Smart cities Smart cities

What is a smart city?

British Standards Institution (British Standard Institution, BSI) describes a smart city as "effectively integrating physical, digital and human systems into an artificially created environment in order to ensure a sustainable, prosperous and comprehensive future for citizens."

ICTs allow city authorities to interact directly with communities and urban infrastructure, and monitor what is happening in the city, how the city is developing, and what ways to improve the quality of life. By using sensors integrated in real time, the accumulated data from urban residents and devices are processed and analyzed. The information gathered is key to solving^[1] inefficiencies].

ICTs are used to improve the quality, productivity and interactivity of urban services, reduce costs and resource consumption, and improve communication between urban residents and the state.

The application of smart city technology is being developed with the aim of improving the management of urban flows and a quick response to complex tasks. Therefore, the "smart city" is more prepared to solve problems than with a simple "operational" relationship with its citizens. However, the term itself remains unclear in its specificity, and therefore involves many interpretations and discussions.

Smart City Components

• Situational Centers, Unified Duty Dispatch Service
• System 112
• Video surveillance and video analytics

• ITS - intelligent transport systems
• Safety on public transport
• Video recording (photo and video recording) cameras
• Smart parking
• Smart traffic lights
• Self-driving cars

• Professional Radio and Broadband (LTE, 5G )
• IoT - Internet of Things

• Biometrics
• Unstructured Data Handling
• Decision Support Technologies
• Augmented and Virtual Reality
• Distributed databases
• Geo-information technologies and navigation
• Machine learning
• Cloudy/foggy/boundary calculations

2023:9 main trends in the construction of smart cities named

In October 2023, a study was published in Russia, which reflected the main trends in the development of "smart cities," within which artificial intelligence is already used or can be used.

Building Complex AI Solutions for City Management

The accumulation of a large amount of data within the framework of single storage centers provided the opportunity to introduce AI to analyze the activities of the city on a previously inaccessible scale. With the introduction of more and more systems and applications that received and received data, the tasks of AI became more complicated. According to experts, urban digital systems are becoming a single city management system, where AI analyzes data from many sources, from meters in smart buildings to a single digital urban infrastructure.

Digitalization of urban governance

The trend of the development of "smart cities" leads to the creation of a single digital city management center based on AI. Specialists distinguish three main areas of development:

• the introduction of AI as part of the digital transformation of urban management;
• interaction with the public and ensuring the participation of citizens;
• development of urban planning policy.

Application of AI solutions in services that ensure the safety of residents

AI will allow you to establish patterns, relationships and trends in the behavior of residents when committing offenses and to identify suspicious activity. A promising direction is the prediction of future crimes through big data analytics.

Creation of unified waste management systems

One way to optimize the waste management system is to implement "smart waste management practices." The use of AI technologies in waste management can change the face of polluted cities, reduce costs and improve the quality of life of residents.

Water Management with Unified Digital Systems

As cities grow, demand for water increases and often exceeds available supplies, leading to a shortage of water. To solve this problem, cities are taking various measures to preserve and improve water management methods, one of which is the use of AI.

Integration of AI into urban planning processes

One way to optimize resources and solve urban planning problems is to implement AI in the form of a digital twin. One of the most significant benefits of using AI in urban planning is that it provides data-driven information for decision-making. It can help identify the need for a specific infrastructure, visualize multiple implementation scenarios in parallel, modeling the use of different materials or construction methods.

Development of "smart digital energy systems"

One of the goals of creating "smart cities" is reliable, efficient and environmentally friendly energy consumption. As part of this trend, AI can analyze data on infrastructure power consumption. AI allows you to increase the energy efficiency of the infrastructure by automatically adjusting parameters.

Integrating Smart Systems into Transport Infrastructure

The creation of a "smart transport infrastructure" will make the movement of city residents more convenient and affordable. Any type of transport will be able to move autonomously using computer vision and machine learning algorithms. Road control systems (traffic lights, checkpoints, etc.) will be controlled by a single city system in real time, taking into account traffic data, which will optimize transport, increase safety and speed of movement around the city.

The use of AI to automate the processing of citizens' appeals

Engaging residents to implement and evaluate smart city initiatives ensures that their expectations of desired change are met. As part of the trend, AI provides platforms for interacting with citizens. AI also helps to work with citizen feedback, increasing the efficiency of city services.

Effective domestic practices based on artificial intelligence technologies in a smart city

2019: Smart city concept from Danish minister: People will have no property or privacy by 2030

Speaking at a session of the World Economic Forum, Danish Minister of Ecology Ida Auken said that by 2030, privacy will completely disappear from human life. In her opinion, there will be no property, personal, transport familiar work and environmental pollution. This forecast became known in April 2019.

Ida Auken believes that residents of cities will not pay rent for an apartment in 2030, because during the absence of a property owner, other people will use the space.

