Skip to main content

Santiago to award smart city projects in July

The metropolitan region government of Chile, which includes capital Santiago, expects to award tenders worth a total of US$1.6 million in July for five smart city projects. The government's fund for innovation in competitiveness is part of its smart city financing strategy and is aimed at generating proposals from universities, which have until the end of April to submit them, according to Metropolitan Region smart city plan coordinator Enzo Abbagliati. The strategy also includes private funding and r
April 13, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The metropolitan region government of Chile, which includes capital Santiago, expects to award tenders worth a total of US$1.6 million in July for five smart city projects.

The government's fund for innovation in competitiveness is part of its smart city financing strategy and is aimed at generating proposals from universities, which have until the end of April to submit them, according to Metropolitan Region smart city plan coordinator Enzo Abbagliati.

The strategy also includes private funding and resources from other public entities. In the private sector, Spanish firms 509 Indra and 6883 Telefónica have already financed the installation of sensors in some parts of Santiago, which provide information for website that gives users real time information on how long their journey will take or how fast traffic is moving.

Abbagliati's team gave the universities a rough outline for each project, one being the idea of smart mobility. "We'll place sensors in a part of Santiago and that will generate open data that anyone can access and use to develop an app," he said.

Each project will be designed to span 18 months and they are expected to go live in December 2016.

The government is hoping that smart city projects like these will pay for themselves in terms of savings and therefore fully expects to continue investing. "We hope to put up a similar figure next year and run the contest annually," Abbagliati said.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Who run the engineering world? Women!
    June 25, 2021
    To mark International Women in Engineering Day, Krishna Desai of Cubic Transportation Systems shares the experiences of female engineers working at the company...
  • Transcore challenges perceptions, targets broader markets
    December 13, 2012
    In August this year, Tracy Marks took over the presidency of TransCore, succeeding John Simler, who has moved on to other roles within parent company Roper Industries. A 19-year veteran of the company, Marks describes himself as having been groomed for the job. Previously responsible for TransCore’s Southern region in the US, he also took on a series of roles, including the top job at United Toll Systems, as part of moves which were carefully choreographed to prepare him for where he is now. The appointmen
  • Road user charging environmentally necessary
    February 27, 2012
    I like it when an otherwise unremarkable evening turns into something which stays in the mind awhile, and enlivened debate has that habit of planting seeds in the mind which over time grow into thinking with much wider application.
  • Trust AI – it knows more than we do
    January 14, 2020
    There’s no shortage of data – but making the most of it is the problem. Andrew Bunn examines how AI will be able to support and influence the development of advanced transportation strategies