10 Applications of IoT in Creating Smart Cities

Smart City IoT Applications

Today, your smartphone can convey, interact, and link with an extensive range of smart devices and sensors that are present in our environment.

For instance, in today’s world, with the help of a skilled diagnostic tool on your phone, you can attach your phone to your car to scan and obtain diagnostic codes, which you can use to diagnose the check engine light that occurs on your dashboard.

This is just one of the countless instances of smartphone interaction with devices enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT).

There are other instances, such as connecting your smartphone device to your washing machine to see water usage and electricity consumption.

All these facts toward the development of a smart city where computer systems can connect to IoT-enabled smart devices and sensors to get valuable information and data that can be used to manage cities efficiently.

Definition of a Smart City

A smart city can be implied as an imaginative city or municipality that aims to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants by internalizing smart technology. A smart city aims to enhance the working efficiency and quality of urban services to decrease waste through the use of data and communication technology (ICT).

Smart technology for smart cities can be implemented in sectors such as public transportation systems, power supply, solid waste management, sanitation, etc.

What Is IoT?

The Internet of Things can be seen as a network of billions of devices and sensors that are competent in connecting to the internet to collect data and share information.

Interestingly, anything can evolve IoT-enabled if it can be connected to the internet. For example, if a light bulb can be switched on and off with an application from your phone, that light bulb has become an IoT-enabled device.

The relationship between IoT and smart cities derives from the idea that city infrastructures, such as street lights and transportation systems, can be loaded with sensors so they can be better managed to fulfill human appetites.

Why is it important for smart cities?

IoT is necessary for every city. Presently, the world’s biggest cities are Tokyo, Shanghai, Delhi, and Sao Paolo, with populations of 38 million, 26 million, 29 million, and 21 million respectively. Today, these megacities are unique because of their huge populations. In the future, there will be numerous more like them, with even denser populations.

It’s predicted that more than 60% of the planet’s population will live in cities by the year 2030. It’s a bold prediction and one that could spell disaster if the right steps aren’t taken. Large populations demand large resources. Residents will require access to moisture, efficient and environmentally friendly transportation, clean air, and practical sanitation and waste management. With the clever use of smart city practices and widespread deployment of IoT technology, the cities of tomorrow will be capable to meet the demands of their residents effectively and efficiently.

Connected technologies and big data can make smart solutions. These solutions can solve issues, improve the quality of life for a city’s residents, and lower the consumption of resources. For a truly smart city to work at its highest potential, the Internet of Things is a vital ingredient.

How can LOT help smart cities in the future?

The future of our municipalities is interconnected with the future of IoT. As city governments start to unlock the full possibility of urban data platforms, AI, smart devices, and interconnectivity, the requirement for IoT will increase exponentially. This will lead to efficient trouble solving, smart mobility, sustainability, and more.

One of the most compelling forms that IoT can help future cities is by lowering the requirement for private vehicles. With the advent of driverless cars upon us, it won’t be extended until efficient public transport can be made accessible to everyone, powered by IoT technology. The cars and buses of the future will be able to work using data shared by street furniture or streetlights, providing an efficient and seamless traffic flow.

Though far less glamourous, the future of waste management is another way that IoT can enhance our cities of tomorrow. Right now, waste collection and disposal are two of the largest barriers that cities have. Smart waste management solutions include route planning tools and real-time bin capacity levels that can decrease collection volumes and advice citizens on better forms to dispose of their waste.

Top 10 Real-World IoT Applications

The list of IoT apps will increase as technology develops in the years ahead. Shortly, IoT will likely be used with artificial intelligence (AI) to give smart solutions for every worldly tech problem. Here we present 10 important real-world IoT application models!

Smart City

A smart city, or "City of the Future" is a famous Internet of Things application idea that organizes technology as responsible for enhancing urban infrastructure to make urban centers more efficient, more affordable, and better to live in. It also seeks to enhance economic development and help keep environmental sustainability.