For example, when I leave, business meetings are held in my living room, "she said.

In addition to housing, people will be able to use transport for free - drones or flying cars, and a personal car will become a meaningless thing. There will be no traffic jams on the roads. The volume of "traditional work" thanks to robots and artificial intelligence will decrease, and people will be able to eat better, get enough sleep and communicate more with each other, the minister is sure.

In her opinion, trees and green zones will be everywhere in cities, since everyone will understand the importance of their presence. It makes no sense to fill the free territory with concrete.

It will be possible to work at any time convenient for yourself. And it will be aimed at the creation, development of man.

We have lost a lot of strength and time to understand the value of this way of life, "says Ida Auken.

According to the Danish minister, the lifestyle will allow humanity to get rid of such serious problems as climate change, the migration crisis, environmental degradation, unemployment and overpopulation of cities.

People will stop going to stores, since computer algorithms will help select the necessary products that can be ordered on the Internet, she continues.

Previously, everyone was looking only for entertainment, and people did not want to clog their heads with more complicated questions. However , at the last moment we still understood how to use technology for our own benefit, and not just to kill time, "Auken emphasized.[2]

2018: Smart city is data-driven and data management enables municipal services to improve the quality of life of the population

As Boris Glazkov, vice president for strategic initiatives at Rostelecom, said in the spring of 2018, the end-to-end technologies affecting the development of Smart Cities include those technologies that simultaneously cover several trends or industries, in this particular case from the point of view of city management. Therefore, the emergence and development of cross-functional and cross-sectoral solutions depends on them. It is from the contact and mutual enrichment of different areas of knowledge that new effective technologies and applied solutions appear that determine the prospects for the development of Smart Cities. The competent use of end-to-end technologies will ultimately stimulate an increase in the quality of life, the comfort of the urban environment, and the management of various sectors of the urban economy while reducing resource consumption.

"Behind each end-to-end technology with a complex name are specific solutions to improve the quality of life. For example, geo-information technologies and ultra-accurate navigation along with 5G are the basis for the emergence of unmanned public transport. Digital technology for decision support and unstructured data processing, machine learning is needed to create smart road infrastructure management systems that include traffic forecasting, smart traffic lights and even bus driver fatigue control. That is why end-to-end technologies should be in the focus of attention when developing and implementing the concepts of "Smart Cities," - said Boris Glazkov.

The definition of a smart city is interpreted ambiguously by experts. Yet their formulations converge on one thing: a smart city is data-driven, and data management allows municipal services to improve the quality of life of the population. The data covers such areas of life of citizens as security, transport, medical services, utilities, landscaping, etc. Data sources are video cameras, various sensors, sensors, information systems^[3].

The UN estimates that 67% of the world's population will live in cities by 2050. Already, some of the world's megacities are overcrowded. Municipalities do not always cope with garbage collection, the supply of utilities and electricity from district to district is heterogeneous, etc. To provide the population with high-quality city services, administrations are increasingly introducing various information systems.

This term, along with the term "smart city," is proposed to be used by PwC analysts. However, there is a problem here: there is no single standard or standard by which it would be possible to unambiguously determine how well or poorly the city is controlled by data. Experts explain this by the fact that the technological landscape of megacities is constantly changing, the heterogeneous information that becomes the basis for the implementation of the DDC concept is becoming more and more.

ISO 37120:2014 and 37151:2015

With state support for infrastructure modernization, companies are able to invest in commercially profitable projects. Projects within the framework of the smart city concept can be an example of the effective implementation of public-private partnerships. In 2014-2015, ISO standards were developed, which noted that there are three levels of projects: the infrastructure level, the level of facilities and the level of urban services.

The standards define a list of targets, the measurement and control of which allows cities to assess their development. ISO 37120:2014 "Sustainable Community Development. Indicators of urban services and quality of life "regulates 46 mandatory and 56 auxiliary indicators in 17 areas.

  

ISO 37151:2015 "Intelligent Public Utilities Infrastructures. Principles and Requirements for a System of Operating Indicators "contains a methodology for assessing the performance of the municipal infrastructure of smart cities in 14 categories of basic community needs (from the point of view of residents, managers and the environment).

The collection and analysis of data from cities is carried out by the international organization of the World Council on City Data (WCCD), which performs the functions of certification of cities according to ISO standards.

The use of standards helps to quantify the state of various areas in cities and identify problem areas. Using data-driven decision-making, cities improve key metrics and strengthen positions in the international WCCD registry.

ISO standards metrics reflect work in different directions: improving the quality of services, the efficiency of infrastructure and individual facilities. This involves the optimization of energy supply systems, water supply, public transport, lighting, etc., which requires the integrated use of analytics.

