big data
& IoT
‘The IoT
will prove
invaluable
over the
coming
decades, and
as urban
populations
swell, our
cities will
be forced
to meet the
requisite
demands.’
lightbulbs will cause them to
increase in brightness as people
approach or as noise levels rise.
Additionally, the lamps also measure
levels of air pollution, an increasing
concern as our metropolises
become ever more bustling.
A little further from home in New
Zealand, paint ‘smelling’ sensors are
being deployed to combat instances
of vandalism and graffiti. In Finland,
self-driving, electric buses are
cutting carbon emissions and costs
for commuters. Solar powered smart
bins that allow cities to monitor
rubbish levels are gaining popularity
in South America. Artificial
Intelligence (AI) driven security
cameras which can detect suspicious
activity are in development by a
number of established companies
and enterprising start-ups.
Whilst individually these
applications may seem to offer
relatively minor benefits, when
they’re looked at in aggregate the
cost and energy savings amount
to a far more efficient urban
environment and begin to take the
shape of the smart city ideal.
A fly in the ointment
So, we’ve established that, through
the incremental ‘smartening’ of a
city’s processes, we’ll be leading
less wasteful and arduous urban
lives. However, before we put our
feet up and enjoy an automated
existence, there is one very
important matter to sort out.
In much the same way as
smartphone and tablet adoption
over the past 10 years brought
added strains to enterprise
networks, the promise of a city’s
worth of connected smart devices
will pose similar problems for
a city’s network infrastructure.
The boons that IoT devices could
bring to the lives of city dwellers
could potentially prove harmful
if IoT adoption outpaces city
planners’ ability to establish
the infrastructure necessary to
support it.
Take, for instance, the concept
of remote healthcare. It’s no secret
that the NHS is overstretched
and hospitals are struggling to
find enough beds for increasing
numbers of patients, and remote
healthcare, wherein patients can
be monitored from their own
homes, promises to alleviate at
least some of that pressure from
our healthcare system. It could
lessen the stress faced by patients
too ill to travel, as well as provide a
greater source of healthcare data
than we’ve ever accrued before,
bolstering future medical research
and treatment techniques. It’s a
perfect example of how IoT could
bring tangible benefits.
Remote healthcare could be
a powerful force for good but,
conversely, could do a great deal
of harm if mismanaged and not
supported by a robust network
infrastructure. The ideal remote
healthcare ecosystem will thrive
on data flows, and any connectivity
issues or network downtime would
potentially be putting lives in danger.
Other major IoT initiatives could
face similar issues. Connected cars,
for instance, could potentially lead
to city travel being less onerous and
safer for citizens. If all the vehicles
on our roads are feeding location
data into our traffic systems we can
have real time insights into traffic
flows and divert them as necessary.
This could lead to less congestion
and fewer road hazards and danger
spots for drivers and cyclists alike.
Again, however, if this data were
to fail due to insufficient network
infrastructure it could serve to
endanger, rather than protect.
One small step for
connected devices…
Despite the warnings listed above,
there are promising developments
which might expedite our shift
to smart cities. The launch of 5G,
slated for some time i n the next
two or three years, is a great first
step to harnessing a network with
the capability of handling a more
advanced smart city.
However, it is just a first
step. What’s essential is that city
planners are cognoscente that,
when planning for smart cities it’s
not just about planning for the
next five or 10 years, but the next
20 or 30. This long tail planning
will require collaboration between
the public and private sectors as
well as a new IP approach focused
on virtualisation and automation,
to ensure that cities’ network
infrastructures are scalable
enough to keep up with future IoT
innovations. We’re still a way off
from the easy automated life, but if
we lay the groundwork now, it may
come sooner than we think.
June 2017 | 31