Smart cities: How AI is improving the lives of citizens

I’m excited to be at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona this week with my full leadership team from Western Europe. The purpose of the event is to bring people together to share information about how to empower cities and collectivize urban innovation across the globe, and it’s been amazing to interact with many of the 33 partners from 15 countries who have joined us in our booth. By promoting social innovation, establishing partnerships, and identifying business opportunities, Smart City Expo can help create a better future for cities and their citizens worldwide.

And I have to say…what a difference a year makes! I attended this event last year and it’s remarkable to see how much progress has been made, particularly around the Internet of Things (IoT). Around 18 months ago, we saw many IoT pilots, but today, you can really see that cities have IoT capabilities almost by default. Nearly every new building is now built as a smart building, from schools to office buildings to residential housing. These smart buildings collect huge amounts of data, and data is undeniably the foundation for robust future innovations in cities, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

As you might imagine, AI is front and center this week at the Smart City Expo, with many conversations about how AI is making an impact on the lives of everyday citizens. Yesterday morning, I had the honor to participate in a panel discussion on building “the city we want” with several distinguished panelists. I had the opportunity to discuss and share my observation on what cities do and will do more and more, to be more resource-efficient, resilient and sustainable. Clearly, cloud, Azure IoT, digital twins, AI, data lake, and partner ecosystem solutions have been the heroes.

We’ve also been fortunate to hear from many customers and partners about the innovative ways in which city governments are making things better for their communities using AI. I had wonderful conversations with city officials from Amsterdam, Belfast, and Stavanger, all of whom are looking into opportunities to use AI to build citizen-centric services.

And there are many others who are already experiencing these benefits today. One of my favorites is the city of Espoo in Finland. The city initially had social, health and educational data about its citizens in over 30 different systems that didn’t exchange information. Espoo teamed up with the technology firm Tieto to combine over 10 years of data of approximately 520,000 citizens (while following individual privacy guidelines) and analyzed it using the power of AI. Impressively, by doing so, they found clear ways to improve people’s health and well-being. For example, Espoo used the solution to identify 280 specific factors that will help forecast which families may need child-welfare services, so that the appropriate agencies can work together and extend support services early. By working proactively, the city will be able to resolve issues before problems arise; avoid heavier, more expensive service engagements; and improve outcomes for the families.

So much data exists in our cities today, but when technology can be applied to turn that data into actionable intelligence, I see huge benefits to individuals and to society at large. This intelligence can help cities become more citizen-centric, which in turn helps create safer, more sustainable and inclusive communities. We need to find more ways to use technologies like AI to combine siloed data sources and build citizen-centric services for societies around the world.

Another great project was created by NEC and the city of Santander in Spain, which built an AI-based command center – a “brain of the city” that is helping it meet its goals to be smart, safe, and eco-friendly. A network of 20,000 censors feed information into the city’s Cloud City Operations Center (CCOC), NEC’s Microsoft Azure-based platform. With AI applied to this data, Santander can intelligently track how water, waste, lighting, roads, and other resources are used in real-time. For example, the system allows city employees to quickly cross-reference key data sets, such as carbon monoxide levels with traffic and temperature, and issues alerts when air quality thresholds are exceeded. The cities of Lisbon, Portugal, and Bristol, UK are also using NEC’s CCOC platform.

I believe that these sorts of projects demonstrate ways to help build trust in both government and AI. If you can demonstrate that a new tool can reduce administrative burdens, help resolve resource allocation problems, and take on significantly complex tasks, people will buy into it. When they interact with government, they’re often seeking answers to questions, filling out forms, or searching documents. Applying AI to these sorts of tasks can make government work more efficiently and free up time for employees to build better relationships with the people they serve. AI has great potential for improving service delivery and for boosting citizen satisfaction and engagement.

Here, at the Smart City Expo, it’s clear that the opportunities are endless. I feel that we need to spread these success stories and educate everyone from citizens to policymakers about AI so that they can understand how it works and recognize its benefits. The combination of AI and intelligent, thoughtful and ethically conscious uses of consumer data will play an increasingly important role in how governments interact with citizens, especially as global connectivity improves and technology becomes more widespread. The potential for improvements in the citizen experience is huge, and I am grateful that my team and I are involved in this positive change.

In what ways have you seen AI improve the lives of citizens in your city? I’d love to hear your story.

This article is the fourth in a series in which I’ll explore the economic, societal and ethical impact of AI in Europe, and the ways in which it impacts humanitarian efforts, leads to job creation and the development of new industries. As AI capabilities play an increasingly important part in our day-to-day lives, we will face important questions about economic opportunity, privacy, equity, and inclusion. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you and encourage you to let me know what you think about these important issues as well.