The initial phase of the company’s Digital Twin project in Las Vegas encompassed a seven sq km space of the downtown integrating local citydata which could be used in the future to fundamentally transform mobility, air quality, noise pollution, water management, and in particular, emissions from major buildings across the city.
Cityzenith unveiled a first glimpse of its ground-breaking Las Vegas Digital Twin at a special event in Las Vegas on January 4th, attended by Las Vegas Councilwoman Olivia Diaz and Chief Information Officer Michael Sherwood. The company’s impressive project video describing the Las Vegas Digital Twin effort in detail that was first shown to the public at the event, and over the past several days, has been seen and shared by thousands of people from around the world.
“The Digital Twin project is developing at an impressive rate and is ahead of schedule,” says Cityzenith CEO Michael Jansen. “The base twin is now completed, and in the second quarter of this year, stakeholders from Las Vegas will be invited to join phase 2 of the Digital Twin project, including real estate owners, government agencies, university researchers, data partners, architects, and casino operators.
“Also, we have new partners that provide risk-free, no money down financing to building owners for green building retrofit projects. That means we can now decarbonize buildings anywhere in America without charging building owners a single penny to get started. This is a game-changer. Only 1.7% of American office buildings are green. With the combined power of our digital twin platform fuelled by innovative financing, we intend to change that.
“Moreover, we have invited the Digital Twin Consortium to collaborate with us and bring their expertise to this extraordinary, first of its kind urban Digital Twin project.”
Dan Isaacs CTO, Digital Twin Consortium commented: “We’re excited that Cityzenith is using digital twin technologies to help Las Vegas building owners significantly improve mobility and environmental considerations, including air quality, noise pollution, water management, and emissions for carbon footprint reduction. This smart city project will also provide Digital Twin Consortium members with multiple opportunities for collaboration.”
Cityzenith is providing the project’s Digital Twin technology as part of its ‘Clean Cities – Clean Future’ initiative to implement its SmartWorld Digital Twin platform in major world cities, a program designed to help drive down urban emissions and significantly improve cost efficiencies for local building owners. SmartWorld, aggregates, analyses, manages and reports emissions performance across multiple assets in real-time to ensure ongoing operational metrics and ESG compliance goals are maintained.
The company’s ‘Clean Cities – Clean Future’ initiative has projects underway in major US cities, including Los Angeles and Phoenix, with more than a dozen major cities and building owners in the queue to follow soon.
Cityzenith’s ambitious project to help Las Vegas building owners transition to net-zero carbon emissions has completed its first stage.
The Las Vegas Digital Twin project encompasses a 7 sq km area of downtown Las Vegas and will leverage the city’s advanced 5G networking and cutting-edge IoT sensor network to power advanced analytics that fundamentally transform mobility, air quality, noise pollution, water management, and in particular, emissions from major buildings across the city.
The project is developing at an impressive rate – the base twin is now completed, and soon, stakeholders from across the City of Las Vegas will be invited to join the project, including real estate owners, government agencies, university researchers, data partners, architects, and casino operators.
Cityzenith is providing the project’s Digital Twin technology as part of its ‘Clean Cities – Clean Future’ initiative to implement its SmartWorld Digital Twin platform in major world cities, a program designed to help drive down urban emissions and significantly improve cost efficiencies for local building owners. The program has been a massive success.
Project partner Terbine brings together and contextualizes IoT data from local government agencies, building operators, transportation systems, vehicle manufacturers and more, to provide the high volumes of sensor information needed by the urban Digital Twin.
Cityzenith’s Digital Twin platform, SmartWorld, manages and reports emissions performance and analytics across assets in real-time to ensure on-going operational metrics and compliance goals are maintained.
Cityzenith CEO and Founder Michael Jansen said: “We are honoured to be working with the City of Las Vegas, providing the market’s only end-to-end decarbonization solution for buildings in cities, to ensure Las Vegas’ buildings achieve net-zero emissions in the years to come quickly or without risk.”
Terbine CEO and Founder David Knight said: “Transitioning our home city into a clean, sustainable, and more attractive place to live and visit is a fantastic opportunity, and we’re delighted with our progress so far on this project. What we’re building here represents a model for how other cities can enable sustainability and a better quality of life for their citizens.”
Cityzenith will soon unveil two other major projects in the United States, new net-zero Digital Twins for Los Angeles and Phoenix, with a dozen city net-zero Digital Twins to follow in quick succession.
You can watch a video, displaying Cityzenith’s Digital Twin project in the City of Las Vegas here.
