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cities’ objectives will include key performance indicators (KPIs) around resilience and sustainability by 20204. The protocols and integrity that exist around critical services must be maintained in this digitisation. Without assurances around service level agreements (SLAs) and KPIs, progress will be stunted. FINDING THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONSGovernments around the world are facing increased pressure to save money by cutting costs. When it comes to considering their options for future-proofing their infrastructure, governments must be acutely aware that the right decisions are paramount. The technology chosen needs to offer long-term performance for key infrastructure at the lowest total cost of ownership – with the capacity to effectively serve society and help maintain a sustainable economy far into the future. Governments know the one thing that must be infallible is their infrastructure – and that they are ultimately responsible for maintaining these vital services.We are already seeing the effects of poorly devised and implemented networks. Cellular networks are often selected due to their lower initial instalment cost, but they are not built for municipal or utility-grade data. We have all experienced the frustration when our cellular telephone loses service. As this type of network cannot always reach more rural locations and/or devices located in cellars or deep in buildings, they often require expensive in-fill technology to achieve the coverage needed to connect to fixed devices. It is hardly optimal in the 21st century.New technology developments and the growth in connected devices are producing more data than ever before. The sheer quantity is impossibly hard to visualize. By the year 2020, about 1.7 megabytes of new information will be created every second for every human being on the planet5. As more data is fed into networks, there is an increased risk of congestion and therefore a decrease in the speed at which data can be processed. Even back in 2010, questions were already being asked about whether the rapid growth in data would overwhelm wireless networks6. The more traffic generated, the more network infrastructure needed to process the data. This means a network might appear to function well but any surge in data traffic, such as during a natural disaster or global sporting event, could lead to a network blackout7.DRIVING BEHAVIOURAL CHANGEIn the context of smart cities, connected devices should be able to drive meaningful behavioural change. This is a difficult task, and could take generations for changes to become the new normal for consumers – but this is vital in order to have any real effect on the climate. If the supporting infrastructure network fails, the ability of this increased data to create change ceases. This is especially critical where energy goals are reliant on consumer support. One example is the move towards smart meters. These encourage consumers to monitor and adjust their energy usage, and if these devices fail to provide accurate and up-to-date readings across the network, it will be harder to encourage the change necessary to decrease national carbon emissions. A dedicated, utility-grade network can help ensure such devices are connected, helping communities take advantage of the efficiencies, cost savings and innovations that smart infrastructure promises.THE FUTURE OF ENERGYSmart cities and networks offer a vision of a new energy and water landscape that wastes less, produces more and benefits everyone. In the past, power was produced at one end and used at the other. This one-way traffic is becoming a thing of the past as people increasingly generate energy in their homes and communities through solar panels8. Smart meters are required to monitor multi-source energy usage. In the same way that hybrid auto drivers are informed whether they’re drawing power from the car’s battery or engine9, these meters help users to make smarter choices about how and when they consume power.In the future, with solar technology prices likely to fall and electric vehicle usage likely to rise, the smart energy market will proliferate into a new economy of person-to-person energy storage and sale. Consumers will be able to invest in their “GARTNER ANALYSTS PREDICT THAT IN 2020 ALMOST 1.4 BILLION CONNECTED SENSORS, METERS AND OTHER DEVICES WILL BE INSTALLED IN CITIES GLOBALLY”110 INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY