Penguin tracking in Antarctica – u-blox supplies ultra compact, low-power GNSS unit

Penguin tracking in Antarctica

US-based Cellular Tracking Technologies (CTT), which makes IoT solutions for wildlife monitoring, has developed a solution with Swiss IoT module maker u-blox to track a penguin colony on Ross Island, in Antarctica. The company was tasked by US wildlife conservation organisation Point Blue to come up with an IoT tracker to enable scientists to track and monitor the diving and feeding behaviour of a large Adélie penguin colony on Ross Island, in Antarctica. The Adélie penguin is one of only five species of penguins in Antarctica, and serves as a…

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UK water utility implements advanced metering infrastructure

water meters UK

UK water utility Essex & Suffolk Water is working with digital technology provider Connexin to implement an Internet of Things (IoT) advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to manage the rollout of smart water meters. The agreement will see meters deployed across the Essex and Suffolk regions and it marks the third major smart water meter win for Connexin after Yorkshire Water and Severn Trent Water. Meter-as-a-service solution Connexin claims the IoT metering award is the largest of its kind in the UK water utility sector. The delivery of an end-to-end meter-as-a-service…

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Commercial hyperloop moves a step closer in Italy

HyperloopTT Webuild Leonardo

Transportation and technology company HyperloopTT is forming a joint venture that could lead to the construction of the world’s first commercial hyperloop system in Italy. It is collaborating with Italian-based industrial companies Webuild and Leonardo to study the feasibility of a hyperloop operating prototype named Hyper Transfer to carry cargo and passengers. Commercial hyperloop system HyperloopTT reports that Hyper Transfer will aim to be the world’s first operational commercial hyperloop system connecting a section between Venice-Mestre and Padua in Italy. In June of 2023, the consortium called Hyper Builders, won…

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How to create a smart rainforest

Daintree prales

NTT and ClimateForce are partnering to create what claims to be the world’s first smart rainforest using NTT’s Smart Management platform technology. The initiative aims to regenerate a section of Australia’s Daintree Rainforest and establish sustainable and cost-effective models for environmental restoration efforts around the world. Scalable and sustainable solutions ClimateForce is an Australian charity that seeks to accelerate scalable and sustainable solutions for organisations and daily life. It is aiming to regenerate a section of Australia’s Daintree Rainforest that had been razed for agriculture decades ago. The land, which…

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Innovation pilot to be tested on Tallinn government building

Tallinn City Government's main building

One of four winners of Tallinnovation 2023 will begin measuring the cross-section of the exterior facade of the Tallinn City Government’s main building (located at Vabaduse väljak 7) using muon scanners. According to City authorities, the technology has the potential to make future building renovations more environmentally sustainable and efficient. “Therefore, it’s crucial for the city of Tallinn to support the development of this technology by offering our facilities for testing,” said Tallinn City enterprise director, Kalle Killar. In another announcement, Tallinn City Government said it has approved an initiative…

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Singapore and Shenzhen strengthen smart city initiative

Singapur záliv

Projects relating to AI, digital solutions and talent are among those agreed as part of the city-state and Chinese city’s joint smart city initiative. Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have inked eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with key partners from the Chinese city of Shenzhen and launched 14 new joint smart city-related projects. They were announced at the 4th Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative (SCI) Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) meeting. Smart city collaboration Eight MoUs were signed at the sidelines of the…

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Smart city in Georgia pilots robot underground delivery

podzemní autonomní robotický doručovací systém Pipedream

Peachtree Corners – one of the nation’s first smart cities powered by real-world connected infrastructure and 5G – today launched the world’s first below-ground autonomous robot delivery system with Pipedream, the underground logistics network that is revolutionizing the way goods are delivered. The new delivery system is bringing consumers unprecedented convenience through faster, autonomous, efficient and cost-effective transportation channels. Peachtree Corners is the first city to launch and install the underground logistics solution, helping in the shared mission to eliminate emissions and congestion issues that plague current delivery infrastructure. The…

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Milton Keynes trials Aurrigo autonomous shuttle