As 2021 draws to a close, Amrit Dhami, Thematic Analyst at GlobalData, offers her view on these themes:
M-commerce is fueling the development of super apps in the West, but China will continue to rule the roost
“The increased use of mobile wallets — a virtual wallet that stores card details on mobile phones — and mobile commerce (m-commerce) — purchasing online via a mobile phone — is driving the development of ‘super apps’ in the West, similar to China’s WeChat and Alipay. In 2022, the value of mobile wallet transactions will exceed $266 billion in the US and $60.5 trillion in China.
“Mobile wallets act as a gateway to a broader range of financial services without the need for consumers to leave the app. Mobile point of sale (POS) software usually requires biometric authentication and offers more security than contactless card payments. It’s also more convenient for users, as they carry their phones around everywhere with them anyway, and no additional hardware is needed. This will continue to encourage consumers to abandon cash and cards.
“Since it’s now easier than ever to make transactions using mobile phones, it’s no surprise that m-commerce is exploding to become the most popular method of online transaction. The convergence of mobile wallets, m-commerce, financial services, and social media will encourage payment companies such as PayPal to develop super apps that will streamline the consumer experience and provide a portal to a host of services.
“However, the West’s super apps will fall short of emulating China’s powerful digital ecosystems because western social media companies consistently fall short at building consumer trust — something that is pivotal to the success of super apps. In the absence of the regulatory hands-off approach in China that allowed Tencent and Alibaba to grow substantially, US social media giants must earn their users’ trust if they aspire to reach super-app status.
“GlobalData’s Thematic Scorecards score companies based on how they will perform in various themes. Almost all of the 35 companies on GlobalData’s Social Media Thematic Scorecard score less than two (out of five) for the ‘Data Privacy’ theme, including Meta and Snap. Data privacy is incredibly important to consumers and regulators, so this demonstrates that social media companies still have some way to go before they can be allowed to grow into super apps.”
The herd of fintech unicorns will continue to expand and engage in strategic partnerships
“Fintech unicorns—private companies valued at $1 billion or more— have now climbed to 116 in number, with an aggregate valuation of $529 billion. A surge of investment in start-ups has expanded the herd of fintech unicorns this year, and 2022 will be no different with the likes of Corvus Insurance and Navi Technologies set to join the cohort. Meanwhile, at least 10 current unicorns will become public, including Stripe, Monzo, and Chime.
“The sheer volume of highly valued start-ups operating in fintech demonstrates the extensive ongoing disruption of the financial services sector by digital technologies.
“Disruptors and incumbent institutions will continue to form dynamic partnerships to capitalize on the innovation of start-ups and large user bases of traditional financial institutions. Goldman Sachs and Visa are among those building an extensive fintech network.”
Openness in data ownership has played a critical role in fintech partnerships
“Open banking has encouraged partnerships between disruptors and incumbents by allowing accounts and data to be linked across institutions, important for services like smart budgeting, automated onboarding, and credit risk assessment. PSD2 (the amended Payment Services Directive) has facilitated openness by giving third parties access to banks’ infrastructure.
“Open banking —where banks open up data for regulated providers to access — has been a key driver of partnerships between unicorns and banks, and has been delivered top-down in Europe through PSD2. A more open model of data ownership, where data can be moved across different institutions, increases transparency in banking services, and is an important step in shifting the ownership of customer data from banks to the customer. Institutions will be battling to win our trust and confidence.
“Openness in data ownership will continue to be a key theme in the financial services sector, so discussions around PSD3 will continue in order to instigate the more aggressive measures needed for further networking across financial institutions.”
Generation Hashtag is driving fintech innovation
“Generation Hashtag refers to the cohort born between 1991 and 2005. Having experienced the uncertainty of both the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 recession, this generation will continue to redirect their savings towards commission-free stock trading and investment apps such as Robinhood and Freetrade. These apps target young investors with a firm grasp of technology, but limited wealth —Robinhood’s average user is aged 27.
“Generation Hashtag is also wary of credit card fees, so is driving innovation in interest free, buy now pay later (BNPL) services. BNPL is convenient for consumers and lucrative for retailers, reducing cart abandonment. However, more transparency around BNPL services is urgently needed to ensure consumers understand that they are accruing debt through BNPL, which can negatively affect their credit scores. Regulators will pay more attention to BNPL following its rapid growth in 2021, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) already recommending rigorous affordability checks before consumers can use such services.”
MatthieuAnnenkov has recently launched his NFTcollection ‘cryptoluv’ releasing it on Opensea. On November 15th 2021, Annenkov first announced his audience about ‘cryptoluv’ on his Instagram page. His instagram page displays his slightly political digital artwork asking for more freedom in Russian. There, one can understand what his NFT collection is attempting to accomplish and how it is gradually evolving into a phenomenon. Not only will ‘cryptoluv’ operate under the Ethereumblockchain, meaning it will be spread out and secure, but in addition it will be listed on Opensea, a decentralized marketplace allowing the buying and selling of non-fungible tokens. Yet, newcomers to the NFT space will have some questions: firstly what is Opensea, and for what reason is it significant for NFTs?, and why has Annenkov chosen the Ethereum blockchain? And at last how is his Instagram page significant? How might Opensea and Instagram assist purchasers with comprehension of his collection? This article will dive into these inquiries, to assist people’s perception of how these 10 NFTs will be critical in December 2021.
