The benefits of smart cities are vast, but they require continual effort to manage. As we emerge into the post-pandemic "new normal," technology has earned new respect in the lives and minds of people around the globe. An already quickly-evolving technology landscape is expected to continue to accelerate, making it no surprise that the initial launch of a smart city isn't a one-and-done event. To ensure sustainability for the long-term, a smart city operations centre takes the complication out of the process.

Here at iotblue, we provide real solutions to ongoing challenges. Our proprietary smart city operations centre, Cervello Cities, provides a seamless way for you to achieve ongoing monitoring, seamless management, and effective data collection from your smart city. This helps you make better-informed decisions and more accurate predictions that, inevitably, enable you to reduce operational costs and optimise resource efficiencies.

We developed Cervello Cities to keep the possibilities of the future in mind. Our low-code IoT platform and its advanced modules allow you to remotely administer your smart city's assets, resources, and applications in real-time from an intuitive, centralised dashboard. From connection and troubleshooting to diagnosing issues, collecting data, sending commands, and a whole lot more, Cervello Cities is a multifaceted solution for every megacity and smaller smart city. The solution is already being used at Silicon Waha in the New Borg el Arab and is currently being implemented at the Strategic Command Center in the New Administrative Capital.

Advancing beyond the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” mentality

"But that's the way we've always done it." We've all heard it, and it's natural to become complacent within the parameters of one's existing condition. However, this poisonous mentality suffocates innovation and is the polar opposite of the spirit of the smart city. IoT is built around questioning the status quo. And our smart city operations centre will systematically change the way residents of a smart city think, act, and grow. By acknowledging the human component of technological advancement, we can effectively merge high-tech tools with minds ready to use and boost IoT adoption to extend its potential to its fullest.

IoT powers smart applications

The heart of IoT beats to the mantra "work smarter, not harder." Just about any aspect of everyday life can be made more sustainable and efficient when given the correct data and context. At iotblue, we provide the tools needed to manage smart cities of the future through the information that has always existed but has not yet been realised. Let's look at a few examples:

• Smart Lighting: Sensors, metres, and grids provide data that helps us manage consumption and roll-out efficiency programmes.
• Smart Parking: Available parking spaces are automatically detected and are available to locate in real-time through smart mobile applications.
• Smart Security Management: The city stays connected through a network of surveillance cameras and access control systems, allowing for a synergistic approach to a safer community.
• Smart Energy Management: Advanced metering systems allow energy efficiency by identifying peak usage times, improved response to and prevention of outages, and proper energy utilisation.
• Smart Water Management: Using a sharper lens to analyse the data available for water utilities, you can track consumption, predict maintenance, and ensure resources are functioning with optimised efficiencies.
• Smart Irrigation: Sensors and thermostats can relay information about weather and the type of plant or soil you're irrigating—to prevent overwatering and underwatering and ensure savings on both a monetary and environmental level.
• Smart Waste Collection: Smart bins include sensors that report on fill level and temperature, saving time and money when collecting waste and alerting to emergencies that require interference.
• Smart Traffic: Systems like Egypt's monorail project optimise traffic flow by integrating sensors, cameras, and cellular technology to reduce traffic jams, speed up the flow, and improve safety.

These IoT-based applications help drive efficiencies, reduce our carbon footprint, and offer us the flexibility to conquer future challenges. Ultimately, this will propel us into a future of cities that are smart, secure, resilient, self-sustained, and environmentally friendly.

The key to a smart, sustainable future is thinking outside the box and exploring ways to improve everyday life while making it more sustainable. And at iotblue, we leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to develop smart solutions that nurture a transition to a smarter, more sustainable future—one that benefits citizens and humanity as a whole.

Are you building a smart city? Connect with one of our IoT experts to discuss how we can help you manage your smart, sustainable city with Cervello Cities, our Smart City Operations Centre (SCOC).