2020: Russia among co-editors of the international standard for emergency response in the metropolis

On April 2, 2020, Roselectronics announced that Russian experts from the Cyber ​ ​ Physical Systems Technical Committee, created on the basis of RVC, will co-edit an international standard that will determine the best practices for using city emergency response centers. The standard is being developed within the framework of the Smart City Technology Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC, IEC). Read more here.

Smart cities in Russia

Main article: Smart city: development in Russia

• Russia in IT ratings

Smart cities in Kazakhstan

Main article: Smart cities in Kazakhstan

Chronicle

2025: Moscow ranked second in the ranking of smart cities in the world

The Russian capital took second place in the ranking of smart cities in the world, prepared by analysts of the company Kept. Moscow scored 53.9 points based on the assessment of digitalization indicators. The city lost only 0.1 points in the overall standings to Singapore. Beijing took third place with a score of 52.9 points. London placed in fourth position with 52.5 points. The results of the study were published on October 8, 2025.

Shanghai finished fifth with a score of 51.7 points in the ranking. The assessment was carried out in five areas of urban environment development. The category "smart management" assessed the quality of the interaction of the authorities with residents. The "smart lifestyle" direction took into account the availability of digital services for citizens. The smart transport section analyzed the development of transport systems. The smart business and employment category measured the conditions for entrepreneurship. The "sustainable development" direction evaluated the environmental initiatives of cities.

Moscow took second place in the ranking of smart cities in the world

The rating is published for the second time after the first edition. This time, Kept analysts compared Moscow with the global megacities of the world. The leaders of the previous version from CIS and BRICS + also participated in the assessment. Of the Russian cities remained, and in Moscow St. Petersburg Kazan the current rating. Kazan assigned the group "with potential for development" along with other cities.,,,,, and Istanbul Minsk To tank Tashkent Astana fell Mumbai into the same category.

According to researchers, online interaction between residents and the administration remains at a high level in Moscow. The development of the city portal ensures the provision of services to citizens in electronic form. Businesses also gain access to government services through the portal. Disclosing information about various areas of the city's life increases transparency. Electronic services allow you to make an appointment with a doctor, pay fines and submit applications. The integration of data from various departments simplifies procedures for the population.^[4]

2021: Spending on smart cities projects in the world reaches $35 billion

On January 24, 2022, Juniper Research analysts published a study according to which spending on smart cities around the world in 2021 amounted to $35 billion. These investments have much to do with the exploitation of various innovations in areas such as transport, infrastructure, power, lighting, city management and urban communications.

Many cities have rolled out technology and data to help local governments reduce environmental impacts and energy consumption, study co-author Mike Bainbridge noted. - The best cities in our recent ranking are finding innovative ways to use technology to provide obvious benefits for their citizens as well.

Juniper Research ranked the best smart cities, including:

• Shanghai;
• Seoul;
• Barcelona;
• Beijing;
• New York.

The Shanghai Citizen Cloud project is particularly highly regarded as a single hub for more than 1,200 different services for the city's residents, making effective digitized management of utilities state and services commonplace in many cities. Asia

In addition to these rankings, the study found that smart cities initiatives would generate nearly $70 billion in annual spending by 2026; compared to $35 billion in 2021. Much of this will focus on smart grid initiatives that will save more than 1,000 TWh of electricity in 2026, equivalent to more than 5 years of energy consumption London at the end of 2021.

Many areas of smart cities development are still in the early stages, especially outside the leading cities, so initial developments still account for most of the market. Juniper Research notes that this means the savings generated by smart city technology will remain strong. We expect that only energy savings will reach $96 billion in 2026, which will make their implementation in most cases very cost-effective.^[5]

2020: Moscow climbed 16 places in the ranking of smart cities

Moscow climbed 16 places in the ranking of smart cities, which is the Swiss International Institute for Management Development (IMD Business School). In a study published on September 17, 2020, the Russian capital took 56th place.

The first place in the list for the second year in a row went to Singapore. The second position in the rating of smart cities was taken by Helsinki, the third - Zurich. Auckland and Oslo followed, and New York closed the top ten. In addition to the Russian capital, St. Petersburg, which took 73rd position, was included in the rating, without changing its position compared to 2019.

The rating includes 109 cities. The leader in China was Zhuhai (Guangdong province), to whom experts gave 62nd place.

The authors of the study conducted a survey of residents of megacities for existing technologies and their availability. This year also took into account how the urban infrastructure of smart cities helps in the situation associated with the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19.

Cities were evaluated in five areas: health and safety, mobility, activity, capabilities and management.

Residents of developing countries most often cited air pollution and traffic congestion as major issues, and highlighted safety and corruption concerns, the report said.

Cities in developed countries had other problems, such as unemployment, education and social mobility. In addition, difficulties with housing affordability have been noted around the world.

