Smart Cities USA

Public Policy Challenges – Urbanization and Environment Sustainability:

SmartCititesAn increasing number of the world’s citizens – including those in the US – are moving to cities, spurring skyrocketing demand for resources and services in these urban centers. By the year 2025, 34 cities worldwide will have a population of greater than 10 million people. Cities already consume 2/3 of the world’s energy and the majority of other resources. Now imagine the impact on consumption in these cities that have more than 10 million people. The demand for municipal water alone will be staggering and, it is estimated that by 2025, urban dwellers will demand 80 billion additional metric tons of municipal water. Increased demand on other city resources – including the reliability of energy and power, the quality of the air, and the flow of traffic – will impact the quality of living.

IoT Solution and Benefits:

For our U.S. urban centers to address the escalating demands of so many future inhabitants living, working, driving, and interacting with each other, cities are looking at ways to become “smarter” and more flexible in responding to citizens’ needs. And, to do this, they are looking to the Internet of Things (IoT).IoT Smart Cities’ technology enables the cutting-edge intelligence and flexibility necessary to help cities use resources more efficiently – to improve everything from quality of the air and water to transportation, energy and communication systems. And city governments will invest approximately $41 trillion over the next 20 years to upgrade their infrastructure to benefit from the IoT.With these huge investments, the IoT will transform the quality of life for citizens in cities. As 21st century infrastructure becomes more intelligent and connected, citizens will benefit from improved management of resources and a plethora of other positive social and economic impacts that the IoT can help deliver.

Smart America Challenge – Smart Cities USA:

Intel and The City of San Jose, CA are collaborating on a public-private partnership project which implements Intel’s IoT Smart City Demonstration Platform to further the City’s Green Vision initiative. The project, titled Smart Cities USA, will help San Jose drive economic growth, foster 25,000 CleanTech jobs, create environmental sustainability and enhance the quality of life for its citizens. By installing a network of Air Quality, Sound & MicroClimate Sensors, Intel and San Jose are creating a “sustainability lens” for the City. The “sustainability lens” uses IoT technology to measure characteristics such as particulates in the air, noise pollution, and traffic flow. City Management will use this information to drive improvements in air quality, noise, transportation efficiency, environmental sustainability, health, and energy efficiency. The Smart Cities USA public-private partnership, as part of the Smart America Challenge, will demonstrate how cities can use IoT to measure and act on critical data to improve life for its citizens.

Team Members

  • Guy Allee, Intel
  • Intel Corporation
  • City of San Jose
<< View All Teams