Internet of Things – For Smart and Secure Cities

The Internet of Things (IoT) merges software and hardware with network connectivity, for the benefit of creating smart cities and safe cities.

IoT devices, from smart home appliances to smart vehicles, cameras, smart traffic lights and various sensors embedded in municipal infrastructures, can help bring about better municipal functioning. IoT connectivity also enables us to improve our personal and public security.

The deployment of cameras and sensors and the ability to analyse the vast visual information they collect, the ability to monitor data and statistics that were not available in the past, and the systems’ ability to automatically react to alerts, all these bring about an effective use of the IoT network.

The analysis of big data collected by IoT devices can widen our understanding regarding the management of cities and their environment, from the perspectives of efficient transportation or smart management of garbage collection etc.

A “smart city” networked with connected devices enhances the anti-terror and anti-crime capabilities, the control over city centers, as well as over remote vital installations, to reduce traffic congestion, detect potholes on routes via sensors, and more. These are achieved through the data flowing from the city’s systems to the municipal command and control centers.

Yet the growth in the IoT field also involves a growth in the market for IoT security products, as connectivity and the large number of connected devices become target to Hackers attacks, such as the one that paralysed major websites last October.

Worldwide IoT security spending is expected to reach $348 Million in 2016, a 24% percent increase from 2015 spending, according to a Gartner research.

I-HLS:       IoT Turns Cities Into Cyber Battlegrounds: