Information Policy

Smart cities: dreams capable of becoming nightmares

By Lucien Begault, Research Intern, and Jessika Khazrik, Technologist/Technology Adviser, Amnesty Tech

 

Masdar City, Songdo, and PlanIT Valley. Never heard of them? That’s normal - two of these projects never made it beyond the work table. Yet, amongst ‘smart city’ enthusiasts, they are household names. Songdo may have been the only project to materialise into a city, but all these prototypes reflect utopic visions imagined through smart city projects. Sustainability, interconnectivity, and optimisation of services are sworn of this promise land – but do smart cities come with a human rights cost?

Continue reading "Smart cities: dreams capable of becoming nightmares" »

While the Internet of Things has permeated many aspects of our daily lives and created a torrent of useful data, when implemented on a city-wide level, that’s where things get interesting for real estate. For the property industry, the biggest opportunities within the smart city revolution lie with smart buildings, which have the potential to improve efficiency levels by 15%–20% in the first year. Connected, smart buildings can reduce energy use, lower operating costs, prompt preventative maintenance and provide more transparency to buyers, renters and investors with in-depth building occupant data analysis.

Continue reading "The World’s Smartest Cities and the Applications That Got Them There" »

Posted at 12:42 PM in Smart City | Permalink

Reblog (0) | | | | | Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

The World’s Smartest Cities and the Applications That Got Them There

While the Internet of Things has permeated many aspects of our daily lives and created a torrent of useful data, when implemented on a city-wide level, that’s where things get interesting for real estate. For the property industry, the biggest opportunities within the smart city revolution lie with smart buildings, which have the potential to improve efficiency levels by 15%–20% in the first year. Connected, smart buildings can reduce energy use, lower operating costs, prompt preventative maintenance and provide more transparency to buyers, renters and investors with in-depth building occupant data analysis.

Continue reading "The World’s Smartest Cities and the Applications That Got Them There" »

Posted at 12:42 PM in Smart City | Permalink

Reblog (0) | | | | | Digg This | Save to del.icio.us