Digital Lifescapes

What strategies are being employed in leading smart cities? What are the key trends shaping the smart city landscape? And, what is the value of cost savings that can be expected from smart city projects? These are the questions that were asked during a new global market study, and an assessment of the resulting findings. Juniper Research has revealed the top ranking Smart Cities globally for 2015. They are (in order of rank), Barcelona, New York, London, Nice and Singapore. The Juniper Smart City Rankings have been compiled following an analysis of the Smart capabilities offered in each city, with particular focus on their use of smart grids, smart traffic management and smart street lighting. Furthermore, the ranking considered other aspects of a Smart city -- such as technological capability and social cohesion, among others. It was found that the leader, Barcelona, performed consistently well across all metrics and serves as an exciting model of success from which others can...

Throughout 2015 there will be a groundswell of practical new Internet of Things (IoT) related applications within many municipalities across the globe. We have mentioned public parking automation previously. Another emerging scenario is the enhancement of public street lighting. The installed base for Smart street light luminaires is set to grow rapidly, with network controlled nodes set to rise from 2 million today to 40 million by 2019, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. "Alongside the energy savings, lifespan, and quality of light improvements that LEDs offer, the enhanced controllability of this technology through the adoption of intelligent networking solutions has the ability to revolutionize the way cities utilize their street lighting infrastructure in order to deliver an attractive, sustainable, and safer living space," said Andrew Zignani, research analyst at ABI Research . The technology choices are also evolving. Power Line Communication ...

The various utility applications for communications networks and associated investment in infrastructure will grow rapidly in 2013, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. Moreover, spending by utilities transitioning their networks to Smart Grid capabilities reached $23.68 billion in 2012. Highlighting the growing momentum behind the spending, the 2012 total alone represents 48 percent of Smart Grid spending to date. During the year, spending on transmission and distribution capabilities surpassed smart meter investments as utilities increasingly looked to improve their core networks and maximize the benefits of their growing Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) deployments. "Utilities are investing in the roll-out of a broad assortment of new applications and spending is driving new services from a wide range of vendors and consultants,” says Jonathan Collins, principal analyst at ABI Research . The complexity of the new hardware, applications, and the...

The Smart Grid initiative is an enormous effort -- intended to modernize aging electrical distribution and delivery infrastructure across the world. The global scale alone makes this a colossal task. Complicating this effort is the incredible variety of electrical systems throughout the world, and the vast maze of utilities that are currently managing them. Just in the U.S. market alone, there are more than 3,000 separate utilities, local governments, and private companies operating America's electrical grid. According to the latest market study by NPD In-Stat , they now forecast that by 2016, over 75 percent of all U.S. electric meters will be converted to smart meters. "Over the next five years, and for decades thereafter, the world will be deploying the smart grid," says Allen Nogee, Research Director at NPD In-Stat. Initially, most of this effort will be directed at smart meters, but once those are out, client devices, software, and home automation equipment...

As I mentioned in a recent post , web-enabled consumer electronics (CE) device shipments are forecast to grow six fold -- surpassing 230 million installed units by 2014, with the majority of these in North America and Europe, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Many people that purchase these CE products have already discovered, and others soon will, that the essential foundation for distributing multimedia content -- particularly high-definition video -- throughout your residence is an adequately provisioned home network. To date, much of the market emphasis on home networking options has focused on the apparent convenience of wireless solutions -- in particular, Wi-Fi multiport routers. If your residence is relatively small and on one level, then the chances of having good wireless signal coverage are likely in your favor. Quest for High Speed and Performance However, signal strength can be negatively impacted by a number of factors, including the construction of...