Smart Cities

Data scientists are developing prediction models on the Zindi platform to find the best data-driven solutions through data science competitions. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has partnered with Zindi to develop solutions to important global challenges through a series of...
  • 27 September 2023
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One of the most pressing issues facing cities and urban spaces are the future impacts of climate change, and how to make critical decisions related to mitigation and response. This month, ITU’s AI for Good Innovation Factory series kicked-off with...
  • 20 April 2022
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by Sarah Wray, Editor, Cities Today Artificial intelligence (AI) offers potential benefits for cities such as greater efficiency but there are also risks and new challenges, from procurement to governance. Such complexity can result in ‘analysis paralysis’ and stalled progress,...
  • 18 February 2022
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18 October 2021 / Smart Cities
Aiming to halve deaths and injuries due to road crashes by 2030, partners under the United Nations banner have set out to tap into emerging technologies fuelled by artificial intelligence (AI). The global initiative aims to harness the potential of...
  • 18 October 2021
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As India’s cities keep expanding, so does the waste they generate. The more than 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste produced across the country each year could reach 165 million tonnes in 2030, according to government estimates. Most of the waste...
  • 30 July 2021
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US President Joe Biden recently announced a goal for 70 per cent of the adult US population to have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot by July 4. Cities are playing a key role in this historic vaccination effort,...
  • 7 May 2021
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8 April 2021 / Smart Cities
A pilot scheme in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) in the United Kingdom will see drones used to help councils reduce litter. BCP Council is partnering with the environmental charity Hubbub, startup Ellipsis Earth and fast food brand McDonald’s –...
  • 8 April 2021
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The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies has sparked the need for a sustainable approach able to safeguard the environment. A recent ITU workshop provided a platform to discuss environmental efficiency in the age of AI, increasing automation, and smart manufacturing....
  • 17 December 2020
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Estonia, a world leader in digital governance, is now harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to upgrade their systems and become even more readily available to meet citizens’ needs. In a keynote at the year-round AI for Good Global Summit 2020, Estonia’s...
  • 18 November 2020
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21 October 2020 / Smart Cities
*The following Cities Today article has been reposted with the publisher’s kind permission. The original article can be found here.   Bentley Systems and Microsoft have announced the expansion of a strategic alliance to advance the use of digital twins in...
  • 21 October 2020
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30 September 2020 / Smart Cities
*The following Cities Today article has been republished with the author’s kind permission. The original article can be found here. The cities of Helsinki and Amsterdam have worked together to each launch an Artificial Intelligence Register, which they describe as “a window to the AI...
  • 30 September 2020
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24 August 2020 / Digital Economy, Smart Cities
The dream of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to develop smart cities stemmed from the government’s Vision 2021, an ambitious plan to make the UAE amongst the best countries in the world. By building smart cities, the UAE would clear...
  • 24 August 2020
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1 April 2019 / Inclusivity, Smart Cities
Much has been said about the ability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to greatly enhance productivity. Unlike the industrial revolution where productivity was improved for labor-intensive work, AI extends that power to knowledge-based work, helping humans make better, faster and more...
  • 1 April 2019
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1 October 2018 / Data, Smart Cities
The Georgia Institute of Technology is an Academia Member of ITU. The university’s Center for the Development and Application of Internet of Things Technologies (CDAIT) recently released a new paper titled “Foundational Research in Integrated Building Internet of Things (IoT)...
  • 1 October 2018
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2 August 2018 / Ethics, Smart Cities
Jack Aldane spoke to Jonathan Reichental, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Palo Alto to hear what it’s like to run the digital operations of the city that gave birth to Silicon Valley. You’re the CIO of a city that is really the world’s...
  • 2 August 2018
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27 July 2018 / Smart Cities
Jonathan Andrews reports from Moscow on how the city has dramatically reduced bureaucracy and modernised its services as the mayor prepares to approve the new Smart Moscow strategy. When entering the city of Moscow, on a long taxi journey from Sheremetyevo airport,...
  • 27 July 2018
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Jack Aldane spoke with Mark Paris, Managing Partner, Urban Us and Managing Director of URBAN-X, which is providing investment to support urban tech start-ups. Below is an excerpted version of the exchange. Urban Us funds urban tech companies and creates investment vehicles for such projects. How...
  • 12 July 2018
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An Australian water utility is using artificial intelligence (AI) to bring down electricity costs in its water treatment plants. Melbourne Water is trialling a custom-developed platform which co-ordinates pump movement depending on the amount of treated water required on a given...
  • 29 June 2018
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Cities worldwide are considering ways to better leverage information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance, or even rebuild, economic growth. The United States’ city of Pittsburgh can offer some interesting lessons in that regard, suggests Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, who...
  • 4 June 2018
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22 May 2018 / Smart Cities
“The idea of a ‘tailored smart city’ is a very important one. We can, through AI, enhance the cultural heritage of each city to make sure that there are as many different definitions of a smart city as there are...
  • 22 May 2018
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Rather than focus on technology and its challenges, it is important to first build on citizen needs, which can in turn lead to technological solutions. This was one of the key messages in an interview with Francesca Bria, CTIO at Barcelona...
  • 21 May 2018
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16 May 2018 / Health, Smart Cities
The terms ‘Big Data’ and ‘Artificial Intelligence’ are becoming commonplace across industries far beyond the tech sector. While these concepts are understood in a variety of contexts and ways, the mobile industry views developments in this area as a significant...
  • 16 May 2018
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23 April 2018 / Inclusivity, Smart Cities
Globally, there are large disparities in access to health, education, etc. and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 10 is aimed at reducing inequalities for the world’s most vulnerable. For example, according to global association of mobile operators (GSMA), although eighty...
  • 23 April 2018
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13 April 2018 / Smart Cities
The 8th Green Standards Week wrapped up yesterday in Zanzibar, Tanzania, concluding four days of debate around the innovation required to transition to resource-efficient ‘circular economies’. In focus were standards, regulation and best practices to support the responsible management of e-waste and electromagnetic...
  • 13 April 2018
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19 January 2018 / Data, Digital Economy, Smart Cities
The story of Singapore’s birth in 1965 is ingrained in the population to this day. The single-layer government knew at the time that it had to be creative to build Singapore’s economy. Since then, the city-state with few natural resources...
  • 19 January 2018
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Security and privacy by design, open APIs, network virtualization, identity and authorization, analytics and accessibility have been identified by industry leaders as core principles to guide ITU standardization work towards 2020. This was the collective view of a meeting held...
  • 8 December 2017
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“AI is going to eliminate jobs.” “Jobs will not be eliminated, they will simply change.” This was a central line of debate at a session on ‘smart’ banking for smart cities at ITU Telecom World, held this year in the smart city...
  • 27 September 2017
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