Jisc in partnership with GSA have published a new report by Esmat Mirzamany (Jisc) and Joe Barrett (GSA) on how universities and cities could work together to build a smart city taking advantage of the connectivity and computing capacity unleashed by the next generation (5G) mobile networks.
“Smart City” has become a hot topic in recent years. While still in its infancy, the new and extreme broadband connectivity and computing capacity unleashed by the next generation (5G) mobile networks, is bringing the power of Smart City solutions to our cities. The success is driven by the fact that Smart City and its services have the power to support necessary utility functions in today’s cities, and also creating completely new business models and value propositions while enhancing safety and comfort of its users; both citizens and visitors. Based on Deloitte1, a city is smart when investments in (i) human and social capital, (ii) traditional infrastructure and (iii) disruptive technologies fuel sustainable economic growth and a high quality of life, through sustainable management of natural resources, as well as through participatory governance. They are other definitions for Smart City, however; one can say a smart city is a city with more contented and involved citizens, thanks to the digitalisation of different aspects of their life. During recent years there have been several smart city projects, with different business models and planning. Nevertheless, apart from a high cost of running such projects, one thing common to all of these activities is a “use-case driven” nature of such activities. That means use cases chosen for the smart city project make the foundation of its success and are the essence of a viable business model. So, the ability to choose the best use cases with the best technology solutions- given the circumstances- is the key to the success.
You can access the report from the Jisc repository.
Also related to 5G is a recent news article on the Jisc website, exploring the view of Andy Sutton, visiting professor in the School of Computing, Science and Engineering at the University of Salford – who spoke at the “mobility” session at Networkshop46.