A House Powered by Exercise | FastCompany
The JF-Kit House by the Spanish design firm Elii is an experiment in “domestic fitness,” rendering “the image of a possible future where citizens produce part of their domestic energy requirements with their own physical activities.
A local community is working towards reducing energy costs by 50%. See how they are doing it. http://ibm.co/12rLlP9
A revolutionary new traffic system without traffic lights
Santander: Test bed for smart cities and open data policies | SmartPlanet
To support SmartSantander ambitions, the city is deploying more than 10,000 sensors to monitor everything from garbage collection to crime to air quality. Libelium, a Spanish startup, has contributed around 1,000 sensor nodes, which monitor available street parking (see sensor embedded in street, in image above), collect air quality data and manage street lighting for better energy efficiency.
How to Build Innovation Ecosystems in Africa | A Smarter Planet Blog
Innovation ecosystems are complex organisms that are difficult to create yet tremendously powerful when they work. Think Silicon Valley. They require a melding of all of the capabilities of governments, businesses, financiers, universities, and individuals. Together, these organizations and individuals provide the web of support that makes it easier for startups to launch and grow quickly, and for established companies to innovate more aggressively. With that kind of support, African entrepreneurs and businesses will find it easier to produce new products and services, or even create whole new industries. You can think of an innovation ecosystem as a collective intelligence—harnessed for the good of society.
IBM is committed to helping Africa build successful innovation ecosystems. The latest sign of this willingness is our new IBM Innovation Center in Nairobi, Kenya.
When Governments Go Social, Positive Citizen Experiences Can Follow | A Smarter Planet Blog
Today a growing number of cities and counties are embracing social technologies to create “Smart Communities.” According to the World Foundation for Smart Communities, these are communities that make a “conscious effort to use information technology to transform life and work within a region in significant and fundamental, rather than incremental, ways. This transformation is beneficial to the community and attracts local participation and cooperation among community groups, government, business and education.”
See how data from sensors can revamp a city’s sewer system
African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data | MIT Technology Review
Researchers at IBM, using movement data collected from millions of cell-phone users in Ivory Coast in West Africa, have developed a new model for optimizing an urban transportation system.
The IBM model prescribed changes in bus routes around the around Abidjan, the nation’s largest city. These changes—based on people’s movements as discerned from cell-phone records—could, in theory, slash travel times 10 percent.
A Smart Approach to Fixing Cities’ Problems | Harvard Business Review
Corporations and small businesses use new technology and strong leadership to make their operations more successful, why not cities? This remarkable success story in South Bend, a city of 130,000, shows how strong leadership, next-generation technologies, and public-private collaboration can help make cities work a lot better, even at a time when public funds are in short supply. These days, cities are tremendous engines for innovation and economic growth. Young people, professionals, and empty-nesters are drawn to them in search of excitement, culture, and career opportunities. We have the potential to spark a true renaissance for cities, so they’re not just bigger — they’re better.
Ranking the World’s Most Bike-Friendly Cities | Planetizen
Amsterdam and Copenhagen remain the top cities on this year’s list, but the expansion of the scope of evaluation from 80 to 150 cities contributed to a number of new cities appearing on the list, including: Utrecht, Seville, Bourdeaux, Nantes, Antwerp, Eindhoven, Malmo, and Nagoya. Only four cities in the top 20 are located outside of Europe, with Montreal being the only North American city to be recognized.