What exactly is Opensea?
OpenSea is a decentralised marketplace for buying, selling, and trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In fact, OpenSea advocates itself as the world’s largest marketplace for digital goods. This platform was founded by Devin Finzer, and Alex Atallah two Americans from New York. Consequently, Mattheiu’s decision to place ‘cryptoluv’ on Opensea is interesting as throughout the Soviet Union era, Americans and Russian despised each other.
As a result, his work is slowly attaining his goal, as it being promoted on an American platform conveys how cultural liberty is gradually becoming a reality for Russians.
Opensea is the largest NFT market for a reason; according to ‘Dappradar‘, it captured $1.564 billion by volume in August alone. As a result, according to the Opensea dashboard data, 965,477 NFTs were sold between August 1, 2021 and August 22, 2021. This is very promising for Annenkov’s collection because it conveys the potential of this platform. It outperforms Axie Infinity, (the second largest marketplace), by almost double as they attained only $870 million in August.
Why and in what ways is Matthieu putting his choosing the Ethereum blockchain as the NFT protocol for his digital artwork?
Most of the NFT ecosystem works under Ethereum because it is decentralized and secure. It is secure because you and every other person in this blockchain can confirm you own something. This is valuable, as you can put your merchandise without the need to trust or give authority to an intermediary.
It additionally implies your NFTs are versatile and secure across different markets. As a result, it illustrates that nobody can duplicate, copy or take your NFT. These attributes of Ethereum advance digitally claiming one-of-a-kind things and getting a reasonable cost for your item.
How is Matthieu’s post on his Instagram page significant?
Matthieu published his first post about his NFT collection on November 15th, 2021, on his instagram page. This is significant because it not only confirms the project name of ‘cryptoluv,’ but it also promotes his upcoming work. As Annenkov is a Moscow-based artist, the majority of his followers are Russian. As a result, the sneak peek allows people from all over his country to see the promise of his upcoming work while also continuing to advocate for his goal.
Furthermore, Annenkov posted the second post about ‘cryptoluv’ 10 days later. He stated that it will not only be published on Opensea, as previously mentioned, but also the goal he hopes to achieve with his work. By publishing it on Opensea, it gains access to an international market; however, by stating its goal, it captivates the interest of potential buyers. Previously, only academic work and Soviet canvas were permitted to be displayed to society; thus the current collection’s goal is to demonstrate how a more liberal imaginative articulation can benefit society and encourage its citizens to feel free.
How might Opensea and Instagram assist purchasers with ‘Cryptoluv’?
This NFT series thrives with the idea of portraying a liberal society in Russia that permits its residents to feel free. Thus, its distribution on Opensea, an American platform where media is portrayed through freedom of speech. By using an American platform, Annekov will show the Russian artistic community how it is still possible to produce uncensored work by adopting NFT technology. Thus, it gives buyers the sensation it is possible to alter censored Russian culture.
Matthieu’s Instagram page will also be critical in advocating his work. Due to the two previous posts he released, Annenkov has already given his audience a hint of what his work will do and where you can buy it. Instagram has over one billion users, and due to the release of the Lite app, it reaches a market of over 150 countries. Therefore, it plays a role in rebelling against Russia’s media censorship, as it contributes to it reaching an international market.
Overall, I think Matthieu Annenkov’s new NFT collection will be a critical element for Russian culture. His decision to publish it on Opensea was significant for two reasons: not only is it an American marketplace, causing it to steadily fight against the political divisions of the two nations, but it also attracts a much larger number of potential buyers because it is the largest NFT platform. In addition, his decision to promote ‘cryptoluv’ twice on Instagram was an intriguing decision. The two different posts released over the course of ten days piqued the interest of his 4,000+ followers. While Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with over 1 billion active users in over 150 countries as of 2020. As a result, through utilising two American platforms, this collection is gradually agitating for greater liberty for Russian citizens.
TALLINN, ESTONIA, 07 November 2021 – Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, today announced that Bürokratt, the world’s first public service AI-based virtual assistant, will officially go live in 2022 following on from its successful beta testing in 2021. Citizens will be able to access and use digital public services using their voice. Bürokratt will be an interoperable network of AI applications, which enable citizens to use public services with virtual assistants through voice-based interaction.
