Skip to main content

Smart cities pilot projects use people as ‘sensors’

The Spanish cities of Malaga, Zaragoza and Santander are the first cities to join CIUDAD 2020, the R&D&I (research, development and innovation) smart cities reference project, led by Indra in partnership with Ferrovial Agroman, Atos, Fagor Electrónica, GFI Informática, Fractalia, Daedalus, Tekia and iSOCO. One of the most novel aspects of the project, which has is aimed at developing a new, efficient and sustainable smart city model in which citizens play a central and active role. People generate a lar
October 3, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The Spanish cities of Malaga, Zaragoza and Santander are the first cities to join CIUDAD 2020, the R&D&I (research, development and innovation) smart cities reference project, led by 509 Indra in partnership with 4419 Ferrovial Agroman, Atos, Fagor Electrónica, GFI Informática, Fractalia, Daedalus, Tekia and iSOCO.

One of the most novel aspects of the project, which has is aimed at developing a new, efficient and sustainable smart city model in which citizens play a central and active role.  People generate a large amount of data through their use of urban infrastructures, such as public transportation and car parks, mobile applications which allow citizens to register incidents in a global platform and social networks that can be used to share user locations and multimedia content such as messages or photos.

Tests are being carried out in Malaga and Zaragoza to locate the areas of each city with the most social activity and points of interest in which to improve management processes using the information provided by social networks. Other tests are being carried out on the creation of new services based on how residents use Twitter. By using the geo-positioning of messages and data mining algorithms, it is possible to identify the most active areas and by analysing them, together with the most common hashtags, routes, etc., the city's behaviour can be modelled.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Joined-up thinking for future ITS
    May 8, 2015
    David Crawford looks at a US model which, for modest federal funding, is producing substantive results. Outward and upward is the clear message emerging from the US$458,000, 2015 workplan of the US government’s ENTERPRISE (Evaluating New TEchnologies for Roads PRogram Initiatives in Safety and Efficiency) joint funding scheme for ITS research.
  • Malaga first to trial Kapsch traffic optimiser
    April 16, 2021
    Variable message signs will display least-congested routes in the southern Spanish city
  • Progress of ICT transport research projects
    February 3, 2012
    Juhani Jääskeläinen, head of the ICT for Transport Unit, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission, details the results of Call 4 for research projects in ICT for transport. Since the closure of the call and evaluation process during the summer of last year the European Commission (EC) has been negotiating and signing contracts with projects which were selected from proposals submitted to Call 4 of the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) fo
  • Manchester seeks smart but not selective transport solutions
    January 25, 2018
    Smarter transport relies on better communications both with travellers and between transport providers. Andrew Williams reports. Inrix’s prediction that the cost of traffic congestion will rise by 63% to £21bn per year by 2030 clearly illustrates that, in addition to the ongoing inconvenience and inefficiency, ongoing gridlock is a significant drain on the economy. It is against this backdrop that a Cisco-led consortium has launched CitySpire, a smart transport programme that uses location-based services a