Kathy Gibson reports from CeBIT, Hanover – Much has been written and spoken about smart cities, but as yet there are few real-world deployments in action.
This week at CeBIT, two European cities have taken the plunge to invest in smart city technologies, in an effort to provide better services, improving security and communication – all while saving money.
The City of Tilburg in the Netherlands signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Huawei for the development and deployment of a smart city.
Deputy mayor Eric De Ridder explains that Tilburg, the sixth-largest city in the Netherlands, is a logistics and industrial centre, and it also home to a number of service companies.
Among the projects that will be enabled as a result of the smart city initiative are a smart stadium, smart railway station, smart health and smart industry, he says.
The three German cities of Raunheim, Russelsheim and Kelsterbach also signed a letter of intent to work together on implementing smart cities to improve the whole region.
The three cities are all in the area around Frankfurt and have a history of working together.
As a prototype, the cities hope to demonstrate how technology can help to improve citizen’s life at work and home, acting as a pilot for other European cities and regions.
The cities will begin with smart lighting and power initiatives, but have committed to roll out other smart city functions including Industry 4.0, e-health, e-education and e-government.
The net result is expected to be increased development of and investment in the region.
