A vibrant city with high living standards and the next big effort is towards becoming not only a smart city but also a carbon-neutral city where every citizen has a role.
It is no concept paper of smart city project which the Central Government is trying to implement but a ‘live’ programme soon to be ushered in Copenhagen.
Denmark’s capital is going to implement what is still in planning stage here with the entire software module developed by Hitachi Consulting, an IT company based in Hyderabad.
For little more than a year, it has been involved in developing an integrated data service of smart lighting, sensor-based traffic management, intelligent building management, etc. for the city.
City Data ExchangeThe concept emerged out of a meeting of cities, companies and universities by the Danish green technology network ‘CLEAN’ in 2014, and the city aimed towards becoming carbon-neutral city by 2025.
For this, the data of public departments and private companies was enjoined for a citywide data marketplace enigmatically titled, ‘City Data Exchange’ (CDE).
The CDE is a software-as-a-service solution for any user be it the city Government, citizens or businesses for sharing or purchasing a wide variety of data arising from multiple sources. In a sense it enables companies — irrespective of size, start-ups, academic and public sectors, to come together to meet the challenges of sustainability and quality of life.
“Over a period of time, it can be used to integrate data from multiple sources, such as demographics, crime statistics, energy consumption, air quality sensors and traffic sensors,” explains P. Uday Chander, Senior VP, Hitachi Solutions.
Two applications have been developed based on CDE — Journey Insight, helping citizens to track their transportation usage over time and understand the carbon footprint of their travel and Energy Insight — where households and businesses can check how much energy they use. Both are set for public launch later this year.
A 20-member team including a few stationed in Copenhagen worked on the module interacting with stakeholders to build a foolproof system.
“We worked with more than 50 partners and CDE team has found 65 sources of open data on Copenhagen like demographics, weather and crime statistics. Combining this with information from citizens and businesses, the platform intends to enable advanced analytics to support functions such as green infrastructure planning, traffic management and energy usage,” explains VP (Solutions) K. Gopal Krishna.
Energy consumptionUsing the CDE, companies and citizens can compare and rate their energy consumption and Green House Gas (GHG) footprint, and relate those measurements to key business and personal metrics such as number of employees and amount of office or living space.
Transportation optionsCitizens can also track their transportation behaviours through smartphones and calculate time spent, calories burned, and their GHG footprint.
The app will also recommend alternative transportation options with a lower journey time, higher calorie burn, and lower GHG footprint.
“The CDE can be replicated here too if there is a will and initiative from the government and citizens,” avers Mr. Uday Chander.
