City Digital – The Transformation towards Smart Cities

One could argue that the term “Smart Cities” is potentially overused. With the term applying to everything from smart buildings to pedestrian management, it is a buzzword that most are familiar with. So how does DigiKey add value to the subject by publishing another segment on the subject? DigiKey brings a fresh perspective to the topic by connecting directly with the Manufacturers and Innovators in this realm all while tying it back to the breadth of products DigiKey supports that address needs for connectivity, data management, energy usage, and energy storage.

In this three-part video series, City Digital, we cover multiple topics pertaining to smart cities. Public safety through enhanced awareness is a key aspect of Smart Cities. Everything from maintaining roads to reviewing current infrastructure, planning future infrastructure, educating in regards to carbon footprints and capacity, and much more plays a huge part in learning what to connect digitally. Due to developments in machine learning and machine imaging, we can make cities smarter than ever before. Things such as autonomous vehicles, smart street lighting, and transportation control have become more researched, developed and are being implemented globally. When looking at autonomous vehicles, the term can be made more broad into autonomous transportation services. This means it’s personal vehicles, shared vehicles, public transportation, scooters, and more. Autonomous scooters specifically can be equipped to do deliveries, while utilizing bike road space and navigating around traffic patterns. These developments and more are growing at a rapid rate. Now is the time for cities to start implementing as these technologies are growing at an exponential rate.

Another topic relating to smart cities explored in the series is energy management. When looking at energy management, there are two big factors, harvesting and storing. With harvesting energy many current and new technologies are being looked at; one featured in the series is floating solar panels. Using floating solar panels allows energy to be harvested from previously unused areas, creating a dual purpose for reservoirs and other locations while potentially giving back current solar panel locations for agriculture or development. Energy storage has also become a large factor for smart cities. With autonomous solutions requiring large amounts of storage, the need for better solutions becomes all the more relevant. The review of current options and innovators working to create future options are a big part of moving forward. To this end, DigiKey explores some innovators in the industry and discusses how we can support them.

Looking at the safety of office workers and building planning to maintain clean, ventilated, and more efficient buildings in crowded city environments is another large part of smart city innovation. Automated technology, wearables, remote access, and more contribute to the efficiency of these solutions. The implications are endless when one thinks about how sensor installation can easily enhance an automated building’s technology, increasing the productivity of lighting, HVAC, temperature, humidity, and power consumption. Information regarding these solutions is readily available while the costs of implementation are lowering and consumers are demanding need be paid attention to as they choose to live and work in digital, connected locations.

Conclusion

Although the subject has been discussed before, there is still more to explore and learn daily. With DigiKey and its many Supplier partners supporting the knowledge growth and providing technology that fuels innovation in this realm, we are working together to better meet customer and ultimately citizen demands.