Smart Cities

INESC TEC Science Bits – Episode 2

PODCAST INESC TEC Science Bits (23:35 — 32MB)

Guest Speakers:

David Rua, Centre for Power and Energy Systems

Fábio Coelho, High-Assurance Software Laboratory

Keywords: Smart Cities | Smart Grids | Energy Management | Renewable Generation | Energy Efficiency | Electric Mobility | Digitalisation | Interoperability| IoT | Big Data | Data Privacy | Cybersecurity

– “Smart Cities”: a broad concept

The way we perceive smart cities nowadays is based on the use of digital platforms and ICT tools to interconnect several demands. By resorting to numerous Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), devices and systems, it is possible to implement different sensing schemes and controlling platforms into the cities, namely in already existing infrastructures.

– Future vs. Past: the digitization of cities should not disrupt the historical buildings architecture

The Historic Centre of Évora is a UNESCO Word Heritage site; in this sense, there are several restrictions concerning the installation of some of solutions that might be used in other cities – for instance, the integration of PV panels or building envelope solutions to support energy sufficiency actions. This leads to significant challenges, and we must think about ways to introduce these solutions and, above all, to look for approaches that fit this kind of cities. Then, if we manage to accomplish our goals in such demanding cities, like Évora, it becomes easier to implement them in other cities.

– “Big Data”, “Blockchain”, “Cloud”: concepts that help generating smarter users and support IoT environments

When we mention “Big Data”, “Blockchain” and “Cloud”, we are actually talking about distributed systems, which is the core of the work we’ve been carrying out. In what concerns smart cities, we mainly focus on the fact that we now have a large set of devices controlling homes, collecting data and taking actions. All of them are part of the electric distribution grid, but also part of the ICT grid. In that sense, IoT environments are providing a very good range of use cases and factors that we aim to improve within the scope of smart cities.

– Interoperability: a key-feature to improve people’s quality of life

Interoperability is one of the key-features we are working on, namely as a transversal component in ICT systems. Interoperable connectivity between devices, systems and end-users in smart cities is crucial to achieve several goals. The most important one is improving people’s quality of life; people should be aware of the benefits of digitization, especially during present times, since the majority of us are working from home and resorting to technology that works in our behalf, thus improving our way of living. In addition, we aim at a more efficient way of using energy; power consumption is gradually increasing, so we must work harder to find smart solutions to deal with this issue and become more efficient. This is where all of these solutions and developments come into play.

– Data privacy and cybersecurity: nothing comes for free when we talk about ICT platforms and social media

It is crucial that users become fully aware of how their data is being used. In our case, and despite our work in projects focused on expediting the use of data in ICT platforms, we really want to make sure that users are aware of said process. We have we been working a lot on these matters, namely on how to provide users with the ability to control their data usage, thus empowering them to make the best decisions. These are very important elements when dealing with transversal projects, but also when working in this field, namely concerning the grid, which are critical infrastructures. Therefore, when we deal with these critical infrastructures, this question is even more important.

– Energy-efficiency through ICT

We have been developing several solutions related to the use of renewable energy sources, increasing energy-efficiency overall, both in terms of grids and buildings – and specifically within the scope of the smart cities and smart building integration. We have been developing smart bidirectional inverters, for instance, which translate into systems that are able to accommodate photovoltaic panels (PV panels) towards the local production of energy, combining renewable energy production with local storage, adapting to different buildings and grid operating conditions. Thus, the same system is actually able to collect energy from the PV panels installed in the rooftops and store it in the batteries or other energy storage devices (e.g., heat storage). In addition, we are focusing on many other important elements, such as how to include and make use of home energy management systems – which are hardware and software tools that allow end-users to take advantage of this digitization process (for example, applications that enable them to manage the energy inside their households in a more efficient way).

– Global challenges deserve smart solutions

Even in the current circumstances, smart cities keep providing platforms that we use almost on a daily basis, like videoconferencing apps or other mobile applications that support certain tasks. The power to carry out everyday tasks like electronic payments is in our hands. Many people were already using these platforms before, but due to the current situation, where we are much more limited and restricted, it might be important to start paying a little bit more of attention to these tools, which allows us to freely go from one place to another and have access to decentralized services.