Managing Infrastructure Through One Platform ... Enabling the Cities of the Future

Touch magazine is a Microsoft industry publication covering public sector activity within the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. It offers insight into advances being made by Microsoft and its partner ecosystem. The Spring 2013 issue's article "Urban Innovation" by Karen McCandless takes a look at the technology and innovation driving the development of cities of the future.

 

The article is available here, and it includes the following sidebar by Jordi Rey, Managing Director at Wonderware Spain:

 

Managing infrastructure through one platform

 

Jordi Rey explains how Invensys' Wonderware technology can enable the cities of the future

 

Most cities have been formed and evolved over time, with a patchwork of roads, buildings, utility systems and infrastructure. Much like the situation a few decades ago in industry, within these municipalities, there are often islands of automation, as systems have been implemented and run in silos.

 

Invensys Wonderware can help cities to connect all the components – such as mobility and transport systems, waste and recycling, street lighting and environmental sustainability – in an automated manner. It provides efficient management of city services through a real-time integrated platform, as well as remote execution of operations, and offers connectivity to most device standards in a secure way. Connecting these elements enables more intelligent operations and allows systems to work in a predictive way. For example parks are watered according to the weather and time of year, citizen emergencies are detected by cameras and automatically warn those responsible for incidents, and lighting is automatically controlled based on the time of year. We work with cities like Barcelona, as well as airport operator AENA and the Generalitat de Catalunya railways, to better manage civic infrastructure through one platform.

 

With this technology, cities can manage their infrastructure in an integrated way, thus enabling them to control budgets, improve environmental sustainability, better manage their resources and ultimately provide a better place for citizens to live.