Smart+. Cloud Smart City

Urban areas have new problems of traffic congestion, overcrowding, external diseconomies. More than half of the world population lives in cities. The trend is even more pronounced in Spain where only 20% reside in rural areas yet. The stampede to the cities seems irreversible. The United Nations forecast that handles notes that 70% of humans will live in urban centers in 2050. The agency warns that the increasing population in cities can become a real problem, unless it is achieved to maintain harmony among the spatial, social and environmental sustainability of cities and their inhabitants.

It is still an emerging field but some cities are already placing the first pillars to build the cities of the future: the smart cities. Its mission, through the use of cutting-edge technologies to achieve sustainable management of energy resources and optimize costs of the various municipal services.

These are projects that range from energy management models to the deployment of information systems and communications for remote management and urban services such as street lighting, irrigation of parks and gardens, traffic light or speed control of vehicles.

SmartCity Concept

The Smart City in concept casts urban performance as a function of the complex interplay between systems composed of infrastructures, capital, assets, behaviours, and cultures; spanning the economic, social, technological, political, and environmental. In this context, the city is viewed as a ‘system of systems’ with the Smart City having realised benefits through integration and coherence amongst its systems.

A Smart City is a city well performing in a forward-looking way in these six characteristics, built on the ‘smart’ combination of endowments and activities of self-decisive, independent and aware citizens. 

Furthermore it should be emphasized that we are currently only able to draw a picture of the present state of a city. Still, the path of development is decisive for a smart city and should be considered in further research that builds on time-series data.

Smart+. The maat International's Vision.

maat International has developed the Smart+ concept, with which it seeks to create a new model of Smart City, facilitated by the deployment of Cloud Computing Platform, integrating SCADA facilities. These facilities manage the cloud of sensors deployed in the city. Also, the Cloud Platform, integrate the different Information Systems and Management of Municipal Utilities, generating an integrated information environment for all activities of the city.

Smart+ must be perceived as a technological development aimed at realizing the Gaia concept through technology. This concept refers to planet as a living, intelligent, evolving and act voluntarily.

Smart+ gives an area of technology intelligence system that will enable effective integrated management of the needs of the city, or territory, as Smart + can be applied to a wider territorial environment. 

Smart+ Componets

Smart+ becomes a model supported by a Technology Platform in philosophy Cloud Computing multichannel, multi-device Services for Integrated Smart Cities enabling new models of Land Management, aligning strategies eGovernment and sensing infrastructure for the provision of Municipal Public Services.

Smart+ is also aimed at improving efficiencies in the use of public resources, municipal as well as providing citizen services in the area of mobility, energy, security and access control, facilitating the deployment of "communities of developers "to promote economic and social development of the city.

The cornerstones of Smart+ model are:

Technology Platform under Cloud Computing philosophy, and SCADA capabilities that integrates both the vertical and the information of sensors and actuators deployed in local public infrastructure.
Smart land management and multi-channel communications Model .
Smart Traffic Management Model.
Smart Management Energy Efficiency Model .
Smart Signage Management Model.
Smart Urban Waste Management Model.
Smart Infrastructure and Furniture Management Model.
Smart Land Management Model.

Smart+ Building Blocks

The Smart+ Platform supports, end to end, the managing information requirements of a Territory and / or a City under the deployment of technology to align  models Cloud Corporate Business, Information Network  Monitoring Heterogeneous Information Systems, Data, Control, Management, Billing, Logistics, Smart Infrastructure ...
 
Operationalizing a smart city.

To describe a smart city and its six characteristics it is necessary to develop a transparent and easy hierarchic structure, where each level is described by the results of the level below. Each characteristic is therefore defined by a number of factors. Furthermore each factor is described by a number of indicators.

The following table illustrates the 6 characteristics and their assigned factors. Smart Economy includes factors all around economic competitiveness as innovation, entrepreneurship, trademarks, productivity  and flexibility of the labour market as well as the integration in the (inter-)national market. Smart People is not only described by the level of qualification or education of the citizens but also by the quality of social interactions regarding integration and public life and the openness towards the “outer” world. Smart Governance comprises aspects of political participation, services for citizens as well as the functioning of the administration.

Local and international accessibility are important aspects of Smart Mobility as well as the availability of information and communication technologies and modern and sustainable transport systems. Smart Environment is described by attractive natural conditions (climate, green space etc.), pollution, resource management and also by efforts towards environmental protection. Finally, Smart Living comprises various aspects of quality of life as culture, health, safety, housing, tourism etc.

These characteristics and factors form the framework for the indicators and the following assessment a city’s performance as smart city.