TORONTO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s Sidewalk Labs unit is proposing it get a share of property taxes, development fees, and the rising value of Toronto city land as part of a deal to build a smart city, according to the company’s slide presentation made public on Friday. Waterfront buildings, part of a proposed redevelopment of Toronto's downtown waterfront, are seen in an undated artist rendering provided by Alphabet Inc's Sidewalk Labs unit February 15, 2019. Sidewalk Labs/Handout via REUTERS Sidewalk Labs, which provides urban technology infrastructure, is planning a 4.9-acre smart city along Toronto’s harbor front, a project that has already faced opposition from locals over concerns of data privacy. Sidewalk Labs said the proposal was yet to the evaluated by Toronto city and the public and has the potential to generate around C$6 billion ($4.5 billion) to pay for the infrastructure over 30 years. The proposal suggests that a light rail transit and … [Read more...] about Alphabet unit seeks share of property taxes for Toronto smart city
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In smart cities 5G won’t just lessen congestion, it could save lives too
If you’ve been following the smart city trends, it won’t surprise you to hear that next-generation 5G wireless service will make smart cities more intelligent. “I don’t think 5G needs much of a push,” Nakul Duggal, a senior VP of product management at Qualcomm, told Digital Trends. To Duggal, the advantages are obvious, and Qualcomm sees this as the year of 5G; more than two-dozen 5G-compatible smartphones expected to hit the market by the end of the year will Qualcomm’s chipset. There are a variety of benefits of 5G, the foremost of which is speed. Qualcomm has demonstrated peak download times of around 4.5 gigabits per second and average data transmission speeds of about 1.4 gigabits per second. That’s quick enough to download a two-hour movie in about 17 seconds, versus about 6 minutes for a current 4G connection. In other words, new 5G phones will be about 1,000 times faster than the phone currently in your pocket. But it’s not just … [Read more...] about In smart cities 5G won’t just lessen congestion, it could save lives too
Future smart cities could lift transport into the sky to solve congestion
MELBOURNE: CITIES OF THE FUTURE could see public transportation lifted from the ground and up into the air, if Britain's transport innovators have anything to do with it. The future smart city plans were deliberated as part of discussions hosted by the UK government's innovation agency InnovateUK and the Australia Trade and Investment Commission, taking part on the other side of the world, in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday. 50 per cent of transport in big cities in both Australia and the UK is currently built on the ground, and both countries agreed that by building new transport solutions into the sky there would be more area for pedestrians or cyclists in the city, which would, in turn, ease congestion as well as pollution; two growing problems facing metropolitan areas. The startups in attendance touted their products and services that can combat these issues. One in particular, called Bulweria, is proposing a concept called MonoMetro, which is … [Read more...] about Future smart cities could lift transport into the sky to solve congestion
InnovateUK kicks off smart cities mission in Oz to springboard British startups down under
SYDNEY: BRITISH INNOVATION BODY InnovateUK has kicked off its latest Future Cities Mission, this time hosting 16 tech startups and entrepreneurs in Australia to improve the prospect of smart cities world-over. Propelling the UK-grown businesses on the other side of the world, the event kicked off in Sydney on Monday, and the INQUIRER was in attendance to hear the latest from some of Blighty's freshest faces in tech as to how Oz can help them grow as well as boost innovation on UK soil. The 2018 Future Cities Mission was coordinated with the aim of flying some of the UK's most promising tech companies across the world to open them up to some new opportunities, build business partnerships and potential investment, as well as to help them grow their businesses globally. The event started in Sydney but will move to Melbourne on Tuesday, two Eastern Australian cities that Innovate UK believes are the most forward-thinking in terms of their approach to … [Read more...] about InnovateUK kicks off smart cities mission in Oz to springboard British startups down under
Smart cities are saving residents over 125 hours per year
Integrating modern technology into both new and aging cities is changing the way citizens go about their daily lives. In a study sponsored by Intel and performed by Juniper Research, estimates show that regular people could save 125 hours annually with the help of smart cities. Back in 2010, Beijing residents underwent the worst traffic jam in history. It took 12 days for a 62 mile stretch of freeway to be cleared of gridlock. Although this is an extreme case, the backup could have been greatly reduced with the help of improved traffic data. Mobility, health care, public safety and productivity were the four major areas examined during the study. In addition, the top 20 smart cities in the world have been ranked by category and given a score for quality of life. Chicago, London, New York, San Francisco and Singapore comprise the top five cities and are making the greatest use of Internet of Things technologies. Out of the top five cities selected, the average speed of travel for … [Read more...] about Smart cities are saving residents over 125 hours per year