Business Chief Europe Magazine May 2018 | Page 84

Recently , Barcelona has been making a name for itself as a smart city . The British Standards Institute defines the smart city as “ the effective integration of physical , digital , and human systems in the built environment to deliver a sustainable , prosperous and inclusive future for its citizens ”. A report released by Philips Lighting and SmartCitiesWorld ranked several cities by how well they adopt the “ smart city ” mindset . Singapore came first , followed by London . Barcelona placed third , its ranking a result of its integration of the IoT in a network of devices across the city connected via the internet , which has provided 47,000 jobs for Barcelona , according to Energy Digital .

Cisco decided to base its Internet of Everything innovation centre in Barcelona . Some of the citywide implementations include 500km of optic fibre , free wi-fi via street lighting , and sensors designed to monitor air quality , parking spaces , water usage in city parks , and rubbish bins . The sensors in the city parks increased water conservation by 25 %, saving approximately $ 5.55mn , according to Data Smart . Barcelona has been the one of the venues for the Smart City World Congress , which sees over 17,000 professionals , 600 exhibitors , representatives from over 650 cities , and 400 experts . It was the event ’ s success in Barcelona that spread it across the world , now with venues on four continents .

84 May 2018