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Apart from their potential for improving the quality of life of their citizens, which is probably the best reason why they are so popular, Smart Cities can also offer tremendous potential for entrepreneurs and small business owners, especially high tech startups, which can benefit from several opportunities.
Apart from their potential for improving the quality of life of their citizens, which is probably the best reason why they are so popular, Smart Cities can also offer tremendous potential for entrepreneurs and small business owners, especially high tech startups, which can benefit from several opportunities.
As increasingly more advanced, effective and efficient Smart City solutions are adopted by cities throughout the world, the potential that they offer for businesses becomes more obvious. City government has traditionally been associated with political log jams, procedures, policies and paperwork, all of which usually pose obstacles towards small and medium enterprises.
Smart Cities, however, have started to change this perception as the advantages they offer for enterprises are becoming clear. The gradual transformation of cities into Smart Cities is based on the application of new technologies used to connect, streamline, share and optimize city services. This automatically creates new business opportunities in high tech areas, including big data, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, along with new approaches towards engaging and communicating with citizens and residents.
In the US, the development of Smart Cities has already led to the creation of flourishing startup companies that are already helping cities to gather and organize data. A number of these startups include:
- Hardware company Nuweil, which makes an IoT-enabled delivery cart that wirelessly connects to sensor-laden bicycles to make in-city delivery more efficient while decreasing pollution, and which already signed contracts with Audi and UPS.
- Bractlet, based in Austin, Texas, which seeks to reduce energy costs by 50 percent by analyzing building data and forecasting future usage.
- Open Data Nation, based in Washington, DC, which uses predictive analytics from public data to help assess and mitigate risk related to restaurants and health inspections.
As long as the development of Smart Cities continues, companies that can deliver products and services that help cities collect and analyze data to increase cost-savings and enhance the urban quality of life are certain to receive a new level of interest and attention. This is a significant spillover effect of the trend towards Smart Cities.
The original article can be found at Inc.com