When Cities Reach Their Limits « A Smarter Planet Blog As people talk about the need for cities to become smarter, there is a temptation to believe the largest cities in the world need to lead the way. But the reality is cities that are a third of the size of Paris, Los Angeles or Tokyo have the ability to get their arms around these challenges and do something about it, even faster. Cities like Lyon, France, Almere, Netherlands or Nuremberg, Germany. prove that technology-based overhauls don’t have to be massive, complex, multi-year mega-projects. They can be practical, tightly focused efforts that produce dependable results in a short time. City leaders—especially those in medium-size cities—can’t afford to get bogged down in the details of technology; they just want to get things done. For example, the City of Lyon is piloting a first-of-a-kind IBM Research project to use analytics to improve the flow of transportation for freight. Part of a massive transportation project this pilot will help freight operators, trucks and delivery vehicles become more efficient, from knowing where to park to make a delivery, to knowing which route is the most economically and environmentally friendly. IBM Research is working with the City of Lyon to build new intelligence into roadways.

When Cities Reach Their Limits « A Smarter Planet Blog

As people talk about the need for cities to become smarter, there is a temptation to believe the largest cities in the world need to lead the way. But the reality is cities that are a third of the size of Paris, Los Angeles or Tokyo have the ability to get their arms around these challenges and do something about it, even faster.

Cities like Lyon, France, Almere, Netherlands or Nuremberg, Germany. prove that technology-based overhauls don’t have to be massive, complex, multi-year mega-projects. They can be practical, tightly focused efforts that produce dependable results in a short time. City leaders—especially those in medium-size cities—can’t afford to get bogged down in the details of technology; they just want to get things done.

For example, the City of Lyon is piloting a first-of-a-kind IBM Research project to use analytics to improve the flow of transportation for freight. Part of a massive transportation project this pilot will help freight operators, trucks and delivery vehicles become more efficient, from knowing where to park to make a delivery, to knowing which route is the most economically and environmentally friendly. IBM Research is working with the City of Lyon to build new intelligence into roadways.

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Banks, Cities and Tourism Just came back from Frankfurt, the financial capital of Germany, and planned to shared some thoughts. Frankfurt is considered an alpha world city, as listed by the Loughborough University group’s 2008 inventory and is an international centre for commerce, finance, culture, entertainment, education and tourism. According to the Mercer cost of living survey, Frankfurt is Germany’s second most expensive city, and the 48th most expensive in the world.Frankfurt also ranks among the top 10 most livable cities in the world according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Why is Frankfurt known? Because of Apfelwein (apple wine), banks, financial institutions, skyscrapers, biggest airport in Germany and some famous international fairs (eg in the automotive industry). And I say they are all connected (except the apple wine maybe :-)): 1.create a business interest, a city USP, attract people serving in that line- take financial services: that’s Frankfurt. Before online and .com if you wanted to be big in the financial sector you would come to Frankfurt. The money and business development signalized the need of having : 2. a huge airport which became the traffic area for most of the international flights from and to Europe with the world. A stop in Frankfurt didn’t only affect business people who came to town for business but also tourists, and before you knew it everyone had a stop in Frankfurt. 3. Now if you’re not an European or a German you may think that if your plane stays in Frankfurt for 3 hours than it means the city is worth visiting. And so more and more tourists started planning short stops in the city on Main river (and if you’ll visit it you’ll see it is indeed a nice city but far from what Germany really has to offer). 4. tourists, traffic and business lead to fairs…of all kind. Producers usually target large business communities and good infrastructure (eg railroads, airports) when choosing where to organize fairs…so perfect place. That’s just to show how 4 simple elements can make a city smarter, grow and provide jobs and good infrastructure to its citizens. What are your city’s Unique Selling Propositions (USPs)? And how can they help your local authorities make your cities smarter? Silvia, on Frankfurt, Germany (#gdchallenge example) Pic taken from Main Tower, floor 55 :-)

