IoT Smart City Applications

More than ever, urban centers must embrace IoT smart city initiatives to meet numerous challenges - from reducing traffic congestion and managing sanitation to protecting the environment and reducing energy consumption. And today, across almost every aspect of the modern municipality, the Internet of Things (IoT) is playing an increasingly important role in industrial applications, emergency services, public transit and mobility, public safety, city lighting, and more.

In this new paradigm, sophisticated IoT technology is enabling municipalities to transform themselves into smart cities that leverage greater levels of connectivity - from smart traffic management and connected vehicles to smart buildings that connect to and interact via smart connected devices. That's helping cities increase the efficiency of their infrastructure, improve reliability and responsiveness of emergency services, improve urban livability, and cut costs.

The Market for IoT in Smart Cities

According to Expert Market Research, the global smart cities market was valued at approximately US $1.14 trillion in 2023 and is projected to grow to US $4.14 trillion by 2032 - a CAGR of 15.3%​. What's more, the smart infrastructure segment of this market - including smart grids, energy management systems, water management systems, and waste management solutions - accounted for more than 35% of the market share in 2023.

Key Drivers for IoT Applications in Smart Cities

With the number of IoT applications for smart city projects on the rise, it begs the question: what is driving these initiatives? Here are some of the compelling factors:

• Cost reduction is a significant factor driving the shift from wired to wireless solutions in smart cities, due to the high expense of installing and maintaining landlines. Moreover, declining cellular data plan costs, along with enhanced wireless communication capabilities, are enabling previously cost-prohibitive use cases.
• Efficiency also plays a critical role in the smart city paradigm. Wired solutions often require on-site visits for infrastructure audits and maintenance, leading to costly and inefficient "truck rolls." In contrast, wireless communications allow for remote monitoring and management of IoT deployments, enabling firmware updates, security patches, and automated issue notifications.
• Resource reduction is another key motivator, particularly in applications like smart street lighting and asset monitoring. IoT for smart cities typically involves a range of sensors and wireless modules to control resource use, significantly reducing energy consumption.
• Smart energy usage and sustainability are crucial as smart cities seek new and efficient ways to reduce resource consumption, lower carbon footprints, and enhance urban operations. These practices promote long-term environmental health and cost savings, ensuring cities remain livable and resilient.

The IoT Infrastructure for Smart Cities

A completely scalable, secure, and future-proof IoT infrastructure for smart cities encompasses a range of hardware and software components to deliver connectivity and edge intelligence. Whether you're managing intelligent street lighting, a micro-mobility system such as rental bikes, or your municipality's EV charging infrastructure, you'll need sensors and IoT smart devices with integrated edge computing capabilities to create a connected network for data gathering and process control.

The following is an overview of the components of IoT smart city infrastructure:

• Connectivity - A range of devices, including cellular routers, embedded radio modules, intelligent system-on-modules and infrastructure management solutions connect sensors and smart city infrastructure such as lighting, utilities and water management systems, to support monitoring, edge intelligence and improvements in efficiency.
• Sensors - A wide range of sensor types across the network capture data points to drive decision-making and automation:
  • Environmental sensors measure air quality, water flow, temperature, humidity, noise levels, and pollution to monitor environmental health and support sustainability efforts​.
  • Traffic sensors provide insights into vehicle flows, congestion points, and pedestrian movement in order to optimize traffic management, improve routing of public transportation and emergency vehicles and reduce emissions​.
  • Utility sensors track energy consumption, water usage, and waste management, improve resource efficiency and reduce waste.
  • Surveillance sensors such as cameras and motion detectors help improve public safety by detecting security threats or unauthorized activities.
  • Infrastructure sensors monitor the conditions on bridges, roads, and buildings in order to identify structural issues and prevent failures​.
  • Parking sensors detect the availability of parking spaces and reduce the time and emissions associated with searching for parking​.
• Instrumentation and robotics - Machinery, robotics and other equipment utilizes rule-based conditions and sensor alerts to remotely and automatically activate infrastructure such as gates, viaducts, traffic lights and street lighting.
• Data repositories - Utilizing a central database (e.g., a data warehouse or cloud repository), repositories store granular transactional data, perform analyses and create models that leverage AI and statistical algorithms to identify patterns, predict outcomes and prevent system downtime.
• Device management system - A device management system performs sophisticated monitoring and enables remote management to provision, diagnose, troubleshoot, and update the firmware of thousands of connected devices across a connected network.

