Smart Cities Development With 5G, IoT And Cloud Computing
1. Introduction:
Smart city is defined as a city having an infrastructure that can support smart solutions to ensure that better services are delivered. Smart cities are embedded with wireless sensor networks. Cities are continuously being challenged to develop environmentally and economically. Security, economic progress, innovation and social cohesion are necessary elements for the development of the cities. With integrating the technology in various functions, Smart cities can deliver the goals of innovation, sustainability, economic progress and city engagement and can improve the quality of life for residents, visitors and businesses as well.
As the world is progressing and automation is taking over manual works because of evolution of technology particularly wireless communication technology; smart solutions are required to build on the infrastructures of cities. 5G is a high speed wireless technology, which has the potential to transform cities to smart cities. Smart city concept is about connecting the multiple digital devices with each other to efficiently run offices, homes and other place through emerging IoT (Internet of things) technology.
Resilient 5G networks are needed in cities to accommodate the increasing need for high speed mobile broadband. While it is suggested by some analysts and researchers that 4G LTE (Long-term evolution) technology sufficiently supports a number of IoT uses cases, this paper explores that only low latency, high capacity and high speed 5G broadband networks will be able to meet the increasing demands of data intensive applications. Moreover, 5G has the capacity to support massive number of devices accessing the network; and is far greater than 4G LTE is able to handle. 5G is the enabler of IoT applications like education, health care, transportation and energy.
According to a research by Cisco, IoT devices more than 500 billion, from actuators to sensors to medical devices are expected to be connected to internet by 2020. The data aggregated, collected and analyzed by the IoT devices would deliver insights across a wide range of services and platforms, from artificial intelligence to health care innovations. The networks of 5G will be required to support these cloud services and data intensive IoT.
It is the right time to transform the cities in to smart cities as most of the technologies including Wireless, IT, Cloud and social are emerging and making the concept of 5G practically possible. Three main areas where it is expected to make huge impact with the help of IoT are real-time connections, smarter everyday objects and automation. This report discusses the main things which need to be explained when talking about the impact of 5G, IoT and cloud computing on smart cities and the way it can change the way of living.
2. Applications and Challenges:
2.1. Applications of 5G, IoT and Cloud Computing:
The benefits of smart cities are accelerated with the help of 5G. Increasing the network efficiency means increasing high speed connections between all the devices and more devices can connect to each other in efficient way. With the ability to communicate with one another, the Internet of Things (IoT) will have a positive impact on energy management, traffic flow management and can save resources from being wasted. Most of the common facilities provided with the concept of Smart cities are discussed below:
2.11 Smart HealthCare and Security:
The most important application of 5G, IoT and cloud computing in smart cities is an impact on the betterment of healthcare and security system of a city. Different ways including remote monitoring of patients or home caring can be used to decrease the rate of hospitalization. It will be possible for doctors to perform operations around the world with the help of video controls. With the help of high speed networks, the security system of the cities can be addressed. It will be a great opportunity to minimize the crime rates. Eventually, it will lead to big improvement in public safety. Smart cities having their own high speed broadband network can operate well in emergency situations. Some of the socioeconomic benefits such as improved quality of life, economic growth, excessive job market, better communication and safe environment are also associated with the implementation of 5G wireless technology in the smart cities.
2.12 Smart Grids:
2.13 Smart Traffic Management:
The effective management of traffic is a common application in the project of smart cities as the intelligent traffic lights based on sensor networks are incorporated to monitor the traffic flow and controlling the lights based on the traffic flow. Most of companies like Nokia and Ericson are working on the smart management of traffic to ensure that 5G leaves an impact in traffic systems and public transport.
2.2. Challenges faced in converting Cities into Smart Cities:
The concept of smart city represents innovation in infrastructure, city management and services. The development of cities to become smart cities requires efficient and effective investments. Infrastructure development is indispensable for the evolution of cities into smart cities. The necessary infrastructure for building up smart cities will be different in developed countries from developing ones. The main challenge in building up the smart cities is related to modification of the government model. Challenges are associated with making the governance models more flexible and to accommodate new initiatives.
In addition to these challenges, urban insecurity, poverty and living conditions are the difficulties faced in developing cities which in turn are less attractive to new talents and new businesses than developed cities. Also, government instability such as high level of corruption, violence and polarization are common issues in developing countries.