Banks, Cities and Tourism

Just came back from Frankfurt, the financial capital of Germany, and planned to shared some thoughts. Frankfurt is considered an alpha world city, as listed by the Loughborough University group’s 2008 inventory and is an international centre for commerce, finance, culture, entertainment, education and tourism. According to the Mercer cost of living survey, Frankfurt is Germany’s second most expensive city, and the 48th most expensive in the world.Frankfurt also ranks among the top 10 most livable cities in the world according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Why is Frankfurt known? Because of Apfelwein (apple wine), banks, financial institutions, skyscrapers, biggest airport in Germany and some famous international fairs (eg in the automotive industry). And I say they are all connected (except the apple wine maybe :-)):

1.create a business interest, a city USP, attract people serving in that line- take financial services: that’s Frankfurt. Before online and .com if you wanted to be big in the financial sector you would come to Frankfurt. The money and business development signalized the need of having :

2. a huge airport which became the traffic area for most of the international flights from and to Europe with the world. A stop in Frankfurt didn’t only affect business people who came to town for business but also tourists, and before you knew it everyone had a stop in Frankfurt.

3. Now if you’re not an European or a German you may think that if your plane stays in Frankfurt for 3 hours than it means the city is worth visiting. And so more and more tourists started planning short stops in the city on Main river (and if you’ll visit it you’ll see it is indeed a nice city but far from what Germany really has to offer).

4. tourists, traffic and business lead to fairs…of all kind. Producers usually target large business communities and good infrastructure (eg railroads, airports) when choosing where to organize fairs…so perfect place.

That’s just to show how 4 simple elements can make a city smarter, grow and provide jobs and good infrastructure to its citizens. What are your city’s Unique Selling Propositions (USPs)? And how can they help your local authorities make your cities smarter?

Silvia, on Frankfurt, Germany (#gdchallenge example)

Pic taken from Main Tower, floor 55 :-)

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Our development team consists of people from US (multiple locations), Germany, Brazil and at one time people from Australia and China. We meet daily in a virtual collaboration space which has capabilities including integrated voice,  presentation and video screens, brainstorming walls and virtual flip charts for note taking and an import/export function. No planes, no jet lag and lots of tools to help make our meetings more productive!

Our development team consists of people from US (multiple locations), Germany, Brazil and at one time people from Australia and China. We meet daily in a virtual collaboration space which has capabilities including integrated voice,  presentation and video screens, brainstorming walls and virtual flip charts for note taking and an import/export function. No planes, no jet lag and lots of tools to help make our meetings more productive!

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Thanks to a revolutionary ad-hoc procedure, you will now be able to use your mobile phone to find a ride share or another means of transport wherever you are and whenever you want. caribo is the first scheme to combine the economical and ecological advantages of ride sharing by means of mobile Internet technology and social networking. The caribo ad-hoc search function determines the current location of the person looking for a ride and automatically proposes all means of transport to a similar destination that are available in the same area at the present time and in the foreseeable future and which might thus present a suitable ride-sharing opportunity. The system reacts dynamically on the basis of the user’s location. “The significant advantage of caribo - in addition to reducing traffic and thus protecting the environment - is that it allows the ad-hoc reservation of rides” explains Markus Schindler, CEO of Scientific Computers GmbH, describing the new technology. “This means that you no longer need to plan journey a long time - or even a little while - in advance, since caribo ensures quick and flexible transportation even on short routes.” In order to use caribo, a Web-enabled mobile phone is required, along with software that is provided free by caribo. This software can be installed on most current mobile phones. It is not absolutely necessary to have a GPS system on your mobile phone but it does increase the accuracy of the location determination function if you have one. The caribo software is extremely user-friendly. There are separate buttons for the most commonly requested functions: “I want to go home” sends a signal at the press of a button to possible transport means in the surrounding area, letting them know where you want to go. The “Driver” button allows drivers to indicate that they’re undertaking a short journey and are prepared to take someone along. You can save frequently used destinations so that you don’t have to enter the same address repeatedly. Since caribo works with real geographical data, each topographically entered location can be used as the start or end point of a journey. Naturally, for longer journeys you can plan in advance and find a travelling partner well before you leave. caribo even allows you to receive additional passenger requests once on the road. In addition, there is no need for the time-consuming creation of journey sections. caribo makes ride sharing safe for all concerned. Firstly, all participants must register with their own identity. Their membership of the scheme is linked to a verified mobile phone number and to a reliable rating system. “In this way, we are hoping to eliminate reservations about ride sharing and to persuade more and more people of the benefits of this ecologically-friendly way of travelling” continues Markus Schindler. In addition, caribo offers commercial providers such as taxi companies access to the exchange platform. Since commercial offers have conveyance conditions and fees that are prescribed on a regional basis, such offers are specially indicated. This means that you can use caribo to call a taxi which is currently in the nearby area without even needing to know the telephone number of the taxi firm. caribo aims to become a centralized mobile control device for all means of transport in the hand of the user. caribo has also an interface for public transport offerings. This enables urban transport organisations to deliver their realtime data to customers mobile in a very comfortable way: The customer request is: “take me home!” The answer should be:  Subway Line 7, the station is 200 foot to the left, will depart in 10 minutes, press ok to purchase the ticket! For more details, see www.caribo.mobi About Caribo

