i3 - March/April 2019 - 21

expects that two-thirds of the world's population
will live in cities by 2050 (that's up from half
today and one-third from 55 years ago).
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao has
characterized smart cities as a culmination of
"transformative technology." During an appearance
at CES 2018 with CTA President and CEO Gary
Shapiro, Chao championed this high-tech IoT
movement, saying, "We need to have the infrastructure to support that." She suggested that tech needs
to be/will be a part of infrastructure investment,
not unlike how we think about roads and bridges.

$34 BILLION

MORE THAN
AC C O R D I N G TO C TA M A R K E T R E S E A RC H
W I L L B E S P E N T TO C R E AT E S M A RT E R C I T I E S
The central promise of the smart city, explains
Berst, is ultimately how to become "happier for
less." He says, "If you go digital, you can spend less
to make your citizens happier." They are happy
because they don't have to stand in line at City
Hall to get a permit, or spend days and nights preparing to pay taxes, registering to vote, applying
for government financial assistance, or reporting
something as simple as a pothole on the go.
"We're crossing the chasm this year," says
Berst. "Silicon Valley is the transition between
the early adopters and early mainstream, and
we're just now catching up." He expects to see
more developments in cities like Tampa, Atlanta
and Kansas City that are interested in widespread deployment of digital networking.
Self-driving cars are anticipated to be an important feature of the future smart city, but in more
practical terms, before that we'll likely see networked streetlights and more traffic cams, smart
underground pipes outfitted with sensors and
more interconnected surveillance in U.S. cities.
Many of the most forward-thinking municipalities
are taking cues from Europe and Asia, where the
race to become smarter is part of much bigger and
more complex economic plans.
"We've been seeing this kind of city-wide,
comprehensive approach in China for years
now," Berst says, "and Singapore and, to some
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extent, Dubai." The U.S., he admits, has some
serious catching up to do.
"It's not just a trend," Brest says. "It's a race for jobs
and talent, and a race for a healthier environment.
We can't fix our planet unless we fix our cities. We
need enlightened leadership and intelligent planning, but we can't do it without digital technology."

HARNESSING ENERGY TO POWER
SMART CITIES

Skeleton Technologies, an energy storage maker
with offices in Germany and Estonia, had been
involved in the back-office transformation of
e-Estonia and other smart cities globally. It's one
of many tech companies that have since located to
Tallinn, an incentive that's been helping to drive
Estonia's economy in the tech sector.
Olivier Chabilan, the company's product marketing manager, predicts, "Energy storage will eventually lead to world-changing habits and energy
savings. At this time, we can save 32 percent fuel on
light delivery trucks by adding an energy recuperation system. Savings of the same order can be
achieved on harbor cranes and city buses."
And while the behind-the-scenes work is not
always visible in cities in which these
MARCH/APRIL 2019

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i3 - March/April 2019

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