Connectivity
By 2016, connectivity has made great strides in the
world with multiple drones, satellites, and balloon offerings to ensure
Internet access in the most remote places in the world. This can result in
better bandwidth (in the Lot-et-Garonne, for example) and/or the cities of WIFI access points installed by municipalities
(as in Bombay). However, Google announced on January 11 that it had abandoned
the development of its solar drones, relays of Internet connections supposed to
allow geographically isolated areas to be covered by a high-speed signal.
Internet of objects
An acceleration of Internet penetration of objects
(IDO, and IOT according to its initials in English) is inevitable. The first is
the multiplication of sensors capable of collecting and transmitting data on
pollution as well as on traffic or water level. Some offer specific services
like ShotSpotter, capable of detecting a shot. It is popular in US cities where
everyone can walk armed. BigBelly, for its part, makes it possible to compact
the garbage thanks to the solar energy and to reduce the number of bins in the
streets.
Artificial
intelligence
Advances in artificial intelligence and deep
learning have an impact on the game of go or machine translation but also make
better use of the data captured. Copenhagen, for example, has fires that give
priority to cyclists and buses. Coupled with cameras capable of recognizing
individuals, these technologies provide greater security and, at the same time,
a prime target for virtual attacks.
Platforms
These advances are pushing for a growing effort
towards data management at the city-wide level, as Singapore does for example,
or as proposed to do so CityOS. Some companies offer this holistic approach
like the Quebec PG Solutions. Montreal was designated as the "smartest
city" by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) because it had shown
"the impressive use of information and communication technologies for the
sake of prosperity Social problems and the improvement of the quality of life
". French cities are more and more willing to resort to "platforms".
This is the case, especially in Lyon, Bordeaux or Nice. Efforts often seen with
a critical eye: they require "a data policy debated collectively [to open]
the way to a shared intelligence, with which one could work in other directions
than those, dominant, 'control technologies' ".
Intelligent
houses
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas,
the largest technology innovation show, showed inflation in the supply of smart
and connected homes, to which Google and Amazon are working hard: These two
giants are looking for more access to data on our potential consumption. Meanwhile, new forms of housing are
multiplying, as Lisa Burek has shown in Le Monde.
Smart
Mobility
The smart mobility advances (hydrogen, electric
cars, open data on the state of transit traffic, for example), together with
the reduced need to move. But if computer-assisted driving makes everyday
progress, the truly autonomous car should not become commonplace in our cities
for several years for technical reasons but mainly due to legal and cultural
blockages.
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