The 2020 study paid special attention to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as many countries have resorted to various technologies to combat the disease.

Those with the best technology are better at dealing with the pandemic. Smart cities are not the solution to the problem, but technology helps, the report says.[6]

2019

Spending on smart cities reaches $104.3 billion - IDC

In 2019, global spending on smart cities projects reached approximately $104.3 billion, according to the analytical company IDC.

Experts did not specify the dynamics and only reported growth. In 2020, the global costs of initiatives for the development of an intellectual urban environment will be measured at $124 billion, that is, they will increase by 18.9%.

According to the results of 2019, approximately 29% of investments in such projects accounted for the 100 most active cities in this regard, which in the near future will remain the main growth drivers of the market in question. However, smart cities are developing not only in metropolitan areas, but also in small regions, which indicates a strong fragmentation of the market.

In 2019, use cases related to green power and infrastructure accounted for approximately a third of smart cities costs. First of all, smart power systems projects stand out here. Public safety and smart transport accounted for 18% and 14% of total costs, respectively.

As for the most common use cases, smart power systems (combined electricity and gas) still attract the lion's share of investment, although their relative importance will decline over time as the market develops, and other scenarios will become major.

Following in terms of spending on smart city technologies are projects of fixed, video surveillances advanced public, transport smart traffic management and a connected back office. These five areas in 2019 accounted for about half of investments in smart cities.

As for projects with the potential for the highest growth rates, these include V2X communications (when cars interact with each other, as well as with road infrastructure), digital twins and wearable electronics for police officers. How quickly sales of such solutions will grow is not indicated in the study.

Among cities, investment in intellectual urban infrastructure is leading, Singapore it will remain in first place for at least several more years. In the second position is where the Tokyo XXXII Summer Olympic Games will be held in July-August 2020. The third and fourth places will be taken by New York and. London According to IDC forecasts, each of the listed megacities will spend more than $1 billion on smart cities development programs.

Analysis from a regional point of view shows that the top three will include, USA Western Europe and. China Their share in the amount will account for more than 70% of the world's costs for the corresponding projects. At the same time, the fastest investment in smart cities will grow in Latin America and, Japan predict IDC.^[7]

Regional and municipal authorities are work hard to keep pace with technological progress and use new opportunities in the context of risk management and population expectations, as well as to fund large-scale initiatives, says Rutbea Yesner, vice president of IDC Government Insights and Smart Cities and Communities. - Many seek to incorporate smart city technology options into budgets or fund projects with traditional means. This contributes to the growth of investment in the market.

It also follows from the IDC report that among more than 200 cities under study, about 80 of them spend more than $100 million a year on smart urban infrastructure projects. At the same time, 70% of world spending is concentrated in cities with budgets of up to $1 million for Smart City initiatives.

Experts have named the main cyber threats for the "smart city"

In 2024, financial, information and communication technologies (ICT) defense industry and will account for 56% of the projected total costs of cyber security critical infrastructure. USA health care The remaining 44% will fall on the enterprises of the electric power industry, the transport sector and water treatment systems.

According^[8] specialists from ABI Research, due to lack of funding, the above-described industries will be extremely vulnerable to cyber attacks. In particular, "smart cities" may be under threat^[9]

According to experts, by 2024 the number of geographically distributed networks of "smart cities" will be about 1.3 billion. Almost half of them will be LPWA-LTE and LPWA.

A number of LPWA protocols, such as NB-IoT, try to solve at least some security problems. However, the main goal of these lightweight cellular protocols is to reduce the cost of bandwidth, increase coverage and reduce delays, and they simply cannot cope with the increased number of cyber threats in the field of "smart city."

"'Smart cities' are increasingly subject to various threats. This includes complex cyber attacks critical infrastructure ones by stopping work, APCS the misuse of energy-efficient long-range LPWAN networks, hacking communications between devices, blocking systems using ransomware, ON changing sensor data (for example, emergency systems) in order to cause mass panic, stealing data from citizens, patients and consumers, personally identifiable information, etc., "said ABI Research analyst Dimitrios Pavlakis.

Among the key factors contributing to the growth of cyber threats in smart city ecosystems, Pavlakis cited a lack of cryptographic security, improper management of encryption keys, the use of machine learning with a malicious purpose, lack of knowledge about social engineering methods and lack of protection against DDoS attacks.

2018: Frost & Sullivan: Smart cities to cost $2tn by 2025

The total market value of smart cities by 2025 will exceed $2 trillion. Such data are contained in a study by Frost & Sullivan on trends in artificial intelligence (AI). According to analysts, it is AI that will become one of the cornerstone technologies used in building smart cities, along with personalized healthcare, robotics, distributed energy and advanced driver assistance systems.