Thanks to a revolutionary ad-hoc procedure, you will now be able to use your mobile phone to find a ride share or another means of transport wherever you are and whenever you want.

caribo is the first scheme to combine the economical and ecological advantages of ride sharing by means of mobile Internet technology and social networking. The caribo ad-hoc search function determines the current location of the person looking for a ride and automatically proposes all means of transport to a similar destination that are available in the same area at the present time and in the foreseeable future and which might thus present a suitable ride-sharing opportunity.

The system reacts dynamically on the basis of the user’s location. “The significant advantage of caribo - in addition to reducing traffic and thus protecting the environment - is that it allows the ad-hoc reservation of rides” explains Markus Schindler, CEO of Scientific Computers GmbH, describing the new technology.

“This means that you no longer need to plan journey a long time - or even a little while - in advance, since caribo ensures quick and flexible transportation even on short routes.”

In order to use caribo, a Web-enabled mobile phone is required, along with software that is provided free by caribo. This software can be installed on most current mobile phones. It is not absolutely necessary to have a GPS system on your mobile phone but it does increase the accuracy of the location determination function if you have one.

The caribo software is extremely user-friendly. There are separate buttons for the most commonly requested functions: “I want to go home” sends a signal at the press of a button to possible transport means in the surrounding area, letting them know where you want to go.

The “Driver” button allows drivers to indicate that they’re undertaking a short journey and are prepared to take someone along. You can save frequently used destinations so that you don’t have to enter the same address repeatedly. Since caribo works with real geographical data, each topographically entered location can be used as the start or end point of a journey.

Naturally, for longer journeys you can plan in advance and find a travelling partner well before you leave. caribo even allows you to receive additional passenger requests once on the road. In addition, there is no need for the time-consuming creation of journey sections. caribo makes ride sharing safe for all concerned. Firstly, all participants must register with their own identity. Their membership of the scheme is linked to a verified mobile phone number and to a reliable rating system. “In this way, we are hoping to eliminate reservations about ride sharing and to persuade more and more people of the benefits of this ecologically-friendly way of travelling” continues Markus Schindler.

In addition, caribo offers commercial providers such as taxi companies access to the exchange platform. Since commercial offers have conveyance conditions and fees that are prescribed on a regional basis, such offers are specially indicated. This means that you can use caribo to call a taxi which is currently in the nearby area without even needing to know the telephone number of the taxi firm. caribo aims to become a centralized mobile control device for all means of transport in the hand of the user.

caribo has also an interface for public transport offerings. This enables urban transport organisations to deliver their realtime data to customers mobile in a very comfortable way: The customer request is: “take me home!” The answer should be:  Subway Line 7, the station is 200 foot to the left, will depart in 10 minutes, press ok to purchase the ticket!

For more details, see www.caribo.mobi

About Caribo

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