As long-awaited smart cities draw near, we’re all a little bit closer to realising the full extent of what they will look like and how they will change our lives.
I see a smart city as a technological ecosystem. All elements are interacting, cohesively interconnected and working collaboratively while ultimately achieving highly efficient operations within the city and enhancing people’s lives.
Challenges and Opportunities in Australia’s Emerging Smart Infrastructures
I was recently a guest on the ‘Smart City Podcast’, a podcast hosted by Zoe Eather that explores how technology has the potential to make cities more liveable, sustainable and accessible. My time on the show opened up a discussion about smart city challenges that are unique to Australia and the emerging trend of resilience.
When I think about smart cities I consider the issues we are currently faced with as a nation. These issues include climate change and increasing energy costs, economic turmoil, an ageing population, urbanisation and resource management. The technology and innovation that comprise a successful smart city has the potential to help or even fully resolve these issues.
Australia’s unique set of challenges need to be considered now that we’re in the initial phase of smart city schemes. This is a country with areas of both very condensed and very dispersed population. Integration and interaction across such a large area will be difficult to coordinate. It is for this reason that collaboration between businesses, government and others in the smart city ecosystem will be necessary for success. Competition would be detrimental to cohesion which is essential to achieve the overall purpose of a Smart City, to enhance people’s lives and experiences.
It was not too long ago that the Internet was only just emerging and not readily available to the public. Fast forward to now and we are all connected one way or another, the Internet has become something of a connected comfort that we are accustom to.
As our increased dependence on technology for day-to-day interactions has increased, so too has the expectations that it will work, and we are unforgiving when it comes to technology failures. I changed banks because the app was almost impossible to use, and I’m from a generation that didn’t grow up around technology; millennials are far less forgiving.
Gearing up Towards the Dynamic Changes in Information Technology
Let’s fast forward to a time where we rely on technology for most, if not all, of our day-to-day activities.
Imagine a system failure that takes down part of a , such as a traffic management system, leaving all on the route unable to travel. This type of failure would be a little more inconvenient than an app not working on a smartphone. Hence why, resilience of smart cities needs to be a vital consideration.
Resilience is not just focused on rebuilding and recovery but also the capacity to adapt. What is the system’s capacity to cope with change and ensure continuous and efficient running?
The strength of the system needs to be assured to do this, thus highlighting the need for uninterrupted connectivity and power supply for smart cities.
It is critical for resilience of power and connectivity to be built into networks to ensure they will always be operating efficiently, because system failures are simply not an option.
As the reality of smart cities is slowly becoming part of our everyday lives, challenges unique to Australia need to be considered and addressed. Doing so will ensure the foundations of the technology will provide the accurate framework for growth and expansion that will suit our country’s specific needs and guarantee the best possible experience for people’s lives in the future.
Find out how Vertiv supports today’s smart cities here.
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