"The creation of smart cities is one of the key areas of the digital economy around the world. Russia is no exception: at the end of 2017, the largest state corporations and educational institutions signed a memorandum on the creation of the first 50 smart cities in which unmanned vehicles will be introduced, the efficiency of housing and communal services will be increased and favorable conditions for the development of innovative companies have been created. Such interest is caused by the opportunities that open up to society in the context of technological urban infrastructure: this is an increase in the comfort of life, and saving time and resources, for example, electricity and water, "says Irina, Director of Technology at Hitachi Vantara in the North EMEAYAkhina region. The ^[10]

.

Frost & Sullivan experts note that now is the most successful moment to intensify such technological transformations. At a minimum, this correlates with the calculations, according to which by 2050 80% of the population of developed countries of the planet will live in cities.

Researchers note that an important factor in the creation of smart cities will be not only various innovations, but also the involvement of citizens themselves in the process. Against this background, various experts suggest starting a wide discussion in China between local authorities and the population. Frost & Sullivan notes that these calls are not accidental: more than half of smart cities will be located in this country and by 2025 will bring the economy $320 billion.

"One of the most important issues when designing smart cities is the safety of citizens. Already, decisions are emerging in the IT sphere aimed at protecting public well-being. For example, the Hitachi Visualization Suite helps prevent crime by presenting a more complete and accurate picture of what is happening in the city. And Hitachi Video Analytics (HVA) helps organizations get valuable insights about the state of urban space, the situation on the roads and at airports. Solutions adapt and scale as the needs of the city change, "Irina Yakhina gives examples

.

According to the study, the largest investment in smart cities projects will be made in Europe. But North America is also not lagging behind - by 2020, the volume of the smart homes market will exceed $5 billion. Analysts note that Latin America will become another region of rapid growth. Smart cities are already ready to create in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Rio de Janeiro.

2017

Cisco unveils $1 billion smart cities financing program

In cities that are called "smart," cleaner air, safer streets and higher overall quality of life. At the same time, many of those in charge of financial flows struggle to find funds to fund transformations that would make their cities "smart." Helping to cope with budget difficulties, Cisco proposed in November 2017 the City Infrastructure Financing Program^[11], a total of $1 billion. The goal of the program is to make it more accessible for cities around the world to finance and implement technologies that will contribute to transformation.

See also Cisco Kinetic

Huawei will make 60 cities "smart"

As part of the Smart City Expo World Congress 2017, held in Barcelona from November 14 to 16, 2017, Huawei presented a number of solutions for implementing the concept of a "smart city." Contracts were also signed for the introduction of such technologies in 60 cities around the world.

Trend Micro: The main cyber threats of smart cities

Trend Micro analyzed what cybersecurity risks arise when using smart technologies in the critical infrastructure of such cities, as well as - what steps need to be taken so that local governments and developers can make smart cities safer^[12].

Key findings of the report:

• By 2050, 66% of all people will live in cities. Urbanization can cause a lack of energy, lead to transport collapse, environmental pollution, etc. To solve social, economic and environmental problems, both the public and private sectors are actively investing in smart city technologies.
• Global investment in smart cities will grow from $36.8 billion in 2016 to $88.7 billion by 2025.
• Among the motives of attackers that encourage them to attack smart cities: the desire to test their hacking abilities, theft of money and personal data of users, as well as corporate information; espionage or organizing a hacktivist campaign.
• Among the goals of hackers in attacks on the critical infrastructure of smart cities: intentional organization of accidents, organization of power outages; theft of personal information of users, theft of electricity; interception of control of devices and systems; violation of the transport system and others.
• The attack on smart cities takes place in four stages: statistical analysis (analysis of devices and systems whose vulnerabilities can be exploited), scanning (detection of targets and entry points), collecting information (obtaining data for access by phishing, etc.), carrying out the cyber attack itself .
• The vulnerability of smart cities is, among other things, the incorrect use of smart technologies on its territory. Public online platforms such as app stores, for example, can be infected if not adequately protected, and devices with open ports or backdoors can be easily detected and compromised.

To ensure the safety of a smart city, 10 steps must be taken:

• Perform regular quality control and test the system for penetration.
• Pay special attention to security issues within the framework of the service level agreement with all suppliers and providers.
• Create a Municipal Computer Incident Response Center (CERT) or create a Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT).
• Ensure a stable and secure software update.
• Consider the life of smart infrastructure.
• Organize data processing taking into account cybersecurity requirements.
• Encrypt, configure authentication and regulate public communication channels.
• Configure manual control function.
• Develop a fault-tolerant system.
• Ensure continuous operation of the main systems and services.

