Porto set the way towards real-time information which allows residents, for instance, to avoid the most congested roads. Several other Portuguese cities (e.g. Águeda, Aveiro, São João da Madeira and Torres Vedras) are also starting to provide real-time data on mobility/ transportation and environment.

The key to helping the city communicate effectively is to have partnerships with companies like the location and mapping provider HERE. The HERE platform is behind the navigator system embedded in most of the cars and communication with the city, which would enable the display of real-time open data in navigation maps, improving the overall user experience.

One of the issues for companies like HERE when they are developing applications/services for end users is the lack of standard interfaces, enabling homogeneous access to relevant data. As a result, integrating real-time open data exported by any city requires the development of software adapters which are costly and take time to become ready. If cities were exporting the data in a standard manner, creating an application that can be developed once and work in cities around the world would be feasible.

Lack of standard interfaces for accessing real-time data of cities becomes a rather huge challenge for SMEs and startups because they cannot afford to repeat the development of adapters in each city. While the benefits for end users can be great, they are too high to be passed on through a low-costing app, which has held back the smart cities, Internet of Things, and civic tech industries so far.

The FIWARE NGSI standard API enabling access to information of what is going on in OASC cities makes plugging a wide range of real-time sensor data into its platform much easier. It allows businesses like HERE to create a solution first tested in the city of Porto, involving citizens and travellers, which can be ported without changes or adaptation to other cities, currently 75, that are signed up to OASC.

“We are able to add another layer of insight into the HERE platform; localizing it more and making it more specific to the user,” said James Marugg, Sr Account Executive at HERE. “The FIWARE Open Platform allows for vast amounts of data to be received and fed into other systems.”

Using the FIWARE standards, the UrbanSense platform is able to support a number of applications that enable the city to talk directly to residents and visitors and can be ported to those cities that will become part of the OASC initiative:

  • HERE’s mapping application that lets travelers map their directions, avoid contributing to areas of high traffic pollution and drive directly to an available car parking space in real time;
  • A travel app that tells visitors which sites are then trending in that moment in travelers recommendations;
  • Applications that help share relevant data and information to help new businesses locate their offices and shopfronts;
  • An application to improve Quality of Life that, among others, monitors levels of UV radiation;
  • A water management app that lets residents compare their water consumption with others’ based on profiles

Original source: FIWARE

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