IoT and Smart Cities in Action

Smart cities IoT initiatives span everything from traffic management to public transportation to city lighting and more. Let's look at some examples from Digi's customer deployments.

Public Transit

Transit systems are an ideal use-case for IoT smart cities applications, which can significantly reduce costs, strengthen safety, optimize routes, and enhance the rider experience. Many municipalities, previously facing declining ridership, now see growth thanks to enhanced visibility into bus and rail routing, as well as improved passenger Wi-Fi connectivity. By analyzing embedded sensors, transit operators can identify public usage patterns, ensuring safety, and improve timeliness.

Digi IoT smart city examples in public transit:

• The Chicago Transit Authority operates 1,864 buses over 129 routes, along with a rail system that services two major airports. The CTA is addressing capacity management challenges by leveraging Digi Remote Manager® (Digi RM) and the Digi 5G-ready transportation-specific routers. This innovative passenger-counting pilot project helps the CTA understand vehicle occupancy in real time, increase rider comfort, and improve the passenger experience.
• With Digi RM paired with Digi's purpose-built transportation routers mounted on hundreds of buses, Pittsburgh Regional Transit gives riders real-time information about schedules, location, and passenger density information, as well as free Wi-Fi service - all part of the goal to improve public transit ridership.
• In Greater Boston, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA), one of the world's largest and longest-running transit agencies, refuels, cleans, inspects, and periodically maintains more than 1,000 buses in an organized, methodical, and documented way. That's courtesy of S&A Systems' Fleetwatch, a powerful hardware/software solution - driven by a Digi XBee® 3 Zigbee 3 RF embedded module on each bus that connects via 2.4 GHz to transmit and receive data, and using Digi RM for remote monitoring and management. The result: reliable and accurate, real-time control and data acquisition for vehicles, employees, fuel/fluids, and tank monitor systems.

Read more about smart city IoT applications for busingand light rail in our customer stories.

Smart Traffic Management

With IoT sensors in vehicles, smartphones and traffic lights as well as roadway cameras, cellular transportation routers can collect data about traffic conditions, congestion, and accidents and help identify longer-term patterns based on time of day and time of year.

These sophisticated solutions enables traffic management teams to re-route traffic to prevent or resolve unexpected congestion spots and improve public transit and emergency vehicle routing.

Digi IoT smart city examples in traffic management:

• The New York City Department of Transportation oversees one of the most complex urban transportation networks in the world, with 6,300 miles of streets and highways, over 12,000 miles of sidewalk, nearly 14,000 signalized intersections and 800 bridges and tunnels. Through a collaboration of multiple vendors and agencies, the city upgraded its citywide traffic system using Digi RM, a Digi dual cellular router at each intersection, and customized Digi software and services. This large-scale deployment was completed in nine months and under budget.
• The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a public transportation service in the Portland area that serves an area of over 500 square miles with a fleet of over 700 buses on 85 routes with thousands of stops. While this is primarily a public transit solution, utilizing Digi transportation routers and Digi RM for computer-aided dispatch, electronic fare collection and more, we are showcasing this deployment under smart traffic management due to the organization's innovative Transit Signal Priority (TSP) system. TSP is designed to optimize bus routing, improving traffic flow for buses throughout the metro area, and reducing CO2 emissions - a win for the city's commuters and its efforts to improve sustainability and air quality.

Water Management

Water management is a mission-critical service when it comes to smart city applications, and the IoT is playing an increasingly important role in these initiatives.

Governmental organizations and local municipalities need to upgrade aging infrastructure with high-performing industrial cellular routers and infrastructure management solutions, increase efficiency, improve visibility into remote tanks and water management processes, and reduce the cost of monitoring and servicing their assets.

Digi IoT smart city examples in water management:

• In Georgia, the Augusta Utilities Department provides water and sewer service across 230 square miles for a population of more than 160,000 - including approximately 1,200 miles of water mains. Digi Connect® Sensor XRT-M helps keep a careful eye on this vital infrastructure, bringing intelligence, visibility, and efficiency to the crucial monitoring and maintenance processes.
• Across North America and the Pacific, Brown and Caldwell deploys creative solutions to help municipalities, private industry, and government agencies successfully overcome challenging water and environmental obstacles. Using Digi RM and Digi Connect Sensor XRT-M, the firm brings greater insights and innovation to water infrastructure.

Related white paper: The Future of Water is Wireless

Waste Management

IoT solutions in smart cities enhance waste management through real-time monitoring and data analytics. Wireless sensors and cellular connectivity devices enable cities to track waste levels in bins, optimize collection routes, and reduce operational costs. This ensures timely waste removal, lowers fuel consumption, and minimizes environmental impact.