3. Critical Factors for Smart City Initiatives:
In this paper, we have identified critical factors for developing and understanding smart cities. These factors can be used to design a framework to get a more holistic view of the initiatives to build smart cities. The critical factors are: (1) Economy, (2) Social, (3) Management, (4) Technology, (5) Legal, and (6) Sustainability.
Economy:
Economy is one of major drivers for taking smart city initiatives. The competitive advantage of the growing city can be measured by its economy. The definition of smart economy includes factors all around economic competitiveness such as trademarks, entrepreneurship, productivity, flexibility and innovation of the labor market and the integration in the global and national market. What truly makes a city smart is its ability to capitalize and innovate economically. As an economic development platform, the smart city should facilitate the flow of capital.
Social:
The concept of smart cities is bared on smart communities whose citizens play an active part in their design. The citizens are able to access information related to what is happening in their cities and communities and can explore ways to engage with different groups to become actively involved in the planning and design process. Cities that are smart only with respect to the economy are not smart at all if they don’t consider the social needs of their citizens. Smart city initiatives should balance the social needs of various communities. The smart city projects impact the quality of life of citizens and are aimed to foster more educated, informed and aware citizens.
Management:
A major execution challenge for building smart cities is governance. Fragmented accountability, leakage of resources, limited transparency and unequal city divisions are some of the characteristics of the regular governance. The conversion from this type of governance to e-governance for efficient and effective administration is a major factor in developing smart cities. Smart governance includes citizens’ services, active political participation and smart use of e-government. E-government can be defined as an initiative to improve public policy making, improve decision making process and improve public governance. E-governance helps in involving citizens comprehensively in all the defined aspects.
Technology:
Technology plays a major role in transforming an ordinary city into smart city. Modern cities are converting into smart cities due to the evolution of technology. Various components and devices are connected with each other that facilitate real time decision making. Smart cities must exploit communication and information technology to improve the quality of life of citizens. Technology is one of the most important factors in building smart cities. The amalgamation of this driver along with quality of living and sustainability can boost the proper management and functioning of the cities.
Legal:
The evolution of cities into smart cities cannot be successful without legal compliances. Government, councils and political bodies influence the operations of smart city initiatives. So both legal and political components are crucial factors for the development of smart city. City governments should boost the pro-active steps for managing and implementing smart city initiatives. The policy making innovations are essential and obscure.
Sustainability:
Sustainability is defined as way of social and economic development without interfering with environment. The sustainable development can be classified into economic, social and environmental sustainability. The economic sustainability rests on better integrated infrastructure. A smart city leads its community to become more competitive for opportunity, capacity and investment by providing enhanced quality of life as well as decreases the environmental consequences of urban life.
Smart City Security :
With all the great things that a Smart City bring there is still a concern of Security Attacks on the network. There are many possible attack vectors in a smart city, Electric grid, IOT, Sensors. Many of the attacks have already have been happened in conventional cities and Smart city will not be an exception.
4. Mesa Arizona- As a Case Study
Mesa is a city in U.S state of Arizona. It is third largest city in Arizona and largest suburban city by population in United States. The following Smart City initiatives can be taken to upgrade the city into smart city.
Infrastructure
The provision of scalable, robust data and communications infrastructure is needed to enable other smart city services and initiatives.
Automated Metering Infrastructure
Automated energy/water smart metering should be employed in the targeted locations to upgrade the city into smart city.
Innovating District
Creating an environment and physical space for academic innovators, entrepreneurs, citizens and city staff to work together to explore solutions for improving quality of life for community.
Smart Public Safety
Leverage a national system where data insights can be analyzed to evaluate fire resourcing, response availability, and effectiveness of operational services to mitigate injury, death and property loss.
Smart Downtown Pilot
Provide Wi-Fi and gigabit fiber connectivity to the downtown district, enhancing the experience and engagement of businesses, residents and visitors. Upgrade to LED streetlights with smart node capability, providing energy-savings as lights are automatically adjusted based on pedestrian and traffic volume, revenue generation opportunities, and support for other Smart Cities initiatives. This includes Cameras/Optical Sensors, Wi-Fi Expansion, Parking and Pedestrian Analytics. It may be critical infrastructure for communications and AMI. Improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and make it easier for citizens to find available parking. This includes sharing information through multiple messaging platforms.
Smart Environment
Enhancing existing building automation system and adding sensors to automate and monitor lighting, security, life safety and other building functions, enabling the City to realize cost savings and other benefits.
Logicfinder CyberSecurity solutions can help protect Smart Cities against Security attacks and can provide industry respected threat detection and mitigation solutions.
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