Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore and the Danish Consortium, Smart City World Labs, have created a partnership to combat climate change. This has incredible consequences for everyone involved. Firstly, it is a great opportunity to demonstrate that market forces are not a deterrent to change. Needless to say, Singapore and Denmark have different things they need to address. Regardless, this presents a great opportunity for a city state like Singapore to demonstrate what can be done with proper cooperation.
Smart and sustainable cities
Professor Lam Khin Yong, Chief of Staff and Vice President of Research at NTU, said: “We are living in a world that needs sustainable development so as to address the challenges brought about by rapid urbanisation. NTU’s partnership with Smart City World Labs will develop innovations to improve the liveability of cities such as Singapore as we embrace green technologies for a more sustainable future.”
The way this partnership will work is quite simple. Smart City World Labs will provide small and medium size enterprises (SME) to Singapore. Therefore the city nation will have access to the Danish market, as well as the European Union. The reason for this is that Denmark is part of the EU even though they not a part of the Euro. The downside of this will be that Singapore will have to adapt its solutions to EU regulations, this means that it will take a while for the NTU to get accustomed to a different set of regulations, but once they have done they will have access to the largest single market on the planet.
So the introduction of new technologies might take a little bit of time, but this partnership is not one way. Small City World Labs will get use the NTU campus in return for their cooperation. The NTU campus is considered a living lab for a number of environment-focused research projects, including the 5 megawatts rooftop solar farms installed on the university buildings.
Source:http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/
What can come from this partnership is anyone’s guess. However, there are certain things that should be on the top of the list. Intelligent transportation systems are a necessity for Singapore. Traffic lights can be updated to detect traffic flow and delay or accelerate their waiting time accordingly.
Unregulated pedestrian crossings can be upgraded by using smart lighting that detects when a pedestrian is waiting to cross. Even something as simple as sensors on public parking spots will make things more efficient. These changes are small. In the big scheme of things, more innovative technologies can come to fruition. Danish companies are looking to make electric distribution smarter and more sustainable. Smart grids can be tested on NTU grounds, which will demonstrate the efficiency of implementing it on a city-wide scale. Furthermore, testing solar energy production and distribution could also be useful when creating better power grids.