SmartCitiesWorld Weekly Update - 6 Oct 2023

Championing innovation has been central to SmartCitiesWorld ’s work since we launched seven years ago. Whether it’s highlighting a tool that is already in use by a city, or emerging technologies with the potential to bring change, we strive to showcase products and services that have the power to tackle today’s – and the future’s – critical urban challenges.

When it comes to battling the effects of climate change, technology has already proven itself to be a powerful ally and this week saw the introduction of two weather-related tools that will help cities implement their local climate action plans.

First off, Vaisala , a specialist in weather, environmental, and industrial measurements, has launched a compact weather station aimed at cities, road authorities and industrial zones for weather and environmental monitoring. It’s designed as a turnkey monitoring station that provides access to reliable information on air pollutants, solar radiation, flooding, snow depth, water level, visibility, road conditions, pavement temperature and current weather conditions. Crucially, it allows cities to deploy denser observation networks and helps them gain access to actionable and affordable intelligence.

In the US, the National Weather Service has begun to add new experimental flood inundation mapping services to its suite of forecast products to improve flood warning communication and help emergency managers prepare for and respond to flooding. The new services aim to complement and support the issuance of flood watches and warnings by providing near-real-time, high-resolution, street-level visualisations showing where, when, and how much flood waters are forecast.

The new services are now available, providing initial mapping capabilities for 10 per cent of the US population, or more than 30 million people, in much of eastern Texas and parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

With disaster response in mind, we also brought news of how one tech company is using the power of the sun as a force for good to help cities and regions which find themselves with no power or access to key resources. Global climate-resilience solution specialist Sesame Solar has committed?to donating four of its mobile Nanogrids to Ukraine to provide off-grid renewable energy for disaster response as well as neonatal services.?

Powered by both solar, green hydrogen energy and battery storage, the Nanogrids can start generating off-grid, clean mobile power in less than 15 minutes. Each one is equivalent in size to a shipping container for easy transport to hard-to-reach areas.

The company also announced a partnership with water innovation company Watergen Ltd to create a continuous green energy loop on its Nanogrids. By extracting water from humidity in the air, the Nanogrids will now have unlimited clean drinking water and unlimited deionised water to power the green hydrogen fuel cells.

You can find more stories of empowering technologies in the features and news stories listed below.

Finally, SmartCitiesWorld announced this week that it has further strengthened its Editorial Advisory Board. New members include representatives from the Flanders region, the cities of Birmingham City Council , Seoul Metropolitan Government , City of Toronto and Ajuntament de València , as well as leading lights from academia, the smart city tech sector and non-governmental organisations.?

“We’re extremely proud to have such a diverse and talented board and know our new board members will add great value to the discussions and debate around smart cities,” said Chris Cooke , founder and CEO of SmartCitiesWorld. “The function of the board is also to ensure our content and multimedia activities remain relevant and continue to respond to the critical challenges cities around the world face.”?

Find out more about the SmartCitiesWorld Advisory Board?here.

Here is a round up of the headline stories from the past week:

1. Smoke control areas aim to improve air quality in Newcastle
2. Green Energy City in Minecraft aims to boost green skills
3. Eleven-x smart parking app provides real-time visibility
4. US unveils flood inundation maps for at risk areas
5. Singapore and Microsoft drive green software development
6. SPECIAL REPORT: Kyiv.Digital: a digital umbrella for the city
7. Edinburgh smart city programme completes first phase
8. Companies join forces to create more holistic digital twin
9. Smart city initiative brings 5G connectivity to Pato Branco
10. Gaia-X association appoints Ulrich Ahle as CEO
11. Instavolt joins electric vehicle charging roaming service
12. Global networks join forces for regional climate action
13. Vaisala weather station aims to help cities build resilience
14. Sesame Solar commits to donate its Nanogrids to Ukraine
15. Glasgow boosts active travel with cycling parking hubs
16. Memphis stimulates investment in broadband to boost inclusivity
17. San Francisco unveils affordable, transit-oriented housing
18. Test in Tallinn welcomes more smart city innovation projects
19. London boroughs renew Forest shared e-bike contract
20. SmartCitiesWorld strengthens editorial advisory board