Bosch: Mobile Solutions for Metropolitan Areas

• The future of urban mobility from Bosch: zero emissions, no stress and no accidents on the roads
• The company has implemented 14 pilot projects of smart cities around the world

Bosch becomes a provider of mobile services for urban agglomerations. In the future, the company will focus on developing and delivering mobile solutions for connected to. The To the Internet smart cities world is experiencing a rapidly growing demand for conceptual transportation solutions for urban infrastructure. Megacities around the world are filled to capacity. In many locations, there is a danger of a complete shutdown. transport More and more people are returning to cities or intend to live there in the future. By 2050, megacities will be home to more than six billion people - double the number today. By that time, traffic on the streets of cities will be formed. Given that approximately two-thirds of the world's population will be urban in 2050 and with continued growth in urbanization, so will the number of problems.

In addition, an increase in the number of people in limited space will entail increased traffic, which means a deterioration in air quality, a decrease in the number of green areas, an increase in noise and the time that residents will spend in traffic jams.

See Bosch Mobile Solutions for Metropolitan Areas

Government Technology: Pros and cons of future "smart" cities

In a Government Technology study called Evolution of Smart Cities and Connected Communities, Asia was named as a global leader in the development of '4 ^[13] smart cities of the future^[14][15].

Key factors

Two key factors in the development of "smart" cities, according to the authors of the study, are population growth and ongoing global urbanization. More and more people are choosing an urban lifestyle, and therefore there is an increasingly urgent need for efficient city management.

The study cites data that smart city projects grew by 30% from 2013 to 2016. So it's time to look to the future.

While much has been said about the forecasts of the dangers of "smart" homes, it is also important to assess the positive and negative aspects of "smart" cities, especially to focus on their safety problems.

The higher the connection level, the more vulnerabilities

Always the first problem for governments, private companies and the public when it comes to something "smart" is, of course, hackers. They are capable of causing major damage to companies, as well as destroying the lives of ordinary people.

Can a hacker stop the work of urban infrastructure in the future?

In 2015, IOActive Labs' Caesar Cerrudo conducted an ambitious experiment to show the smart city's vulnerability to hackers.

It was a bit reminiscent of the Italian robbery or the recent video game incidents of Ubisoft's Watch Dogs: Cerrudo strolled the streets of Washington and "scanned" local traffic sensors used for traffic management. It found that the data was not encrypted and the level of protection was far from what was required. Then, in the lab, he hacked into the devices and claimed they could be manipulated to alter the operation of traffic lights, leaving the city with big problems and people in serious accidents.

"These traffic problems can cause real incidents, even fatalities, that will cause accidents or make it difficult for ambulances, firefighters or police to rush to an urgent call," Cerrudo said.

Sensys Networks, which serves these sensors, responded to Cerrudo's statements and accused him of exaggeration, but information about such a potential danger was enough for the Washington authorities to decide to check the safety of their traffic control system.

It is good that this vulnerability was discovered by a person who is trying to help. If there were an attacker in his place, how could he use this information? In the future, this issue will increasingly have to be resolved by authorities and security experts: a smart city with a high level of connections increases the likelihood that someone could manipulate the entire infrastructure if the proper level of security is not provided.

Driving without drivers

Connected machines are of most interest because they are one of the main features of smart cities in the future. If done right, they could save thousands of lives every day. Imagine a future where people look back at 21st century cars and wonder how their ancestors might have put people in danger by allowing them to manually drive cars. If the human factor is removed from traffic control, then thousands of victims of road accidents occurring daily can become distant memories. Of course, such a future is still very far away.

In the meantime, there are serious risks that need to be addressed. Since hackers can penetrate the IoT systems of the urban infrastructure and cause problems, they can also manipulate someone's car on the way, which can lead to real danger in real time. For example, in 2015, Fiat Chrysler had to recall 1.4 million vehicles after two researchers Chris Wallachek and Charlie Miller discovered they could remotely turn off the brakes at Jeep Cherokee and seize control of the Uconnect infotainment system installed in the vehicle.

Another story is impressive: something similar was produced by a hacker who for a moment was able to intercept the control of a commercial aircraft, as a result of which he changed his course. Chris Roberts of One World Labs managed to seize control of the plane while on board the plane as a passenger, connecting via cable to the Seat Electronic Box, which was under his seat, and thereby penetrating the plane's entertainment system.

Roberts stated to the FBI that he hacked the planes 15 to 20 times, and that he only wanted to identify vulnerabilities that could be addressed.

Security or control?

Smart city applications have already been used to improve the safety of people around the world. One example of this is the initiative of NEC, which reduced the level of car theft in the city of Tigre (Argentina). Tigris used high-precision, real-time analysis with facial recognition technology to identify criminals and even detect suspicious human behavior. The "City video surveillance system"reduced the number of car thefts in the city by 80% after it was introduced.

Of course, facial recognition can make the world a lot safer. Although there is one nuance here. What opportunities do we want to put in the hands of the authorities? Wikileaks emphasizes that over the past few years, online privacy issues have become very relevant, and there are a lot of nuances.

