IMD Smart City Index 2019 uniquely focuses on how citizens perceive the scope and impact of efforts to make their cities ‘smart’, balancing “economic and technological aspects” with “humane dimensions”.
As a measure for the evaluation is used according to the attitude and attitude of the residents. For example, the question of how “smartly” economic and technological aspects in the city would be balanced with “human dimensions” was said. The Communication mentions, for example, sustainability and inclusion, and points out that human development should be the focus of attention, not technology.
Examples of positive examples in Zurich, smartest European city, include public transport or access to culture or medicine. In Oslo, the quality of the circular economy, e-voting or the Velopolitik are called. In Singapore, on the other hand, the focus is on the safety and monitoring of air quality or traffic.
“Smart cities are growing and blossoming in all parts of the world. Economic realities cannot be ignored: cities in poorer countries face disadvantages, which will require specific actions to correct along the path towards smartness,” stated Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center.
Zurich, Switzerland – turning infrastructure into IoT-enabled networks
As far as a city can be smart, Switzerland’s capital Zurich ticks all the boxes. But there is one network that forms the base of the whole smart city: The Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN),
With LoRaWan, data is collected throughout the city; these data and insights are the building blocks for Zurich’s smart city solutions. The LoRaWan system runs projects involving city challenges like air quality, water management and parking spaces. Developing new applications and use cases is a team sport: in Zurich, government departments and their project partners work together on a smart city that turns infrastructure into IoT-enabled networks.
