Smart applications and services are being factored into urban planning. ICT companies can lead the opportunity.
Shaping Sustainable Cities of the Future
(transcript excerpt)
By: Alan Marcus
Highlights
- ICT will underpin urban eco-sustainability
- Green IT must be a part of today’s planning for future cities
- Smart applications and services are the essential urban building blocks
Influencing tomorrow’s cities today
Service providers need to act now to contribute to the new wave of thinking for urban development. Cities of the future will be underpinned by information and communications technology (ICT) to ensure eco-sustainability. Smart applications and services will help communications and improve knowledge-sharing. As well, concepts like smart metering will drive efficient energy usage and reduced energy consumption.
To influence urban developments of the future, ICT companies need to do 3 things. They need to:
- Think like they are part of the overall value chain
- Figure out how, collectively, they can grow the opportunity, including efforts related to standardization, monitoring, accounting, innovation and transformation
- Compete within that opportunity
It’s no longer about net neutrality, or Long Term Evolution (LTE) versus WiMAX. It’s about the overall eco-sustainability value that can be provided by the industry as a whole.
ICT is the key
To reduce carbon emissions and accommodate growing populations, urban areas have to become more efficient. The challenge in reducing the carbon footprint of major urban areas starts with the buildings and infrastructure — which represents the largest part — followed by the transport system.
Most cities distance the areas where people work from the areas where they live. Urban planners need to look at more eco-efficient flows and create urban spaces that combine work, living and recreational spaces within the same area.
ICT companies have a key role to play in both greenfield cities and urban renewal. Key communications can provide eco-benefits by disrupting traditional processes and offering new ways of doing things more efficiently. ICT companies can also make a city seem like a small village by sharing knowledge and helping people to work smarter.
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