New-Tech Europe Magazine | August 2017

see how those individual issues look like, but also how they influence each other," said Stokoe. "Then it really delivers actionable insights. What happens in my town, what goes wrong and what can I do? The beauty is that this platform is evolving along with Singapore. When the project is completed, we have a simulation platform that is applicable to other cities or parts of it.” Endless possibilities Apart from Singapore, we are still far from smart cities. But Stokoe radiates optimism. He points out that many applications are already within reach. "You can monitor traffic and manage, so people can quickly move from A to B. Patients and the elderly do not need to go to the hospital because you can monitor their health from home. Education is more accessible, because students can study at home. And also in the retail industry and energy sector much is already possible." At the same time, the expert recognizes that there are new dangers lurking by collecting all that data. "The smarter our cities are the more important cyber security becomes. These two things go hand in hand. Ultimately, our security is still no. 1 priority. Let us therefore remain particularly rational about smart cities. The point is that smart technology makes our world truly better, more efficient and more sustainable. But without any targeted usage and only promoting how great and wonderful the smart city is, it will be nothing more than a phenomenon or a buzzword."

Figure 4: Billions of sensors continuously collect data about our homes, roads and hospitals

make the realization of a European smart city complex and costly. Stokoe does not expect that our cities in every respect will be completely “in pain”. "Unless you build a new urban area”. Rotterdam Harbour Stokoe finds the port of Rotterdam a fine example of an environment that is indeed quite smart. "That's really a smart port. In recent decades, the Port of Rotterdam has grown tremendously. I am impressed by the efficient way in which instance the container is managed today. Everything is going smoothly and there is hardly any human work involved. Those aspect towns also have. But the port of Rotterdam had also about 25 years to get at this current level." The expert sees some towns with a lot of smart city-potential. He calls Amsterdam and Utrecht, Manchester and Bristol in England, the Australian Adelaide and Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing. "These cities are beginning to

recognize the value of data. How can we use data to improve our environment? Sustainability is always an important element: the use of green energy, recyclable materials and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Netherlands plays a pioneering role." Virtual twin city But none of these cities have it as Singapore. Not for nothing Dassault Systèmes chose Singapore just for the ambitious 3DEXPERIENCity project. The company created in collaboration with the Singaporean government a hyper-realistic model of the city that is constantly fed with real-time data on population density, traffic, weather, energy consumption and recycling. Analyzing this dynamic digital 'twin city replica' helps policy makers to improve the quality of life. Now and in the future. This model, moreover, goes much further than simply raw data about the city, designed in a visually appealing way. "You will not only

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