The Role of Digital Technology in Establishing Intelligent Cities:
Historians have traced the first execution of a smart city to Amsterdam, a digital but virtual smart city created in 1994. Since then, the rapid technological increase has pushed the smart city to the fore, and the concept is now at a tone high. Government and stakeholders alike seek to invest heavily in digital technology to aid the development of smart cities. For those intrigued by Saudi Arabia’s interest, here are four points that outline the role of digital technologies in establishing smart cities.
Efficient Urban Planning
Urban planning comes to mind immediately the phrase “smart cities” is used. Urban planning involves the planning and delimitation of a city or metropolitan region. It helps ensure the safety of life and property while planning economic acceleration and maintenance. However, a lot of work goes into urban planning, and it may seem extremely difficult, if not entirely impossible, without digital technology. For one, technologies like 3D visualization using Virtual Reality technology, cloud computing to store and aggregate data, extensive data management and analysis tools such as data engineering tools, etc.
Real-time Information about City Building
A smart city is called so because of the ability of its institutions to share real-time information with the public and encourage operational efficiency. For a smart city to effectively achieve these purposes, the right digital tools must be at hand. Such tools include on-street sensors, IoT devices, Machine-to-Machine communications, and other cloud computing and machine-learning devices. For instance, Saudi Arabia’s new smart city, Neom, uses early-development robotics, human-machine interference, and artificial intelligence to build the town effectively.
Increased Quality of Life
The primary goal of smart cities is to better life quality. These cities take management and monitoring a notch to ensure people get the best out of the town. The Saudi Arabia government intends to use the smart city Neom as an avenue to create a community for seamless interactions between humans and machines. It also aims to be the first cognitive city where the privacy and data of persons are protected while reducing poverty by introducing high-tech solutions supported by high-end lifestyles.
Green Technology
With the increased awareness of climate change and green Earth, smart cities have been given a green purpose with goals centered on reducing emissions and encouraging clean living. Fortunately, intelligent cities can fully utilize digital technologies to build a clean, green, eco-friendly system. Digital technology offers a chance to engage new renewable energy technologies, such as wind turbines and heat pumps essential to functioning a green city. Cities like NEOM intends to be vehicle free and dependent on the train and solar energy, among other things.
Conclusion
The advancement in digital technology translates to achieving things that eluded men previously. One of these is an innovative and fully functional city. Countries globally have begun to see the importance of establishing smart cities in creating a utopia free for all. Just like the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we expect to see significant smart towns come to the fore over the next couple of years.
