Overarching objectives
The smart cities market will likely involve a lot of IT products and services, but the projects aren’t all about sensors, public Wi-Fi networks and big data analytics. Smart city initiatives are focusing on broader goals, rather than discrete bits of technology. So, IT solution providers should keep in mind the big picture — and how technology enables it — rather than “selling what’s on the truck” as Jascha Franklin-Hodge, CIO for the city of Boston, put it in a SearchCIO article.
Austin’s smart city effort, for example, aims to address major challenges stemming from the region’s rapid population growth. Boisseau said the most pressing issues are mobility (as in transportation) and affordable housing.
“We care deeply about safety, health and education,” he noted, “but the great population increase in the last few decades has put a large amount of pressure on those issues.”
Philadelphia, for its part, is looking for smart city projects to boost citizen services, accelerate business growth and promote environmental stewardship. As for the latter, the city is looking for advice on how to “become a more sustainable city through IoT solutions,” according to the consulting services RFP.
Hwang noted that Philadelphia’s smart city initiative is bringing in the city’s Greenworks program, which focuses on “healthy, affordable and sustainable food and drinking water” among other areas. Greenworks falls under the Office of Sustainability.
Indeed, food supply is one field where channel partners may find an IoT application that supports smart city initiatives. IoT Agenda has covered the use of IoT in food safety and agriculture.