President Hassan Rouhani launched Iran’s first ‘smart city’ at Anzali Free Trade-Industrial Zone near the Caspian Sea on March 30 following his trip to Russia.
According to a local technology website techshot.ir the project was jointly launched by Iran’s second largest mobile network operator, MTN-Irancell, who will be offering the majority of the technology and services.
From the governmental sector, the Vice President’s Office for Science and Technology, Iran Information Technology Organization, the Central Bank and the High Council of Free Trade and Special Economic Zones are also supporting the program.
A smart city is a designation given to an urban space that incorporates information and communication technologies to enhance the quality and performance of municipal services such as energy, transportation, and utilities to reduce resource consumption, wastage and overall costs. The overarching aim of a smart city is to enhance the quality of living through smart technology.
Smart city concepts are being driven by emerging technologies and trends such as automation, machine learning and the internet of things (IoT). The push to create smart cities is also being spurred by environmental and social considerations.
In recent years several state-supported conferences were held in smart cities. However, the launch of Anzali Smart City is seen as the first real example of government’s push to digitize cities.
Why Anzali was selected is not clear, however, according to the 2006 census 109,000 people live in the city making it a clear choice for a test sample for a larger national rollout in later years.
IoT refers to the connection of devices -- in addition to typical devices such as computers and smartphones — to the Internet. Cars, kitchen appliances, and even heart monitors can be connected through the IoT.
Incorporating Management
In the first phase of Anzali Smart City project several areas of the city management will be incorporated into the initiative, including water usage, street lighting and urban waste management systems, monitoring air pollution, parking spot availability and Near Field Communication (NFC) payment services.
NFC is a set of communication protocols that enables two electronic devices to establish communication by bringing them within 4 cm of each other. These usually include a POS payment facility and a mobile phone nearby.
In the second phase of the project, urban planners and managers will use smart sensor technology and advanced data analytics tools to monitor, analyze and optimize traffic flow and help ensure that public transportation supply meets user demand.
Results of the development of the smart city project will be released as data becomes available on the ongoing take-up of the offered services and technologies.
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