mobile-phone-426559_640This year, Chicago will host Cicso's Internet of Things World Forum. Last fall, Barcelona played host, and in many ways it has become the world's first smart city, pretty much as a direct outgrowth of being the host of that forum. By itself, of course, the forum is important for cities because it brings in badly needed revenue, but the great thing about it is that it encourages other cities to think differently so that they can be the showcase cities in future years.

Why It Matters

In the case of Barcelona, as a large city in one of the nations of Europe hit hardest by the Great Recession of 2009, local politicians were scrambling to come up with ways to continue meeting basic city services at a time when nearly every city in both Europe and America was running steep, growing deficits and cutting even the most basic services. Barcelona was, and is, a beautiful exciting city, but it was broke.

Barcelona thought differently and rose to the challenge. They are now one of the only cities in Europe running a fiscal surplus. You read that correctly. Nothing more than clever application of technology enabled Barcelona to stop bleeding red ink, and head into surplus territory for the first time in recent memory. How did they do it?

There are a number of apps and technology innovations, but here are just a few:

Smart Street Lights

The city has totally re-imagined the simple street light. In Barcelona, they come equipped with sensors to tell day from night, turning on only when the light fades sufficiently for them to do so. Currently, most city street lights are on a timer, and arbitrarily turn on at some predetermined hour, whether it's dark yet or not.

Further, the street lights of Barcelona all have motion sensors. When people are near, they burn at full brightness. When no one is near, they dim, saving the city hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Additionally, street lights pull double duty as electric car charging stations.

A Parking App

The city's parking app tells drivers which parking spaces are currently in use and which are free. This has resulted in a 30% higher parking space utilization rate and raised money for the city. It has also decreased traffic congestion as people now spend less time driving about looking for an open spot. That's wins all around. More money, better driving conditions, and less wasted time.

Intelligent Refuse Bins

Refuse bins that only get picked up when they report themselves as full, sending a command straight to the garbage collecting company. These devices have built in compactors so they can hold several times more refuse than a “dumb” garbage can. Again, better and more efficient use of city services saves both time and money. The city wins, and her people win.

Will your city get to play host next and show off what it has been able to do with the Internet of Everything? This is not only a hugely educational and entertaining forum, but it is clearly painting a picture of our future world. Barcelona is on the bleeding edge of the future. Where is your city?