Smarter Cities

Application development using IBM’s Smart Water SDK |...

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:24:29 -0400

Application development using IBM’s Smart Water SDK | SmarterWater

Apple revolutionized the consumer world with their iPhone/iPad app store providing developers with access to the iOS platform and allowed them to build their own applications. Apple also provided an App Store where application developer could advertise and sell the applications. The Smarter Water platform now follows this model but instead of targeting customers, it targets a range of 3rd party water applications developers from research groups (including universities), services provider and partners, to developer their own smarter water applications.

Cities Embracing the Green Revolution | ThisBigcity An...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:12:27 -0400

Cities Embracing the Green Revolution | ThisBigcity

An interesting view of sustainability in six cities

A House Powered by Exercise | FastCompany The JF-Kit House by...

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:24:07 -0400

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...

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:24:14 -0400

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

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:12:17 -0400

A revolutionary new traffic system without traffic lights

Santander: Test bed for smart cities and open data policies |...

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:24:17 -0400

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...

Thu, 09 May 2013 10:12:20 -0400

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...

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:24:02 -0400

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...

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:12:17 -0400

See how data from sensors can revamp a city’s sewer system

African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data | MIT...

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:24:27 -0400

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...

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:12:18 -0400

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 |...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:24:22 -0400

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.

Cities are finding useful ways of handling a torrent of data |...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:12:20 -0400

Cities are finding useful ways of handling a torrent of data | The Economist

Many cities around the country are accumulating data faster than they know what to do with. One approach is to give them to the public. For example, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago are or soon will be sharing the grades that health inspectors give to restaurants with an online restaurant directory.

Fixing South Africa’s Water System, With Citizen Inspectors |...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:36:23 -0400

Fixing South Africa’s Water System, With Citizen Inspectors | Co.Exist

WaterWatchers is a new tool from IBM that lets mobile users, even ones without smartphones, report issues with the water in their communities. Can it help clean up the country’s dirty water?

This High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal System (HCPVT) can...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:24:27 -0400

This High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal System (HCPVT) can harness the energy of 2,000 suns and provide fresh water and air conditioning in remote locations. The prototype HCPVT system under development uses a large parabolic dish, made from a multitude of mirror facets, which is attached to a tracking system that determines the best angle based on the position of the sun. Once aligned, the sun’s rays reflect off the mirror onto several microchannel-liquid cooled receivers with triple junction photovoltaic chips — each 1x1 centimeter chip can convert 200-250 watts, on average, over a typical eight hour day in a sunny region.

Saving the earth with sustainable cities [infographic]

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:12:10 -0400

Saving the earth with sustainable cities [infographic]

The House that Twitters

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:24:24 -0400

The House that Twitters

Article: Six electric taxis hit the streets of New York

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:17:17 -0400

Six electric taxis hit the streets of New York http://www.slashgear.com/six-electric-taxis-hit-the-streets-of-new-york-22278752/

Earth Day Collaboration Aims to Harness Energy of 2000 Suns |...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:12:16 -0400

Earth Day Collaboration Aims to Harness Energy of 2000 Suns | Building a Smarter Planet

It would take only two percent of the Sahara Desert’s land area to supply the world’s electricity needs. Unfortunately, current solar technologies are too expensive and slow to produce, require rare Earth minerals and lack the efficiency to make such massive installations practical. To address this, scientists at Airlight Energy have teamed up with IBM and Swiss university partners to develop an affordable photovoltaic system that is capable of concentrating, on average, the power of 2,000 suns, onto hundreds of 1×1 cm chips.

Building Smarter Cities: A Video Documentary

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:24:35 -0400

Building Smarter Cities: A Video Documentary