Bürokratt will enable Estonia’s citizens to access all public services such as applying for family benefits, filing taxes, renewing a passport and in the future even applying for a bank loan without the need to remember. Bürokratt will remind citizens ahead of time when upcoming actions are required. Bürokratt services and information will be personalised based on the user’s data, not simply a repetition of public information based on user questions, as most virtual assistants currently operate.
Bürokratt has been designed to eradicate bureaucratic processes and make public services radically easier to use as well as more convenient and accessible. Citizens can authorise and consent to certain deeds and actions, such as the submission of applications, making of payments or contracts or change of data in registries through a voice-based interaction with an AI-based virtual assistant on any common device, such as a mobile phone.
In the very near future, the service will give citizens the opportunity to share data on the basis of consent for the development and provision of services outside the country. By giving consent, data can be shared more easily, thus enabling companies to implement new services as well as improve existing ones. For example, it would be easier to apply for a loan from a bank, as a person does not have to enter the data in the form himself, but everything is required from the state registers. This will help private and public services to be inoperable providing the most seamless user experience for Estonia’s citizens.
“Under Bürokratt, citizens won’t have to know or spend time searching for information on separate government websites to find a particular service. Rather, people will have services offered to them and delivered in an integrated manner, around their needs. In the same way, Alexa plays you a song and Siri assists you with your phone calls, Bürokratt will enable citizens to access their own personal data and get support with government services. Both the launch and implementation of Bürokratt will be a testament to Estonian technology and will certainly inspire more governments to transform the citizen user experience. AI-based voice-interactive virtual assistants will be the future for other governments around the world, but now they’re a reality for the Estonian people.” said Ott Velsberg, Chief Data Officer of Estonia.
Siim Sikkut, the CIO of the Estonian Government, said: “As the number one digital society in the world, the Estonian government recognises the power and need for digitalisation, particularly with respect to how public services operate from the user perspective. AI-based tools like Bürokratt provide citizens with seamless and integrated services that are rightfully tailored to the individual and their life events. The user experience will not rely on citizens having the appropriate digital skills to be able to operate interfaces such as apps or websites but will operate through the most intuitive communication mode, that is – voice.”
In the fall of 2021, Matthieu Annenkov has concluded his very first series of NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens). Annenkovis an artist from Moscow who is developing his own remarkable artistic style; this consists of a fusion between abstract expressionism, calligraphy, graffiti art, and other art genres. Hence, one might perceive his work as being key for the future of adapting art to the technological realm of blockchain; not exclusively will his series be artistically unique but because it is using blockchain, it will provide evidence of legitimacy. Nevertheless, this brings up a great deal of questions: Firstly, who is Matthieu Annenkov, and how will his work create marvels for the blockchain world? What even is a NFT, and for what reason is it so significant for what’s to come? And finally, what precisely is his NFTs collection, and how might it thrive?, In this article we will dissect why these NFTs will be significant for the future.
Firstly, who exactly is Matthieu Annenkov?
Matthieu Annenkov is an artist from Russia, who began his career when he was 13 years old. This was done through underground graffiti in the streets of urban Moscow. Although, this immediately changed onto the canvas. Subsequently, resulted in him to gaining the ability of conceptual craftsmanship, which was motivated by the sentiments evoked from the things he experienced throughout his life.
Ergo, he utilised current, local, world and his own internal thoughts to shape each theoretical painting. Shadings, shapes, and texts contained on the material are the method of communicating the emotions and the considerations of the craftsman. Accordingly, it led to what was inside the canvas, to morph into a journey of correspondence between the watcher and the artist. Matthieu Annenkov needs individuals to gaze at his work, attempting to comprehend the message that is concealed inside the communications.
What sort of work has this Matthieu made before?
Annenkov has made a wide range of work: going from street graffiti, where he began, to a more contemporary development which lies nearer to post modernism, this is probably the best method of describing his most recent artwork. The most generally perceived strategy for his paintings offers him a method of seeing the points of view and opinions that are difficult for all to hear.
The consistent changes in the patterns we see in Matthieu’s canvas are associated with his objective to connate people’s eyes to the various issues inside our existence. These include: social polarization, attack, and significantly more. Through his work, which is widely portrayed through his paintings, he is attempting to change the world.
Okay, so we have an understanding of our craftsman, yet what are NFTs?
NFT represents a non-fungible token. Non-fungible is an economical term; it depicts things like your furniture, a record, or your computer. These things are not compatible with different things since they have extraordinary properties.
In addition, NFTs are also symbols that we can use to address responsibility for things. They let us mark things like art, collectibles, and even land. They often have one official owner and are arranged mainly in the Ethereum blockchain – nobody can adjust the record of possession or duplicate another NFT into reality.
Nonetheless, in what sort of ways do NFTs benefit the art world?
