Rapid advancement of smart city technologies may leave some of the population behind
When we analyze the impact that new technologies are having on our society, we know that the disruption that elements such as IoT, 5G communications or the protocols developed to support cryptocurrencies have on the global economy is not a new topic of discussion. They are forcing us all, as human beings and members of a society that is advancing at tremendously high speeds for what we have been used to in recent decades, to rethink the way we live together and what our cities of the future are going to be like. All the new socioeconomic models are intertwined…
14 types of cyber-attacks a smart city can face
As urban centers continue to grow in population, many are becoming "smart cities" through a digital transformation aimed at improving the lives of their residents, more effective governance and more efficient resource consumption by instrumenting almost everything in a city. Streetlights, traffic lights and security cameras, electricity and gas meters or sewers in any metropolis can be sensorized to obtain data to feed this digital infrastructure. For years now, and no longer a novelty, citizens in a large part of the world have also been connecting to the infrastructure of their smart cities to obtain municipal services or pay bills.…
Blockchain technology in the service of urban management
Blockchain technology is not only the basis of the bitcoin cryptocurrency. This system of verifications and secure transactions on the Internet is also set to revolutionize the management of smart cities, something that working groups such as the Blockchain4Cities initiative, a United Nations proposal to coordinate, integrate and control the different urban services in a transparent, efficient and private way, is trying to develop and publicize in order to take advantage of the potential present in this decentralized data storage technology. For those not yet familiar with this disruptive solution, blockchain is, in essence, a system of recording information that…
IoT to build safe and sustainable smart cities
Smart cities are not just a dream of the future. Thanks to the tremendously innovative technology of the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, blockchain and other solutions that fall under the so-called Industry 4.0 paradigm, many are already active and rapidly expanding. So what is IoT and how does it work with smart cities? The Internet of Things (IoT) is the process of connecting everyday physical objects to the Internet: from common household objects, such as light bulbs, to healthcare resources, such as medical devices; it also encompasses wearables and smart personal accessories, and even the systems that allow us…