A smart city is sustainable and efficient

When so many people are living, working, using the transport infrastructure and consuming energy in such close proximity, efficiency and sustainability are no longer a matter of making life easier but an absolute necessity. Municipal and regional authorities are increasingly turning to smart city concepts to meet these challenges.

For example, networked processes and sensors ensure a better flow of traffic, more attractive public transport options, optimised street lighting, lower energy consumption in buildings and much more besides.

When planning smart cities, it is essential for local authorities to maintain an overview. This is vital, because the desired benefits can only be achieved if numerous separate solutions interact and are perfectly coordinated. That makes smart cities a typical application for big data. A whole host of individual data needs to be recorded, aggregated and analysed both quickly and reliably before leading to the appropriate control measures, which requires an IT infrastructure that ensures maximum reliability.