Digi IoT smart city example in waste management:

• Through its iSmart IoT system, Metro Compactor Service Inc. helps its municipal customers proactively manage and extend the life of their waste equipment infrastructure, ensuring productive and efficient operations. Digi industrial cellular routers and Digi RM play a critical role by keeping equipment connected at all times. That translates into fewer compactions, less energy usage, lower maintenance, and fewer instances of frustrating over-capacity situations.

See more water management and wastewater management solution stories in our customer case studies.

EV Charging

The infrastructure for smart city IoT solutions enables efficient electric vehicle (EV) charging networks. Wireless connectivity, sensors, and remote management all combine to enable cities to monitor and manage EV charging stations in real-time. This ensures optimal energy distribution, reduces downtime, and prevents overloading of the power grid.

Additionally, data analytics help cities plan the strategic placement of charging stations, ensuring accessibility and convenience for citizens. These solutions support the growth of sustainable transportation, reduce carbon emissions, and contribute to a more efficient, future-ready urban infrastructure.

Digi IoT smart city example in EV charging:

• FLO, Canada's largest EV charging network, operates a comprehensive charging ecosystem that meets drivers' needs wherever they are - at home, at work or on the go. Its stations rely on Digi XBee wireless modules, as well as industrial cellular gateways and embedded system-on-modules. FLO has sold more than 80,000 charging stations across North America and its network enables more than 1 million monthly sessions.

City Lighting, Digital Signage and Cameras

Lighting, signage and security cameras are some of the best examples of implementing IoT applications for smart cities, and many municipalities today are turning to wireless communications for efficiency, cost savings and energy reduction.

Digi solutions for city lighting, signage and security applications can incorporate a range of Digi connectivity solutions, including ruggedized Digi industrial routers, gateways and embedded solutions such as Digi XBee wireless modules and Digi ConnectCore® system-on-modules. These solutions offer complete flexibility to supporting applications:

• LED lighting controls
• Surveillance cameras
• Environmental sensors
• Electronic billboards
• Charging stations
• Wi-Fi coverage

Digi IoT smart city examples in lighting, signage and security:

• Lumca's Smart Pole is the first lighting solution with built-in power, connectivity, sensors, and other intelligent features - all configured and managed by a centralized software platform. It leverages Digi industrial cellular routers, ruggedized for outdoor conditions. The router is designed specifically for municipal applications that require reliable communications for systems such as security video, Wi-Fi, and other services across a constrained cellular LTE link.
• In Chile, Sicom Electronics offers municipalities CityMesh®, a scalable smart cities network to intelligently control thousands of streetlights and traffic lights with greater precision. The result: lower costs, a better eco-footprint, and greater citizen safety. Digi XBee® wireless modules provide the wireless connectivity to make it happen.
• Using Digi connectivity hardware, Owlet Nightshift enables cities to retrofit aging lighting infrastructures with long-lasting intelligent technology. Each intelligent light is equipped with a high-performance LED array and a Digi XBee Zigbee module. Digi XBee modules allow groups of lights to form a Zigbee Mesh network that connect to a cellular WAN through a Digi cellular gateways.
• For more than 10 years, Portugal-based Enlight has designed and deployed sophisticated urban lighting solutions around the world - designed for the utmost reliability in the harshest environments. Enlight devices meter all electrical parameters of a light and they can send notifications about burned-out bulbs or other maintenance issues.

See more smart city lighting applications in our city lighting customer stories.

Smart Buildings

A smart building uses advanced technology and IoT devices to automatically control and optimize various building systems, such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), lighting, security, and more.

These systems are interconnected and can be managed centrally, often through cloud-based platforms, to enhance efficiency, comfort, security, and sustainability. Digi IoT solutions provide edge computing, reliable connectivity, scalability, security, and cloud integration. That lets you collect data and monitor conditions in real time, automate and control building systems, reduce energy consumption, strengthen security and safety, and enhance occupant comfort.

Digi IoT smart city example in smart buildings:

• Infinitum Electric is aiming to reinvent the electrification landscape with its patented PCB stator technology that creates smarter, lighter, quieter and more environmentally responsible electric motors and generators. Digi XBee® cellular modems play a key role in that mission as the company targets major opportunities in HVAC systems that offer superior efficiency and durability.

