EuroWire March 2015

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March 2015 40
Energy
With Copenhagen, Denmark, in the lead,
cities across the globe explore the potential
of LED technology to enhance the
quality of urban life
“Cities worldwide are expected to replace 50 million aging
xtures with LEDs over the next three years, with roughly half of
those in Europe. Some are mainly interested in switching from
outmoded technologies to one that uses less energy and can
last for decades.”
From Copenhagen, Diane Cardwell of the New York Times
reported on a growing network of LED (light-emitting
diode) installations that o cials hope will help the city of
roughly 1.2 million meet its goal of becoming the world’s
rst carbon-neutral capital by 2025. LEDs perform only when
activated, brightening and dimming streetlamps as dictated
by tra c patterns. Their use in the Danish capital is intended
to ease mobility, cut the use of fossil fuels, and save money.
(“Copenhagen Lighting the Way to Greener, More E cient Cities,”
8th December)
But Ms Cardwell noted that many other cities only want to
take full advantage of the electronics of the LED, which are
more conducive to wireless communication than other types
of lighting. Los Angeles has almost completed the switch
to outdoor LED lighting and is using sensors embedded in
the pavement to detect tra c congestion and synchronise
signals. Ms Cardwell was told by Munish Khetrapal, who helps
lead so-called smart city e orts at Cisco Systems (San Jose,
California), that the company is working with more than 100
cities. In October, Cisco entered into a partnership with another
California rm, Sensity Systems, which makes advanced
networks to help connect and coordinate agencies in cities as
disparate as Chicago; Bangalore, India; and Barcelona, Spain.
The American companies IBM and Philips are also aggressively
pursuing smart city projects, together with lesser-known
companies like California-based Silver Spring Networks, which
provides utilities and cities with networking platforms, software,
and services for critical infrastructure. Ms Cardwell reported that
Silver Spring helped with the design and operation of the tra c
and street lighting project in Copenhagen.
† Other cities are also pushing ahead, and hundreds of
pilot programmes and dozens of larger-scale installations
involving LEDs with network control are going forward.
Seeing the demand, technology and software companies are
mobilising to serve the market.
Despite all the activity, Hugh Martin, Sensity’s chief
executive, told Ms Cardwell that no one has yet created a
fully integrated network. But signs are strong that it is on
the way. “The cities are in a race to deploy smart technology,”
Mr Martin said. “And in the business of building a platform
[the lights and sensors capable of connecting to a larger
network] it’s all about how many nodes are out there. It’s a
land grab.”
Telecom
The repair of the Cuba-USA rupture is under
way. But are the opportunities for American
tech companies more apparent than real?
“People love the image of Cuba with its vintage 1950s cars,
but unfortunately its tech infrastructure is not much newer.
And that’s why US tech companies are eyeing eased trade
regulations with interest.” Barb Darrow, who covers technology
and high-tech companies for Gigaom, was writing on 15th
January, the day on which the US Departments of Treasury and
Commerce issued orders that should make it easier for American
tech companies to enter the Cuban market. The moves came
only about a month after President Barack Obama signalled his
intention to open up Cuba-USA relations.
While the new regulations will pave the way for individuals
travelling from the USA to Cuba, Ms Darrow con ned herself
largely to consideration of the prospects there for American tech
companies. (“Just How Big Is the Cuban Market for US Tech?”,
15th January). A pertinent estimate was published in December
by the Peterson Institute of International Economics
(Washington, DC), which said that exports of US goods to Cuba
could reach $4.3 billion a year eventually – up from $360 million
in 2013. Cuban exports going the opposite way could reach
$5.8 billion at some point – up from zero now.
The American telecom sector would seem poised to gure in
that trade. The USA has pledged to ease the “establishment of
commercial telecommunications facilities linking third countries
and Cuba and in Cuba.” According to a Commerce Dept fact
sheet, a new general licence by the O ce of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC), a Treasury Dept unit, should ease the sales
of “certain consumer devices, related software applications,
hardware and services for communications-related systems.”
There is no question that the demand is there. Ms Darrow sees
“pent-up need” for communications and other tech services in
Cuba where personal ownership of cell phones or computers
was prohibited until 2009.
Transatlantic Cable
Image: www.bigstockphoto.com Photographer Zsolt Ercsel