Aurrigo self-driving shuttle

Aurrigo International is trialling its autonomous auto-shuttle vehicle on a city centre loop in the UK city of Milton Keynes. It will connect Santander’s new UK HQ at Unity Place with centre:mk, the Theatre District and Station Square. Aurrigo first deployed its four-seater driverless pods in the city nine years ago. The testing forms part of the LivingLAPT project that is funded by EIT Urban Mobility and led by University College London (UCL). Europe-wide autonomous trials The Europe-wide research trials have already been operating in Prague and Brno in the…

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Seoul deploys multilingual interactive translation kiosks

interactive multilingual translation service kiosks

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is rolling out the country’s first interactive multilingual translation service kiosks. The kiosks will be located at tourist information centres and aim to promote city tourism by eradicating any language barriers. AI-powered translation service The service has been developed in collaboration with the tourism startup and language data specialist Flitto to enable international tourists to converse with Korean guides in their native languages. SMG hopes it will enhance the convenience of tourists to explore Seoul. Using the translation kiosk, people can talk in real-time in…

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Vancouver Airport uses lidar to improve passenger happiness

airport airplane

Vancouver International Airport is using 3D lidar to analyse footfall and passenger journeys and improve user “happiness”. The 3D lidar sensor and advanced perception software solution, Q-Track, YVR, is enabling the airport to identify, classify, and track people and objects for enhanced operational insights. Queue analysis and people-counting Prior to Quanergy’s deployment, YVR had employed a number of camera-based and 3D stereoscopic sensor solutions to provide queue analysis and people-counting in several areas around the airport. But it said the airport still struggled to gather accurate data due to restricted…

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Dutch carshare operator partners to create energy storage facility

We Drive Solar

Dutch carsharing operator MyWheels is deploying CloudBoxx from Invers into its latest fleet of shared cars with bidirectional charging technology. The company is also partnering with We Drive Solar and thanks to the integration of more than 200 We Drive Solar vehicles into the MyWheels fleet, carsharing company is enabling customers in the Dutch city of Utrecht to use cars as a neighbourhood energy storage facility. Increasing grid resilience With bidirectional charging technology, electric vehicles (EVs) can get power from a charging station and also return power to the grid…

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Installed base of smart streetlights to reach 64 million by 2027

smart streetlights

Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.7 per cent, the global installed base of smart street lights is forecast to reach 63.8 million by the end of 2027. According to a new research report from IoT analyst Berg Insight, the installed base of smart streetlights amounted to 23 million at the end of 2022. Europe leads the adoption of smart street lighting technology and accounted for as much as 35 per cent of the global installed base in 2022. North America is catching up with Europe and…

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Neom announces investments in future land and sea travel

Neom Regent coast

Neom, the smart, regional greenfield development being built in Saudi Arabia, which includes The Line smart city, has announced investments in both autonomous vehicles and electric sea gliders. It will invest $100m through the Neom Investment Fund (NIF), into Pony.ai, a global autonomous driving company. Additionally, a joint venture will be established for autonomous technology solutions for the region. NIF has also closed an investment into Regent, the US-based electric seaglider manufacturer. It makes Neom the largest single contributor in Regent’s series A round, enabling the company to take its…

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Developer unveils plans to create £5bn UK climate tech hub

climate tech hub

The Earls Court Development Company, responsible for driving regeneration of the site of the former Earls Court Exhibition Centre in West London, is aiming to attract £5bn of investment to make the site a commercial space for the UK’s clean and climate technology sector. Earlier this year, ECDC launched its draft masterplan which outlined its ambition to go beyond net zero for the development of the site. Energy sharing network The company is designing one of the UK’s largest combustion-free major mixed-use developments. The scheme will feature an energy sharing…

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Santiago uses AI to transform public transport network

Santiago Chile

Santiago is introducing new artificial intelligence software to manage a citywide public transportation system. Sonda, a contractor of the Directorio de Transporte Público Metropolitano (DTPM), has selected Optibus, as the planning, scheduling, and EV management software for all buses across the city. The goal is to enhance and optimise public transportation for the seven million residents in the Chilean capital. Advanced bus fleet Established in 2013, the DTPM oversees the city’s bus network, which consists of nearly 7,000 buses, including more than 2,000 electric buses, operated through 11 concession contracts.…

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