by Brianna Crandall — December 29, 2014—Of interest to strategic-thinking facilities managers who want to see how their facilities fit in with overall smart cities strategies, BSI, the U.K.-based business standards company, recently published two documents supporting the U.K. government’s smart cities standardization strategy. The guides were sponsored by BIS (Department for Innovations and Skills). This work enables the U.K. to help lead the smart city standards agenda by providing the benchmark towards formal standardization work in the global arena.
As cities grow larger, so does the need to develop smart city infrastructures to deal with this, points out BSI. By enabling existing data and resources in a city to be shared effectively, a longer-term vision of city planning and development can be taken. Therefore cities need agreements between organizations regarding data handling and technical infrastructure. This will allow information to be generated in the city to be directed and utilized to support both the day-to-day management of the city and long-term plans.
PAS 182 Smart city concept model—Guide to establishing a model for data interoperability
Data can transform the capability of a city, enabling the development of systems and services and supporting informed decisions. However, decision-makers and citizens are unlikely to have the necessary expertise to decipher this data, which is often labeled using language and terms from the originating sector, but forms a barrier with other sectors, points out BSI. PAS 182 addresses this lack of interoperability by defining an overarching model of concepts and relationships that can be used to describe data from any sector.
Some benefits of PAS 182 are:
- Reduced cost as the need to recollect and verify data is removed
- Integrated city systems and services driven by data
- Common understanding of the needs of communities
- Shared objectives, collaboratively developed and evidenced using data
- Businesses/communities creating innovation and improved quality of life for citizens
PD 8101 Smart cities—Guide to the role of the planning and development process
Published Document (PD) 8101 is relevant to major developments, major infrastructure projects, refurbishment programs, street works and improvements to the public realm. It considers how each stage of the planning and development process could support smart city opportunities and benefit from good practice in smart urban planning and design. It identifies methods that focus on making the city smarter on the whole and sets out what needs to be done at each stage, indicating where to go for further help.
Some benefits of PD 8101 are:
- Places foundations for a smart city project at the planning and implementation stage, saving time and money
- Minimizes the cost of having to retrofit vital smart technology
- Allows smart city products/services, and the business models and processes required to fund and operate them, to be tested/trialed before rolling them out citywide
PD 8101 can be used by those involved in the planning and implementation of developments and infrastructure projects, including city leadership, planning policy makers, planning case officers, regeneration officers and developers and the consultants who work with them.