The art market, which saw more than $50 billion sales last year, is to a great extent an unregulated field. The absence of guidelines is a result of the art world’s lack of straightforwardness. Unregulated fields will quite often help those with the most assets while hurting those with the least.
Therefore, NFTs are critical. They’ll give two new perspectives for the purchaser to appreciate: the present transparency, whilst also guarantee the creator a certain level of all future resales. The last point of view is particularly important, as it completely juxtaposes the conventional art world. Here, most artists get no payment for the resale of their work.
Consequently, it led to various artists to give authority to their merchants to mint the JPEGs of their works into NFTs.
Annenkov’s NFT collection began with a comic pixel drawing on TikTok. Despite this, when the drawing was first distributed as a video it didn’t become viral. This was on the grounds that many people had misinterpreted this drawing. This prompted the immaculate plan to make an undertaking out of this.
Hence, he chose to make an experiment. This experiment was laid out as a sequence of ten NFTs; these were made like the plots of these photographs were controlled, disregarding the way that they are exceptionally rational. The principle topics that this series would investigate are: passion, lust, sensuality, and sexual attraction. This is moderately recent for Russia, as liberty, just arrived toward the end of the twentieth century.
How would this series of NFTs be crucial for the future?
This NFT series aims to be totally liberated from the structure it would have communicated. It so happened that in Russia they will regularly utilize censorship. Art is no exception. Any vanguard developments went underground toward the start of the twentieth century, which impacted the way of life and impression of workmanship in the nation.
Up until the breakdown of the Soviet Union, contemporary artwork was seen as corrupt, by the authorities. As a result, it made become increasingly difficult for the art world to assist artists with underlining their message; solely scholarly work and Soviet canvas were permitted to be shown to society. Henceforth, this collection’s objective is to show how a more liberal artistic expression can advantage society and urge its residence to feel free.
To conclude, Matthieu Annenkov’s forthcoming NFT series is rather thrilling for the impending future. His previous postmodern fine art underlines his capacity to use examples and tones to display the cultural inequalities in the world. In addition, his underground graffiti in the roads of Moscow highlight his range of skills as a craftsman. Non-Fungible Tokens provide the dealer with the advantage of getting a level of the resale, while the purchaser gets authenticity for their buy; it’s a mutual benefit! At long last, Annenkov’s NFT collection itself is promising because of the freedom it proposes for the Russian residents, its use of sensual and lustful images creates a feeling of advancement for individuals.
The COP26 meeting made it clear the need for an urgent strategy to limit the impact of climate change. The world is, then, transitioning into a new era: a world no longer dependent on fossil fuels.
That is what 1000 CITIES Initiative for Carbon Freedom is trying to achieve. The initiative is based on the idea that if 1000 cities around the world develop and implement ambitious climate action plans, the world will be able to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement and beyond.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
1000 CITIES Initiative for Carbon Freedom’s latest campaign, the 1000 Cities Campaign, is a call-to-action for citizens, cities and nations to reject fossil fuels and move to 100% renewable energy by 2040.
“There is a global solution to climate change. If 1000 cities commit to leaving fossil fuels behind and transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2040, we can meet the Paris Agreement, and avoid the worst-case scenarios of our climate crisis,” said the organization.
The 1000 CITIES Initiative for Carbon Freedom was launched in 2017 by Pathway to Paris at the United Nations Secretariat as a global solution to turning the Paris Agreement into action. The initiative is based on the idea that if 1000 cities around the world develop and implement ambitious climate action plans, we will achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement and beyond. We support cities in developing and implementing ambitious climate action plans. 1000 Cities is developing a global network advocating for a renewable world while connecting cities to the leading best practices and innovative financing mechanisms. Pathway to Paris’ annual concert in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme and 350.org highlight 1000 cities and the best practices leading the way into a renewable future.
“Our time is now. Let’s unite as a planet to move towards a sustainable future for us all and future generations,” conclude the organization.
‘Reimagine digital’ is the slogan by which Huawei stands this year. Following in the tradition of Huawei Connect yearly events, the company is hosting a month-long series of panel talks from world-class experts unveiling everything the 4IR has to offer: from smart transportations, through green industry, to smart wireless networks. The event is to take place from the 23rd of September to 31st of October and can be streamed online, through the Huawei website live.
Huawei Connect 2021 is taking place from 23rd October to 31st October
On September 23, on the first day of the Huawei Connect 2021, the company revealed a White Paper called ‘Intelligent World 2030’ where it forecasted what the world would be like in ten years from now. Huawei’s Intelligent World 2030 report went through eight domains: healthcare, food, living spaces, transportation, cities, enterprises, energy, and digital trust. Powered by next-generation information technologies, health will be computable; people will enjoy higher quality of life; food production can be driven up by data; cities will become more livable; buildings will become greener; travel will become more convenient than ever; industries will become more intelligent; and trust will become more widespread in society.
