Urban Data Platform

Energy prices have been rising for years, but with recent international events, inflation has accelerated. At the same time, saving energy has never been easier for municipalities than with digital solutions. A particularly good example of this is smart street lighting: here, streetlights are connected with sensor technology to increase the lighting intensity based on use and to dim it when not in use. The regulation is carried out automatically by built-in sensors. One approach is to control the on/off time by a brightness sensor to create the required lighting conditions in every situation. Another approach is to control light according to presence. For example, it could only shine more intensively when passers-by or cars are actually in the area of the light point. In addition, the aspect of environmental protection has recently been incorporated into the control of streetlights, especially the protection of insects. The pollination of a meadow decreases by more than two thirds at night if there is a streetlight nearby. Accordingly, it is possible and necessary to control the street lamps near appropriate meadows so that insects are not disturbed at night. The current status of the streetlight and the location are displayed in the cockpit or dashboard of the data platform.

The municipality thus achieves lower energy costs while increasing safety through adaptive lighting. Citizens benefit from lower "light pollution" and an improved street lighting situation.

One of the main challenges of municipalities in the 21st century is to ensure a high quality of life. However, the densification of many municipalities combined with often stagnating or even declining municipal budgets makes it difficult to achieve this goal. New digital smart region solutions, however, make it possible to use existing municipal resources in a more targeted way, based on data. In this way, problems regarding the quality of life - for example noise, low air quality and the like - can be quickly identified and tackled in a focused manner.

An example of this is the area-wide collection and evaluation of environmental data (such as noise, temperature or particulate matter). This first step serves as a basis for identifying needs for action, but can also be used for evidence-based evaluation of implemented countermeasures (before-and-after comparison). Another fundamental goal is to protect the health of residents through better air quality. Waste bins can also be connected to the sensor system. These then report to the waste management company that the bin has reached its maximum level so that a special collection can take place.

The sensor technology in the environmental sector can also be transferred to other areas, for example to soil moisture measurements for targeted and water-saving irrigation in hot summers or permanent groundwater level monitoring.
 

New technologies (such as computer vision) make real-time traffic counting possible and feasible. The recorded data is published live and thus transparent. At the same time, the data can be analysed for future traffic management planning. In the same way, the collected historical data can be used to check how traffic congestion has changed due to certain events, construction measures or road works. Congestion information can be made available analogously or as a substitute for the function in platforms of larger providers. Local traffic light control could also be optimised on the basis of this data.

In this context, there are various technical approaches, many of them camera-based. For example, thermal imaging cameras record road users, evaluate the camera image locally and send the determined number every second.

    The data collected in this way can be visualised in the form of a heat map, so that it becomes clear on a map which roads have traffic hotspots. But it can also be used to determine the traffic load of corresponding stretches of road.

    These data can not only be used for a better understanding of the traffic patterns in the municipality or region and for corresponding planning. They can also be used in the adaptation of the traffic infrastructure and its control itself, for example in the form of adapted phase plans of traffic lights or the control of variable traffic signs.

    As an extension, current construction sites in the urban area could be displayed in order to identify possible sources of disruption.

    An extended use of the existing infrastructure could be a supplementary image analysis, because public life will continue to change in the future. Not only since Corona have activities and celebrations in Germany increasingly shifted to public spaces. However, this is accompanied by new challenges, for example, with regard to the organisation and security of such events. With the technology described above, data can also be collected and evaluations carried out here that enable better planning and provide real-time information for the organisation of these festivities.  

It is important to emphasise that in no case will personal data be collected. Different technical approaches, especially the so-called "edge processing", ensure that only information in the form of measurement series is collected and not pictures, licence plates or similar.