There are political parties that want to solve the problem of online privacy, but many of them see encryption as a tool that is more necessary for criminals than to increase the level of security of people when protecting against them. Is it worth sacrificing the online privacy of millions of ordinary people in order to be able to track the online activity of criminals and terrorists? This question is very difficult to answer, which was shown by Tim Cook and Apple's "battle" with the FBI last year. There are big risks here. Who exactly will have access to the vast volume of "digital footprints" of ordinary people with their daily lives that will be generated in the future? How will they use this data?

In addition, if these days the authorities are not behaving in good faith, hacking our devices, and the Internet allows us to become a victim of the onslaught of targeted advertising, then how will we protect our data in the future?

Facial recognition means that we will be constantly monitored, as in the case of drones that are already used for video monitoring - all this draws eerie comparisons with Orwell's Big Brother. These technologies allow us to create data about us without our permission, and we have no control over them.

The appeal of smart cities

Connected cars that are controlled without a driver, video control using face recognition technologies.... These are all somewhat frightening prospects. But what is the key word here? Perspective. It's easy to inflate fears about the future by overestimating the benefits of the technology that will emerge. According to a recent editorial in the Chicago Tribune, this is one of the immediate dangers of smart cities.

There is no doubt that we live in an incredibly technological age, and that technologies are already emerging that previously lived only in people's fantasies. Although billions of dollars are invested in smart city projects on the other hand, they can distract from other important issues that are worth thinking about. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for example, has decided to spend US $18 billion to connect 250,000 villages to the internet. Although at the same time, according to the Chicago Tribune, many of these villages do not have normal drinking water and stable electricity supply. Addressing these issues should certainly be a higher priority on the agenda.

The European Commission, meanwhile, recently estimated that the introduction of 5G in Europe could cost 56 billion euros. I am glad that the projected socio-economic benefits of such an implementation in the next 10 years will amount to approximately 113 billion euros. Are there big risks? Governments of countries and public organizations should carefully analyze everything to understand what these technologies will do more: benefit or harm.

IBM promises officials free three-week construction consulting smart cities

In February 2017, IBM announced the expansion of the Smarter Cities Challenge program and the establishment of additional grants for city administrations in order to improve the quality of services provided to citizens. To participate in the program, cities need to submit applications no later than February 24, 2017. Read more here.

2016

Gartner: by 2019, 50% of residents of large cities will share personal data as part of smart city programs

The rapid pace of innovation in IT and change in society has created Chief information officers a sense of urgency and willingness in government bodies to experiment in the framework of smart city initiatives and open data, notes. Gartner Properly planned, these aspirations will put pioneers in the public sector at the very center of IT-Innovations^[16] society^[17]

"Citizens are increasingly using personal data processing technologies and social networks to better organize their lives, so government agencies and commercial organizations are increasing their investments in IT infrastructure and its management," writes Anthony Mullen, director of research at Gartner. "The result is the creation of open platforms that enable citizens, groups of people and companies to master new, better interact, and ultimately provide solutions that are useful for them that meet their needs as residents of the city."

As a result, Gartner predicts that by 2019, 50% of millionaire cities will feel the gain from smart city programs, voluntarily providing their personal data. The volume and diversity of data generated by citizens will continue to grow as a consequence of the increasing prevalence of consumer devices and the Internet of Things. Citizens will feel certain benefits of such passive data provision as a result of the interaction of civil services and commercial organizations. However, as this "hyperconnectivity" gains momentum, citizens will become more and more aware of the value of this data about their lives and will be ready to share it themselves to extract a useful result "at the right time."

This data delivery process is accelerated by a desire for efficiency and convenience. So, one of the main difficulties in the interaction of citizens with civil services is the difficulty of passing through many instances. The simple question "Do I have the right to vote?" may require complex procedures, studying the rules and visiting many websites.

As a result, citizens prefer dialogue platforms, such as a virtual consultant or chatbot, over traditional applications and websites. The civil service is also adjusting to these changes. For example, the Utah Public Safety Authority allows you to pass the driver's license exam using the Amazon Echo, and the Singapore authorities, in collaboration with Microsoft, are working on a "talk platform" project, intending to create chatbots for a number of public services.

One of the consequences of this is the rapidly growing volume of generated machine-readable data on how citizens interact with the civil services and services of their city, which creates a huge opportunity to develop open data portals that can increase efficiency, convenience for users, while promoting innovation and bringing income to government organizations.

"Open

data portals in cities are not new, but many portals today are machine-readable only to a limited extent and therefore have limited commercial value," writes Bettina Tratz-Ryan, vice president of research at Gartner. "The city becomes' smart 'when data is collected and managed in a way that allows for real-time valuable flows rather than just retrospective statistics or reports."