“Digital technologies ranging from digital infrastructure, cloud computing, and blockchain will make cities more livable and city governance more efficient. Enterprises from countless industries will use more productive machines, such as collaborative robots, autonomous mobile robots, and digital employees. They will reshape our industrial and commercial models, and make companies more resilient,” commented David Wang, Executive Director and President of ICT Products & Solutions, Huawei, on the first day of the event.
These are the major pillars of what the event will be based on. A full month-long event that will look at how technological development will define our world for years to come. And that it will gather major personalities in their areas such as Ugo Valenti Vazquez, Smart City Expo World Congress, CEO; Dr. Margaret Hu, Huawei. Vice President, ICT Marketing Department; Zhao Zhiyun, President, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China; Wang Xiangwang, Member, Standing Committee of the Wuhan Municipal Committee, Hubei Province Secretary, Working Committee of Wuhan East Lake High-tech and Tao Jingwen, Board Member, CIO, Huawei among many others.
A Smart Transportation In Smarter Cities
The so-called 4IR – Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing our society. Part of this revolution pertains to how cities are innovating with transportations. The Smart Transportation set of technologies and concepts together with technologies like 5G, IoT, robotics and AI, and more. All these interconnected techs, working together as innovative solutions will be highlighted in Huawei’s Connect sessions.
A smart transportation network is clean and efficient. Reduced traffic congestion results in cleaner air, less wasted time and reduced energy consumption. And cities that are working to accommodate electric and, eventually, autonomous connected vehicles can expect to realize even greater environmental benefits.
Smart transportation is one of the focuses of 4IR
“Vehicles are the ultimate products of deep integration between the internet, big data, AI, and the real economy. Vehicles will be redefined by ICT and become more connected and intelligent. Intelligent connected vehicles will be a key pillar of intelligent transportation. They will also present challenges in terms of technology, policy, laws, and regulations. The standardization of intelligent vehicles is still underway, and we will continue innovating as we build intelligent connected vehicles,” mentioned Huawei’s Intelligent World 2030 contributor Prof. C.C. Chan, Founding President of the World Electric Vehicle Association, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering.
Smart Transportation is a part of a bigger picture and is a vision of a ‘Smart Society’ with the hook idea of ‘Smart cities’ at its center. Smart city technologies, including smart transportations, are already taking off worldwide and more of these technology and data driven ecosystems are definitely on the horizon globally.
The research and scientific organisation SingularityHub report that 1,000 smart city projects and pilots are underway or are in their final planning stages across most of the countries in the world.
Smart cities (and in this case smart transportations) are and will increasingly help us to be greener and will connect countless industries such as real estate, energy, transportation and more! When smart cities reach their peak, they will be able to self-run, and every single one of us will connect our data to the city we live in.
With the advent of the 4IR (4th industrial revolution) and with the data driven “information everywhere” community- concepts and infrastructure like smart transportation will be the critical element for cities, countries. Various key organisations are opening new opportunities to make the existing general transportation network systems and infrastructure far more efficient and user friendly.
A Green Revolution
Another interesting topic that will be covered in the Huawei Connect 2021 is the green revolution that the 4IR will inevitably bring about. With the rapid development of cloud, AI, and 5G, alongside the deeper implementation of new national infrastructure policies, the size and number of data centers are set to grow, exponentially increasing the energy consumption.
The “Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality” plan poses new energy conservation requirements on data centers. And as the ICT industry consumes more and more energy, how to significantly improve the energy efficiency of data centers, in turn reducing carbon emissions, has become a huge challenge. The Huawei Digital Power Data Center Facility Session presents new opportunities and solutions for data center development, prioritizing carbon peaks and carbon neutrality while exploring new trends in the industry.
“An “energy Internet” will emerge, with digital technologies connecting power generation, grids, load management, and storage, systematically reducing carbon emissions, and digitalizing the entire clean energy process. Blockchain, digital watermarking, and privacy-enhancing technologies will lay a solid foundation for a sustainable digital culture,” said David Wang.
In this context, Huawei released another white paper, called the Global Energy Transition and Zero Carbon Development that analyzes the key factors affecting energy transition, and proposes a new plan for the energy sector — building a net-zero intelligent energy system.
The said system focuses on interconnecting oil, gas, electricity, heat, and hydrogen systems, and aims to achieve secure, reliable, efficient, cost-effective, and clean energy. Anthony Hu , Chief Representative for Energy Transition (Carbon Neutrality), Global Energy Business Unit of Huawei Enterprise BG, said, “The architecture of the net-zero intelligent energy system will interconnect the energy system, carbon system, and ICT infrastructure as well as eventually converging energy, carbon, information, and value flows. Gradually, it will form a system with data at its core, promoting the digitalization of the energy industry.”
