(This newsletter discusses the critical challenges in making Intelligent Infrastructure a reality, including finding new models for collaboration among public, private, and academics, new models for sharing data, new approaches to standards, regulation, security & compliance, and implementations of the latest technologies. We are hosting on 4/28 and 29 in Austin, Texas Intelligent Infrastructure conference)
Juniper Research ranked Shangai number 1 of the top smart cities in the world because of its Citizen Cloud, which offers a single point of contact for residents to access more than 1,000 services. Juniper Research concluded increasing potential savings and the early stage of the different smart city implementations.
One of the key benefits of intelligent infrastructure is creating what the European Community calls Urban Data Platform (UDPs). Urban data platforms are data collections from the many services and devices operated by the city or their service providers. The most elaborate UDPs are digital twins, as advocated by the Autonomy Institute. UDP can be the foundation for a vibrant service ecosystem of third-party services.
However, most UDPs solve the immediate needs and capabilities of the municipality and the initial consortium of companies. To foster ecosystems, UDPs need to be clear about the business models it will enable moving forward. UDPs need to interoperate with other UDPs so that any applications can leverage data coming from multiple cities. Lastly, UDPs need to be sustainable in the long term.
All in all, the business model of the UDPs needs to be transparent and profitable in the long run to guarantee self-sustainability. Of note, Fiware, one of the main projects supported by the EU, is starting to provide data spaces.
The Law Enforcement Command College commanded a study to understand the impact of Intelligent Infrastructure on Law Enforcement and Police. Law enforcement is a significant market scheduled to grow from $ 12.6 Billion in 2020 to 22.1 Billion in 2026. The increased demand for law enforcement solutions during COVID-19, rising numbers of crimes, increased focus on community-oriented policing, and growing investments for public safety measures in smart-city projects are a few factors driving the growth of law enforcement solutions and services. The study concluded that leveraging smart-city technologies could help solve crimes and improve community relations. The study exposes the diversity of applications that law enforcement could use on top of such an infrastructure. The list is endless, from autonomous vehicles, robots, gunshot detection systems, mobile license plate reading, and communications.