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CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS: Smart, Sustainable, Secure CitiesOne of the greatest challenges in the years to come will be to turn city centres into smart, connected, secure places. Today, 250 of the world's cities are testing out innovative projects that are optimising their urban services and improving their inhabitants' or users' living conditions. Barcelona, New York, London, Singapore and Nice, France were some of the smartest cities in 20151. They have been pioneers, implementing a new rationalised environmental design concept that is turning out beneficial to all. 1. Technology, Serving Cities The "Smart Cities" concept is riding high. In it, technologies are put to work for a specific purpose: to turn city centres into connected, smart places, which in turn foster better quality of living, for individuals and for communities at large. "Smart Cities" have set a new standard, providing for consistency between all of the modes that connect citizens up with the rest of the municipal environment and the public authorities. The massive penetration of new technologies in our everyday lives (Internet, Smartphones, notebooks, computers, mobile applications, NCF - Near Field Communication - or the spread of "contactless" payment) has sparked the public authorities to re-think all of their services to citizens. In this new environment, protecting the security and privacy of citizens remains no less a priority. 1.1 Telecommunications: Building Social Bonds The mobile telephone sector is also in the throes of expansion: as of late-2014, there were 7.1 billion SIM registered card connections across the world, as well as 243 million machine-to-machine connections (M2M)2. It is expected that there will be another one billion subscribers by 2020, raising the global penetration rate to approximately 60%. This level of world-wide coverage offers a number of benefits to society: those living in isolation will enjoy better access to services and mobility, from which they were previously cut off. If, in 2050, 75% of the population will indeed be living in urban areas, the rural areas will be even more reliant on such technologies to bring them out of their isolation. Receiving care via telemedicine, sharing individual health data or being monitored remotely by a healthcare provider -- all of this is now possible via cell phone, thanks to mobile health, or mHealth.
The INNOVATION PLAYGROUND at CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS will allow you
to test:
M2M communications (machine-to-machine) and the Internet of
Things are further mega-trends. In 2015, Smart Cities will use 1.1
billion connected objects; by 2020, that figure will reach 9.7 billion3.
Smart Homes and Smart Office Buildings will account for 45% of connected
objects in 2015. Boosted by investments and service potential, the rate
is expected to reach 81% in 2020. The INNOVATION PLAYGROUND at CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS will allow you to test:
Connected Screens Examples of applications:
1.2 Smart electricity grids: managing electricity use more intelligently
Smart electricity grids, a major advance for industry, enable use that
is better-suited to electrical resources, all the while trimming
expenditure and improving infrastructure efficiency. Homes and public
buildings will be both interconnected and smart-"enabled", thanks to
their integrated services environment, and will be able to deliver
better-tailored services. The INNOVATION PLAYGROUND at CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS will allow you to test: Gazpar, the Communicating Gas Metre
Gazpar is GrDF's communicating gas metre, set to equip 11 million
natural gas customers, including both individual users and businesses.
The concept: customers will be addressed a reading of their gas use
levels daily, so that they can save energy. Key advantages:
Electricity infrastructure settings Legrand's electrical energy metres simplify settings, maintenance and diagnostics, before and after power-up Smart data are sent straight to the Smartphone, making adjustments and updates that much simpler. Citizens will enjoy easy access to their everyday use, broken down by type of usage, while technical work will be simplified, making for lower costs overall Key advantages:
1.3 Payment: The Central Role of Contactless
Payment systems play a major part in smart cities. They make consumers'
lives easier by offering them services that can be directly accessed
from their mobile devices. Transparent, simple payment methods mean
improved quality of living, whether in terms of liveability,
practicability and sustainability.
1.4 e-Government
Many of Europe's countries have become pioneers in creating secure
identification. Governments have invested millions in building
highly-secure, reliable identification systems, both physical and
electronic, based on biometrics. According to a report on the
e-identification market, by 2018, 127 countries will have rolled out
nationwide e-identification systems, delivering over 740 million
e-identifications annually, generating over €49.1 billion8 in
revenue between 2013 and 20189 The INNOVATION PLAYGROUND at CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS will allow you to test: Autonomous Access Control Secure identification remains the cornerstone of access control systems. Smartphones or badges have replaced keys and simplify everyday living. Autonomous access control has major implications for high-security military and industrial sites, airports, and service sector players requiring high levels of security (banks, head offices of major companies, ministries, etc.) Key advantages:
2. 5 Examples of Smart Cities Detailed analysis of all the ways in which cities show "smart behaviour" highlights what it means to make intelligent use of power grids, manage traffic and light up streets, along with other aspects such as technological capacity and social cohesion. 2.1 Barcelona, Spain
The orthogonal bus system, a bicycle exchange programme, the contactless
"tap-and-go" payment programme based on NFC technology and the new urban
sensors all make this city a living, breathing laboratory. 2.2 New York, United States New York, one of the world's most heavily-populated metropolises, has been a devotee of new technologies for years, making it a city on the cutting edge. One prime example is its interactive "City 24/7" Platform, which includes information about government programmes, local companies and New York citizens. The tool is capable of providing data on anyone, anywhere, any time and on any device. Furthermore, the City is considering building the United States' largest Wi-Fi network, and gradually replacing all of its phone booths with Wi-Fi hotspots. 2.3 London, United Kingdom
The road and passenger transport management system in London is one of
the most efficient worldwide. Some of its innovative features include:
traffic-based pricing, which uses license plate recognition technologies
to calculate how heavily-loaded the roads are, thus lowering the number
of vehicles per day in The City by over 70,000 - the smart road system
tested during the Olympic Games, the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme
(self-service bicycle rental) and Wi-Fi in 150 Underground stations in
2014. The Oyster contactless card in use at TfL (Transport for London),
which can be filled up in advance using a credit or debit card, offers
users the option of instant payment to travel. It has paved the way for
a digital wallet system, which would make for considerably greater
efficiency. 2.4 Nice, France Working in conjunction with Think Global10, the City of Nice and Cisco have produced the "Connected Boulevard". Boulevard Victor Hugo, in the centre of Nice, is home to the first proof of concept project for the "Internet of Everything", creating a smart city zone, complete with 200 sensors and detection system. The data collected are reviewed and analysed in order to provide the city and its residents with contextual information about: parking, traffic, street lighting, waste treatment and, last but not least, environmental quality, as tested in real time. The first pilot tests, conducted on intelligent parking, showed that automobile density could be cut by at least 30%, making for a drop in air pollution, as well as an increase in parking revenue. 2.5 Singapore
In 2014, Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA (News - Alert)) unveiled the
city's new smart platform, the SNP-Smart Nation Platform. Designed
around three key capabilities - connection, collection and comprehension
- it provides an operational system into which all public agencies can
log. The system will activate the key data collected via sensors placed
intentionally at the outer edges of the city, so that they can remain
anonymous, secure, managed and shared. The data will then be used to
foster greater responsiveness and anticipation in services to residents.
1 Juniper Research (2015) - "Global Smart City - 2015".
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