Technology 

Smart solutions in cities can prevent wastage. Public sector still uncertain about how to tackle it

Passenger and freight transportation becomes increasingly more complicated for individual cities; drivers wait in traffic jams and waste fuel while seeking a suitable parking place. People often drive to see a doctor although a number of issues could be resolved via a mobile phone or tablet. Smart solutions in cities set the alarm bells ringing. Nevertheless, there is a snag in it. The motivation of the public sector to implement smart solutions is lower than in the private sphere. How can one use smart solutions more effectively? How much do Vodafone’s clients save by using the Internet of Things (IoT)?

A survey conducted by Deloitte and partner institutions focusing on energy savings in public administration indicates, inter alia, that smart solutions are only new words for a great many cities. The lack of information and the weak will to change things have caused the state sector to still remain rather behind in this context. However, the impacts of smart solutions speak for themselves as many of those innovations directly enhance the quality of life in cities by saving peoples’ time and offering required comfort.

Vodafone: How does the IoT facilitate optimised consumption?

Unlike the public sector, private companies already drew inspiration a long time ago when it comes to using smart technology and mitigating environmental impacts. Vodafone and its innovative solutions introduced as part of the IoT may serve as an example. By using the IoT, Vodafone’s customers saved more than 2 million litres of fuel and 105 MWh only in 2017, which means more than 5 tonnes of CO2.

Car fleet management

Number of active SIM cards in 2017-18: 31,620
Annual fuel savings per SIM card: 68.2 litres
Total savings: 2.2 million litres of fuel

Source: Vodafone

“As such, the application of smart solutions may have various forms in practice. It may consist of using detectors, sensors and satellite navigation to obtain and transfer data. Individual smart solution components communicate with each other, exchanging the information obtained. This results in adjusting the system behaviour and optimising inefficient processes,” said Adriana Dergam from Vodafone.

Public administration: Addressing urbanisation issues

The IoT has a great potential for technology development in the public and state sectors. For example, the future vision of “smart cities” lies in the automation and digitalisation of many processes handled by local governments. Despite the initial investment, an IoT solution should bring permanent savings to municipal budgets and increase the quality of life for people living in smart cities.

Public administration may use smart solutions in handling urbanisation issues – heavy traffic in cities, air pollution and ineffective (excessive) heating of buildings. Other examples may include the health care sector, waste collection, processing of forms, data exchange… there is a large number of possibilities.

Smart technology in cities

Lighting: The solution flexibly responds to the number of people at a particular place or sunshine intensity by optimising the power of street lamps. These solutions are already used in Los Angeles and Oslo, demonstrating 60% energy savings after rolling out “smart” lighting.

Waste collection:
 Smart waste collection may help municipalities plan appropriate routes and times of waste collection to prevent waste accumulation around waste containers or traffic jams on busy streets, such as during morning rush hours. This technology will help municipalities maintain cleaner streets and decrease the costs of waste collection.

Transportation: Light signalling will facilitate traffic continuity on the busiest streets. Introducing smart solutions will decrease mileage, help avoid traffic jams or find a free parking spot faster.

What are major positives? By using smart solutions in day-to-day practice, cities may prevent wastage, gain control over energy consumption, lower the fuel consumption of the car fleet or achieve traffic continuity on the busiest streets. Nevertheless, the key objective does not have to include solely energy savings; the prevention of consumption arises predominantly from optimising the above-listed activities. Instead of replacing individual technologies, which results in cost savings, smart solutions primarily seek to prevent energy consumption.

Tips for you: Five steps for using IoT in your company

  1. Map the areas for optimising energy consumption
  2. Consider an IoT solution to address the issue (“smart solution” including smart measuring, smart parking, smart buildings and lighting etc)
  3. Consult selected possibilities with a smart solution supplier
  4. Check the mobile data and internet coverage in the area in which changes are to be implemented
  5. Ask for a feasibility analysis

What does the Internet of Things involve?

Did you know that introducing innovative IoT solutions may regulate energy consumption at buildings, ensure remote patient checks, find a parking spot or even help avoid traffic jams? The Internet of Things refers to technology enabling machines, devices, detectors, sensors and other devices to communicate with each other and the environment by means of the Internet. This is realised via a data SIM card integrated into those “smart devices”, enabling them to receive or send data within the IoT. On top of that, the SIM card also allows remote control, checks or monitoring. IoT solutions thus bring new possibilities in combating climate changes, expanding technology within supplies of modern sustainable energy services while facilitating access thereto.

Would you like to learn more? Download the complete study entitled Energy Savings in Public Administration (only available in the Czech language).

Energy Savings IoT

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