What’s a smart city? According to Wikipedia, a smart city uses ICT (information and communication technologies) to enhance quality, performance, and interactivity of urban services while reducing costs and resource consumption. Hackers have been using technology to enhance all sorts of things for years.
London is joining forces with cities across Europe to demonstrate smart city technology, mostly in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The project is in conjunction with the EU Horizon 2020 project, which is still soliciting proposals for funding. It seems like some Hackaday readers–especially in the EU–ought to have some ideas worth funding.
Among the initiatives announced already are:
- 300 smart parking bays that aim to optimize parking spaces and help drivers find a space quickly and conveniently
- Testing shared electric bikes to see if these support a shift from private cars
- Electric vehicles tested for local deliveries and car sharing
- Using the River Thames as a renewable energy source to provide affordable heat to local homes
- Installing solar panels on homes to provide green energy and improve energy efficiency.
Let’s see. Parking, check. Hacking an electric bike, yep. Electric vehicle, got it. We’ve seen hydropower. Of course, solar power is a staple among Hackaday projects, too. So we think it would be surprising if a Hackaday reader couldn’t get some grant money for a project. You can see a video about Horizon 2020, below. When you get your grant, be sure to let us know on the Hackaday tip line.
Photo by Bin im Garten [CC BY-SA 3.0]
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