO2 levels, temperature, humidity, barometric air pressure, and even light. This device is fully wireless, which makes it a unique IoT solution for smart cities. Measuring CO2 level, the sensor gives necessary information based on which you can adjust ventilation and keep the air fresh at all times.

Optimized Waste Management

Energy-efficient buildings, which have to comprise the smart city are not only about reasonable energy consumption and water usage. Waste management plays a considerable role in this as well. It calls for a careful search and choice of waste management companies, which collect waste in an eco-friendly and responsible way. Usually, these companies involve IoT in smart cities to provide city residents with the world-best experience in this sphere.

Future cities “equipped” with smart grids can be more sustainable and innovative than they are today. The benefits of IoT in smart cities lie in the fact that with the IoT, city can use the information and communications technologies (ICTs) to improve health care, energy efficiency, waste management, housing, and traffic flow, converting it into a sustainable one. They can also help police respond to crime by monitoring local environments. IoT and smart cities are a good tandem that can improve quality of life and contribute to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

Smart Energy Usage

IoT sensors can positively influence energy consumption as well, reducing it significantly. For instance, smart streetlights, which were created to resolve traffic congestion issues initially can reduce energy usage by means of not spending it on switching lights. Besides, most of these streetlights work on solar panels and are energy efficient by default helping you to save money and power. So, if a city uses IoT for streetlights, it is definitely on its way to world-recognized sustainability goals.

What are the Possible Challenges Cities Can Face Integrating the Internet of Things?

While the term IoT complies a significant amount of potential, there are still some challenges. First, interoperability challenges, different IT back-ends, and scalability all slow down IoT deployments and can create difficulty for the end-users. Another possible challenge is data security. Cities have to take the issue of privacy and security seriously; they also have to protect infrastructure from cyberattacks as these attacks can cost the city millions of dollars and compromise the safety of its citizens. For instance, a hacker could gain access to public information and misuse it for personal or political purposes. As soon as both of the risky points are considered, IoT sensors and solutions will bring only beneficial effects to the city and the citizens.

Summing up

The exponential growth of computing power and IoT technologies has revolutionized the cities and the life of residents. IoT helps emergency managers analyze the environment and make intelligent decisions, it is cost-effective, and positively influences environmental conditions on a world scale. Adding IoT to a city can improve the efficiency of the workforce and generate new revenue streams for businesses improving the economics of the area. Additionally, IoT technology increases the comfort of living and moves the city towards sustainability. TEKTELIC, in turn, is making a huge contribution to this niche by creating customized solutions tailored to a specific request. So, if you need any further detail on possible ways of IoT integration in the city, you can write to our sales team; they’ll gladly answer all your questions on IoT technology, deployment options, and benefits.