The urgency now is to go carbon neutral, which means achieving energy transformation and zero-carbon development as soon as possible. That is the goal Huawei is committed to achieve and its presence at the Better World Summit: Green ICT for Green Development, just reassure that commitment.
Advanced Wireless Connectivity
Moreover, the Wi-Fi 6 Advanced technology will play a pivotal role. In today’s digital era, how can we build intelligent, secure, and freely collaborative office and production environments for higher team creativity, more agile collaboration, higher production efficiency, and better product quality? Huawei CloudCampus Solution gives the best answer. It leverages high-quality enterprise-class Wi-Fi 6 Advanced technologies to offer speedy, stable, and smart fully wireless continuous experience. This eliminates issues such as poor wireless quality and discontinuous coverage. With this solution, enterprises can break down organizational boundaries and inspire more innovations.
Connectivity will enable businesses to do more in the next decade as well. Enhanced broadband will make streaming, downloads, and data exchange lightning fast. Because they require less power, LPWANs can extend the battery life of the devices and sensors they connect, making it viable for the Internet of Things to scale up like never before. Ultra-low latency and strong security will create the confidence to run “mission-critical” applications that demand absolute reliability and responsiveness—even in vital infrastructure systems and in matters of life and death. LEO satellites could provide true global coverage.
Huawei has set out on a mission to lead the ICT set of technologies in the ongoing 4IR. Their strong focus on R&D -they invest more than 10% of its sales revenue into R&D, pursuing innovations for continued improvements in efficiency- powers a long-term strategy based on advanced technologies applied to real-world scenarios, making industries, businesses and nations greener, more efficient and connected than ever before. “Together we can build a better, more sustainable, more tech-savvy future,” stated the company.
“We’ve developed a legal framework, like a standard agreement, under which we can work with innovators for free, no red tape, no procurement.”This is how Siim Sikkut, Deputy Secretary-General for IT and Telecom and Government CIO of Estonia, describes the recently launched Digital Testbed Framework in a new interview carried out by Dinis Guarda. This initiative, part of the Digital Government Innovation model, is a new milestone in one of the most digitally advanced countries in the world. Besides that, Mr Sikkut discusses the role of the government and initiatives like this one to help businesses thrive in a digital transformation scenario.
Siim Sikkut, Deputy Secretary-General for IT and Telecom and Government CIO of Estonia
Being selected amongst the world’s TOP20 most influential people in digital government in 2018 and 2019 by Apolitical, Siim Sikkut, Deputy Secretary-General for IT and Telecom and Government CIO of Estonia, has been involved in many of Estonia’s digital solutions: from the e-residency program to the recently launched Digital Testbed Framework to help businesses thrive.
In fact, and as it can be seen in the interview carried out by citiesabc and openbusinesscouncilfounder Dinis Guarda, Mr Sikkut is especially proud of the work his office has done to get Digital Testbed Framework off the ground, describing it as “a new and innovative collaboration model looking to attract partners globally.” The framework gives access to start-ups, scale-ups and all government technology innovators to the technologies and experience of the world-leading digital government of Estonia. They only ask for the free use of the resulting novel solution in return. A small price to pay for such an opportunity.
Key Facts
• Siim Sikkut is the Deputy Secretary-General for IT and Telecom, and Government CIO of Estonia in office since 2017. Mr. Sikkut is responsible for strategizing the launch of development initiatives and regulation. He also represents the government in the EU and other international organisations, promoting and collaborating on policies concerning technology and digital adoption.
• The Estonian government has launched some remarkably unique initiatives under his leadership like e-Residency and more recently, the Digital Testbed Network.
• The interview is part of the citiesabc openbusinesscouncil Youtube Podcast series, where leaders and influencing personalities across various cities share and present their insights, potentially making global impacts.
Having launched some ground-breaking initiatives for digitization of the Estonian economy under his leadership, Siim talks about his trajectory of work and his journey experiences. Siim pointedly states that his appetite for technology, since childhood, was due to the Estonian government’s initial efforts of digitization.
“We’ve had motivation and drive. Making our government digital has not been a cool project for us. It’s been a necessity. Given as small as we are, 1.3 million people, even less than 2, we have to be very efficient and effective with the limited resources we have if we wanted to be anything in the world,” recounts Siim as the driving motive behind the fast-paced digitization of the Estonian economy.
Taking help from a series of phenomenal dynamics, Estonia is now one of the most advanced digital societies. Dinis asks Siim to highlight the success and scope of eResidency, a programme launched by Estonia in 2014.
He modestly explains, “It is a realization that a digital identity or an e-resident from any part of the world can get access to Estonian government services.” Under this revolutionary program, e-residents get a smart card that can be used to sign documents digitally. The program is aimed towards location-independent entrepreneurs such as software developers, writers, innovators and more. Their financial footprint is monitored digitally, in a manner stated to be transparent.
