Smart Cities Viewpoints

Technology is increasingly being deployed at all levels of government around the world to combat COVID-19.  While ARC sees significant headwinds affecting smart city markets over the next couple of years due to decreased tax revenue, reduced workforce, and more, many cities, states, and countries are forging ahead with large increases in technology investment both to combat COVID-19 and reignite economic growth in beleaguered cities.  While ARC expects many smart cities-related markets to decline in 2020, this increased investment in technology will provide an impetus for growth and quick recovery.  Here are some examples of what’s happening around the world right now.  

In accordance with the agreement signed on December 17, 2018, Hitachi Ltd. and ABB Ltd announced the completion of all required procedures as planned, and the formation of Hitachi ABB Power Grids Ltd.

This ARC industrial cybersecurity survey is designed to gain insight into your perceptions and needs around cybersecurity of Operational Technology (OT) / Industrial Control Systems (ICS). The topic "Industrial Cyber Security" is becoming more and more important as industrial production facilities are increasingly becoming targets of cyber-attacks.

CISA, the Critical Infrastructure Security Agency that works under DHS and is charged with protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, recently released a really good paper on how to build cybersecurity into your smart city project.  The name of the paper is “Trust in Smart City Systems: Characteristics and Key Considerations”  

ARC has partnered with the IMSA to do a series of smart cities focused webinars. I will be hosting this week’s webinar, which covers the subject of cybersecurity in smart cities. I will be talking about the unique set of cybersecurity challenges facing smart cities, the impact of COVID-19 on cybersecurity, the cybersecurity vendor landscape, the vendor selection process as it relates to cybersecurity, relevant standards, and more.

Transportation is one of the fastest-changing and most exciting sectors in the global economy today. Connected & autonomous vehicles, shared mobility concepts, and the shift to electric vehicles (together referred to as CASE) are some of the most exciting avenues. At ARC’s 24th annual Industry & City Forum, we hosted a “Future of Mobility” session where four leaders in the mobility space joined us to share their perspectives and experiences around the CASE transition.

The ARC Smart Cities team would like to invite Tech Session presenters, panelists and keynotes to submit to speak at IMSA’s Annual Conference, August 12-14th.

Do you have a compelling Smart Cities Application Story? 

At ARC’s 24th annual Industry & City Forum, we hosted a session charting the future of mobility. We were joined by four leaders in the mobility space, In this article, we will look at the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) presentation given by Pete Costello - AVP at transportation technology company Iteris.

Lights are ubiquitous and are found illuminating infrastructure such as parking lots, campuses, parks, and streets. Intelligent street lighting systems are beginning to emerge as a possible central nervous system for IoT deployments in cities. Lighting control systems have evolved in recent years to reflect the changing lighting needs of municipalities.