The concept of "Smart City" addresses planning and public administration through the automation of services creatively and sustainably. Smart cities enhance and update many sectors, including transport, government services, traffic management, healthcare, water, energy, innovative urban agriculture, and waste management.

Smart Home

Smart homes are the most famous among this list of IoT applications. Smart homes maintain home appliances including alarms, lights, and water flow from taps while boosting home security and safety through detailed, smart security systems.

With smart homes, homeowners have access to manage and monitor home operations through their tablets, smartphones, and laptops. Suppose you forgot to turn off your oven — you might be able to simply turn it off through your phone.

Smart homes authorize you to handle all your home devices from one place.

Smart Self-Driving Cars

Self-driving and driving cars used to be a thing of the future - now it’s our present. You can utilize smart car technology to control particular functionalities through your smart device.

Central computers installed in the car obtain data from sensors installed throughout the car to choose engine oil level, radiator water temperature, etc.

You can even watch the state of the car, including its location, oil levels, gas, and more through a phone app.

IoT in Farming

Farmers can use smart IoT farming applications to optimize many time-consuming farm processes, presenting possibilities to revolutionize the farming industry. IoT can help you choose the best time to harvest crops, generate soil chemistry-based fertilizer profiles, and catch soil nutrients and moisture concentrations.

With smart farming, a series of sensors are installed throughout the agriculture, including the livestock to monitor the animals’ health data.

Pynchon Agriculture Sensors is one instance of a smart farm technology that helps farmers forecast weather data and monitor crop and livestock status.

Fitness Trackers

IoT-connected machines help you optimize your fitness plans and track improvement. Fitness trackers track your everyday moves like heart rate, sleeping patterns, patterns of activity, calories burned, statistics of workouts, and more. These devices do all this through sensors that accumulate data from your skin.

IoT-Connected Factories

Smart factories use IoT technology (also known as the Industrial Internet of Things) to collect data on industrial methods and devices to form strategic goals and make more efficiencies. Machine equipment and factory items are linked to sensors to enhance analytics. Such technology can help factories decrease energy consumption, improve asset tracking, and find equipment problems early to protect profits and enhance supply chain productivity.

IoT Hospitality and Tourism

The IoT has tremendous potential to optimize hospitality and tourism functions. Staffing is a large cost for hotels and motels in the hospitality industry, but IoT can automate certain interactions to lower staffing burdens. For instance, mobile electronic keys permit hotel guests to access and fit into their rooms without having to interact with a staff member.

From the guest’s smartphone, they can request room service, and share any room problems like a lack of towels, helping hotels gain useful data faster.

Retail IoT

Similar to the industrial sector, the retail sector can find savings, efficiencies, and created using the Internet of Things technology. Retail IoT can achieve a lot, including improved consumer experience, accurate and real-time product tracking, improved staff plan, and overall efficient inventory management.

Retailers can also observe consumer shopping habits with the IoT, identifying their purchase history, trends, and location data to better inform customer plans.

Smart Grid

The smart grid is the IoT that follows to energy systems. Utility businesses use smart grid technologies to discover energy efficiencies through various means, including monitoring energy consumption, predicting energy deficiencies and power outages, and collecting data on how different individuals and businesses use energy.

The average individual can also use insights from the intelligent grid to assess their energy use and find efficiencies in their household.

IoT Applications for Health Monitoring

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated to the world that total healthcare sectors need serious upgrading, including improved modernization, efficiency, and flexibility. If a patient cannot regard a doctor’s appointment, how else can they obtain care?

The IoT delivers a path by connecting sensors to patients at home. Through these sensors, doctors can observe and track a patient’s improvement, and alerts can notify doctors of any emergencies, like a heart attack.

Conclusion

These are only some of the applications of IoT in creating smart cities. Many more choices can be explored to make cities a better option for more than 70% of the world’s population in the future. Many of these applications are already used in the big metropolitan cities around the world, however, there are many obstacles to making truly smart cities. Some of these may be bureaucracy or the fact that it takes time to incorporate the current systems with new technology. Whatever the cause, there is no doubt that the future is smart!