by Akindele Akinyemi

A 'smart city' is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents. There are many technological platforms involved, including but not limited to automated sensor networks and data centers.

The concept of smart cities is becoming a well known phenomenon on the global stage. Cities like Singapore is deploying an undetermined number of sensors and cameras across the island city-state that will allow the government to monitor everything from the cleanliness of public spaces to the density of crowds and the precise movement of every locally registered vehicle.

Other cities, such as New York and Barcelona, have used sensors and computer networks to analyze such things as residents’ sleeping patterns and availability of parking spots.

It is critical for local urban communities in engage in developing a smart city concept to increase economic development and activity is sustainable and rationally incremental by virtue of being based on success-oriented market drivers such as supply and demand. They benefit everybody, including citizens, businesses, the government and the environment.

Municipal governments around the globe are employing big data and Internet-of-Things applications to improve many aspects of daily life. Major tech companies like IBM, Cisco and Microsoft are in on the trend, and are battling for a slice of the $15 billion that's projected to be spent on software by 2021, according to Juniper Research.

Urban residents accounted for 54 percent of the total global population in 2014, according to the World Health Organization, and that figure was projected to grow nearly 2 percent each year until 2020.

The development of a smart city is underway in Inkster, Michigan, home of the National African Business Association, however, this will be done in phases with key partnerships and strategic measures. Through our Inkster Downtown Development Authority and Inkster Economic Development Corporation, we are working on the advent of the city’s first technology incubation that will court both existing and start up businesses via cybersecurity, coding, video game design, and network administration with application development.

The Cyber City concept will be included in this smart city program as we look to connect residents, government and private businesses as one. For example, as part of the Smart Dubai initiative, the government has rolled out more than 50 smart services from 22 government entities. It allows people to access everything on one app, Dubai Now.

Using motion sensors, Barcelona, Spain has implemented smart lighting in its street lights which dims and brightens depending on activity by cars or pedestrians. The city offers systems that allow drivers to know exactly where free public parking spots are available at any given time.

There is no reason why our local urban communities here in the United States cannot invest in smart cities. In San Jose, California, they are one of the innovators for smart cities. Through their efforts they have been able to do the following:

Broaden use of data analytics to improve safety, including better targeting code enforcement, identifying homes with the highest fire risk for preventative measures such as smoke alarm checks, and using geo-tagged data on graffiti complaints and truancy rates to inform “hot spot” crime prediction and prevention.

Reduce traffic accidents and fatalities with connected infrastructure, data analytics, and machine learning that can that can optimize traffic systems and identify high-accident intersections. Target prevention efforts, such as by using behavioral insights to reduce speeding along corridors with high rates of injury crashes.

Increase transparency by providing datasets, data visualizations and utilizing predictive modeling of crime and policing. For example, pursue increased accessibility and visualizations of complaint, gang crime, auto theft, blight and property crime data.

Broaden access to basic digital infrastructure to all residents, especially our youth, through enabling free or low cost, high-speed, 1 gigabit or faster broadband service in several low-income communities, and increasing access to hardware, including tablets and laptops, for low-income students.

Enable deployment of energy and water management technology in buildings, and promote real-time data analytics to help residents and businesses conserve energy and water.

In addition, Intel is in a partnership with the City of San Jose, with the goal of improving quality of life through real-time data tracking of air quality, traffic flow and more. This program is Intel's first "smart city" implementation in the United States. Intel installed sensors all over San Jose that measure air and water pollution, noise, traffic flow, energy usage, communication, and public transportation use. It also created over 25,000 local jobs in clean technology as an added socioeconomic boon.

Not only local urban communities need access to citywide WiFi but also swap out old pay phones and install high-speed interactive kiosks. This way, the city is not only getting new infrastructure, they’re getting a estimated revenue stream of about $500 million over 10 years, over and beyond that work. One company in the United States, Black & Veatch, is working with a major municipality by installing free electric vehicle charging stations at grocery store chains and other high traffic areas, and gaining sponsorship revenue based on the location of the stations.

Local urban communities should not be locked out of great opportunities like this because our world is becoming more urbanized and sustainability is a key asset in ensuring we do not get left behind on a 21st century technological world. Urban smart cities of the future will leverage technology to be more sustainable, more efficient, more resilient, and attract more people and businesses to their city or region. Our cities is going to increasingly be the structure that needs to take action and ensure its own long-term viability.

We must start thinking in the 21st century to prepare ourselves for the 22nd century if we want to be taken seriously. Cybersecurity, IoT, 3-D Printing, coding, artificial intelligence, and clean technology are a few industries that can anchor a new tax base, new revenue streams and develop a new international community for our urban centers that will eventually evolve into smart cities.