Some cities are already building data exchanges, especially in light of growing flows from IoT. One example is Copenhagen's Data Exchange, which is taking the very first steps to "connect" citizens to data, providing access to city data on the Web and a set of tools ("lens") to view information.

The next step in building a true marketplace is to provide and organize this data so that it can be used commercially. Gartner predicts that by 2020, 20% of all local governments will receive income from "value-added" open data through data portals ("markets"). The key to monetization is to automate and expand the user interface, enabling citizens and commercial customers to discover data, prepare it, identify patterns and share it with group members or within an organization.

"Users will have a number of data access payment options based on their goals," Tratz-Ryan writes. "An ordinary citizen can simply participate in [this on the principles of]" data democracy "and have free access in response to the provision of their own data, whereas commercial use may require sharing income with the data manager or buying a license to access the source of supplemented data."

Nokia: Smart Cities Scenarios

In November 216, Nokia announced the release of the strategic report "Scenarios for the Development of Smart Cities," which examines advanced practical methods for organizing the work of smart cities. The report outlines specific steps that city administrations can take to successfully implement strategies that have enabled other city leaders to expand their intellectual capabilities, improve safety and sustainability of functioning. Commissioned by Nokia, Machina Research, a provider of strategic analytical data on the Internet of Things (IoT) market, this report is based on initial studies of strategies and results achieved in 22 cities around the world^{[18][19][20][21]}

The study found a significant variety of strategies for organizing a smart city adopted in different cities, however, it was possible to identify three main ways used to expand the intellectual capabilities of cities. The path, conventionally called "anchor," involves deploying one application in the city to solve the most acute problem, such as congested roads, and then adding other applications over time. The path called "platform" is to create the basic infrastructure necessary to support a wide range of intelligent applications and services. In contrast to these approaches, the so-called "beta cities" implement several applications in pilot projects at once in order to assess their effectiveness before making decisions on long-term implementation.

The study revealed significant differences between cities, even those that follow the same path. However, it made it possible to identify a number of specific practices that are adopted in successful smart cities and, apparently, can be equally useful for everyone. In particular:

• Successful cities have open and transparent rules governing the use of data (on which the functioning of any smart city depends) by government agencies and third-party organizations, both in the framework of free exchange and on the principle of monetization to cover the cost of data management.
• Many cities that have advanced far in the way of building intelligent urban systems are steadily striving to make information and communication technologies (ICT) and IoT infrastructures accessible to users both from and outside the city administration, and they manage to avoid the disparity between the information resources of different departments.
• State bodies (and their third-party partners), actively working to attract citizens to implement initiatives to create a smart city, have achieved very high efficiency. This is especially true for initiatives where the benefits are most obvious, such as the creation of intelligent lighting systems or smart parking.
• The infrastructure of a smart city must be scalable to allow for growth and development according to future needs, and secure to ensure reliable data protection of public authorities and individuals.
• Cities that have been selected as technology partners by companies that can deliver the right scale of innovation and have the ability to invest and experience in real-world applications, along with open technology platforms to avoid vendor dependency, will benefit as much as possible.

Cities are projected to be home to 66% of the world's population by 2050, so it is vital to develop strategies to better meet the needs of their growing population. Smart ICT and IoT platforms will play an indispensable role in the evolution of smart cities. The study showed that many cities already use these technologies to optimize infrastructures and services, make more informed decisions, stimulate the development of the economy and social ties, create safer and more environmentally friendly communities, while expanding the range of public services.

Jeremy Green, lead analyst at Machina Research and author of the collection Scenarios for the Development of Smart Cities, noted: "No one claims that turning a city into an intellectual one is an easy task. There are a lot of elections to be done for this. Technologies and business models are developing rapidly, and this leads to uncertainty in many aspects. Standards are already beginning to appear, but their creation is still very far from completion. Therefore, there is no simple way to provide intelligence. However, there is an optimal way to go - taking into account all the necessary factors, maintaining realistic expectations and a desire to learn from the experience of others. These may be other cities solving the same problems as you, albeit in a different context. These may be suppliers that have already gained some experience, in particular, in other vertically integrated industries. These can be young companies that are often great innovators. And above all, these are the townspeople themselves - your faithful helpers along the way. "

See also

• Microsoft CityNext
• IBM Smarter Cities
• Cisco Kinetic
• Mitsubishi e-F@ctory platform
• Moscow Smart City
• Internet of Things, IoT (Russian market)
• Article:Internet of Things, IoT, M2M (Global Market)
• Article:Internet of Things (IoT)
• IIoT - Industrial Internet of Things
• Internet of Things: you can't stay in time
• RFID
• Smart Grid
• NB-IoT Low-Power and Wide-Area Standard, LPWAN
• APCS

Notes