When Dinis brought their recent initiative Digital Testbed Framework & Digital Government Innovation model to the conversation, Siim stated that the Digital Testbed Framework is a new and innovative collaboration model looking to attract partners globally. It gives start-ups, scale-ups and all government technology innovators, access to the technologies and experience of the world-leading digital government of Estonia – in return for the free use of the resulting novel solution.
The initiative was designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind. Users can produce government-level IT solutions safely and quickly, via live-market testing and approval in a nationwide digital government testbed, without having to navigate any red tape or lengthy sales or approval processes.
Through this cooperation model, users will have access to the government tech stack, know-how (and in some cases data) to help develop their own emerging commercial solutions. It also allows them to partner with one of the most digitally developed countries in the world to “rubber stamp” their ideas and obtains proof of concept.
The Digital Testbed Framework has been used by the Estonian parliament and the Ministry of Education and Research to collaborate on reusable AI components, and the Estonian Health Board to create HOIA – the official COVID-19 exposure notification app for Estonia.
It’s also been deployed across applications such as the TEXTA Toolkit (which uses AI functionality to predict whether comments should or shouldn’t be published in public forums) as well as being hugely successful in helping the Police and Border Guard Board detect domestic violence cases.
Recently the Estonian government has launched its digital testbed framework. Find out what the digital testbed framework is from the interview with Siim @sikkut, government CIO of Estonia. Dinis Guarda citiesabc openbusinesscouncil Youtube Podcast series: https://t.co/8WIabHVcf0pic.twitter.com/YwnTuhRgAp
“The problem many start-ups face today is that the environment for cooperation the public sector is built on is old, outdated and inflexible and this makes integration and collaboration difficult. As the saying goes, ‘there’s no need to reinvent the wheel,’ and that’s why we’re inviting anyone and everyone to use the same tech stack we use to run and build our own digital government, for free.”
Culminating the interview, Siim takes the citiesabc openbusinesscouncil platform to warmly invite active global participation in Estonia’s digital testbed framework to analyze its vastness and versatility.
“We want to partner with innovative people from all over the world and in a variety of sectors. Whether you’re a coder wanting help improve the digital services of Estonia, or an entrepreneur looking to test your solution with one of the most digitally advanced nations in the world – we’d love to connect with you.”
The AccelerateHER awards in partnership with Barclays Eagle Labs are set to go UK-wide this year. Now in their seventh year, and previously a Scotland-only event, the awards are set to recognise inspirational female founder success across the whole of the UK, thanks to a new partnership with Barclays Eagle Labs.
The awards celebrate women excelling in their sector and will be split across four regions – Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, North England and South England – with four categories in each region: Science and MedTech; FinTech, Data Science and Cybersecurity; CleanTech, Climate and Net Zero; and Disruptive Innovation. Entries open on the 28th October.
In just six years, the awards have quickly developed a reputation for providing a springboard to growth for finalists and winners by opening doors to new connections and opportunities through the global AccelerateHER and Barclays Eagle Labs networks. Previous AccelerateHER Award winners have accessed incredible top-level market building missions to California, New York, Boston, Berlin and Dubai – resulting in new investment leads, extensive new business and a much extended network including top industry leaders.
Last year’s winner of the CleanTech, Climate and Net Zero category, Aslihan Penley from Zoex Power, had her business growth plan boosted by her success in last year’s awards. She said: “AccelerateHER Awards gave me the prestige and credibility that my clean techstart-up was missing. Alongside it, the connections, the mentoring and the whole AccelerateHER family has been fascinating!”
Announcing the partnership, Chief Operating Officer for AccelerateHER, Elizabeth Pirrie said: “Taking the awards UK-wide is testament to the success of the programme and we’re delighted to have secured the support of Barclays Eagle Labs to help us expand beyond Scotland.
“This is an exciting time for AccelerateHER as we launch the 2022 awards to find the inspirational, dynamic female founders who play a leading role driving strong global growth potential in their companies.”
Katherine Morgan, Head of High Growth and Entrepreneurs at Barclays, said: “We’re excited and honoured to be supporting the AccelerateHER awards. Celebrating and boosting the strength of female entrepreneurship in the UK is close to our hearts at Barclays and we hope that the awards will celebrate female entrepreneurs and inspire the next generation.”
The awards are sponsored by Barclays and global IT and business consulting services firm CGI. The Scottish Government has been instrumental in supporting the awards in Scotland, through its Women in Enterprise Framework and Action Plan; ensuring over 700 female founders to date have accessed tangible expert help to prepare for investment and growth .
Entries open on 28th October with the winners announced in March next year.
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