Utilities, Smart Grid and Smart Metering Applications

Smart grids utilize Digi's reliable connectivity and edge computing to optimize energy distribution, integrating renewable sources and responding dynamically to demand. Smart metering, powered by Digi's secure IoT smart devices, provides real-time data on energy usage, enabling efficient resource management and personalized consumer insights.

These technologies not only enhance energy efficiency but also support sustainability goals, reduce operational costs, and empower citizens with greater control over their energy consumption, making smart cities more resilient and environmentally friendly.

Digi IoT smart city examples in utilities and metering:

• E-GEAR's develops a range of energy management and storage solutions, including a proprietary Energy Management Controller (EMC). This device uses voltage and current-measurement sensors to monitor and control the storage of solar power into a local battery and then subsequently manages the release of that energy into the residence or back into the electrical grid in a predictable and controlled manner that supports the needs of utilities. With this smoothing function, entire neighborhoods can act as distributed generation and storage sources for the electrical utility. This reduces the utility's need for excess generation capacity and variances in voltage on the grid. Digi Remote Manager provided E-GEAR with a highly functional cloud interface right away. And the way the EMC leverages Digi's embedded processor module, the Digi system-on-modules, also accelerated the hardware and software development.
• ElectriCities of NC, a not-for-profit organization, provides a range of technical services to support power services throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Moving away from outdated network infrastructure (T1 and 56k modems), ElectriCities selected Digi industrial cellular routers because they provided the right combination of reliability, security, control and flexibility. Most importantly, they used Digi Remote Manager to enable scalability, ensuring they could provision and remotely monitor and manage new devices as they needed to grow their deployment.

How Smart Cities Benefit from the IoT

The application of IoT in smart city projects has ushered in a new era of urban renewal that empowers cities to improve efficiency, gain greater control over resource use and improve life for its citizens. For example, these improvements include:

• Enhanced management of municipal resources: Smart cities leverage the IoT, AI, and big data analytics to improve the way they manage their transportation, water, and energy resources. The result: cost savings, reduced waste, and improved efficiency.
• Greater sustainability: Smart cities aim to be more sustainable by cutting energy usage and encouraging the use of renewable energy. Sustainable city initiatives help reduce waste, increase the city's resilience, and promote green energy strategies.
• Cleaner air: As a whole, smart city applications and green tech initiatives not only promote sustainability but reduce greenhouse emissions that contribute to pollution and air quality issues. From smart buildings, which dramatically reduce energy usage, to traffic management systems that optimize traffic flow and reduce idling of transit buses, to micro-mobility projects that encourage commuters to travel by human and electric-powered vehicles instead of gas-powered cars, all of these initiatives reduce emissions and carbon footprint, release less pollution and improve air quality for city residents.
• Economic growth: Smart cities drive economic growth by creating a better environment for new businesses - and jobs. And there are even many economic incentives for going green!
• Better quality of life: Citizens enjoy a much higher standard of living thanks to smart city IoT technology, like improved transit and traffic management initiatives that reduce commute times, strategically placed EV charging stations and improved availability of paratransit and micro-mobility services, as well as urban planning designed to integrate green spaces and bike paths, and improvements in public safety services. What's more, these enhanced services create greater civic engagement.

Applications of IoT in Smart Cities are a forward-thinking strategy to create more livable, sustainable, and efficient urban environments that meet current and future citizen needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What are the applications of IoT in smart cities?IoT applications in smart cities optimize traffic management, improve waste collection, monitor environmental conditions, enhance public safety, and enable smart grids for energy efficiency. These innovations lead to more sustainable, efficient, and livable urban environments​.
• What is the advantage of IoT in smart cityinitiatives? The primary advantage of IoT in smart city initiatives is the ability to enhance efficiency across various sectors, such as infrastructure, public safety, inner-city mobility and energy management. IoT enables real-time monitoring, data-driven decision-making, and automated processes, leading to more sustainable, responsive, and livable urban environments​.
• What are the key technologies in smart cities? Key technologies in smart cities include sensors to gather a wide range of data points, IoT devices for connected infrastructure, AI for data analysis and automation, 5G for fast, reliable communication, cloud computing for data storage and processing, and smart grids for efficient energy management. These technologies collectively enhance urban sustainability, efficiency, and quality of life.
• What is smart city IoT architecture? Smart city IoT architecture involves a layered framework, including sensors for data collection, network connectivity for data transmission, cloud computing for storage and processing, and AI-driven analytics for real-time decision-making. This architecture enables efficient management of city resources and services, enhancing urban living.

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