The term "smart city" means different things to different people.
At a basic level, a smart city is one that leverages sensors and data analytics to enable better outcomes for citizens and the environment -- whether that’s easier parking or better air quality. Making a city intelligent has real-world implications for the health, sustainability and prosperity of communities.
“It’s really about how not only do we have a city of interconnected things, but it’s what they are able to do when leveraged together to create new insights or solve new problems in new ways," explains Sharelynn Moore, the vice president of global marketing at Itron.
Laying the groundwork for a connected, intelligent city is incredibly complex. It takes not only novel hardware and software, but also buy-in from city leaders, utilities, citizens, and the many layers of municipal bureaucracy to work effectively.
But once that happens, disparate systems -- electricity, water and gas meters, streetlights, parking meters and other sensors -- can now be tied together to create new pathways.
For some cities, the starting point is smarter streetlights. For others, it’s smarter water systems. Whatever the path, a true smart city requires systems-level thinking to achieve meaningful outcomes.
In this podcast, we talk with Itron's Sharelynn Moore about the evolution of the smart city. We discuss the entry points for smart city development, municipal funding and planning challenges, Itron’s technology roadmap, and the different applications on the horizon.
Learn more about how Itron is making the smart city come alive.