Our goal is to achieve sustainable, smart cities with strategies that focus on connectivity, intelligence, and security – ultimately responding to the physical, social, and safety needs of citizens.
Sustainable smart cities - improving urban quality of life
In the next three decades, the population of the world’s cities is expected to almost double, from today’s 3.5 billion to 6.5 billion urban citizens in 2050. That amounts to two-thirds of the world’s population living in cities, up from half in 2008. There are major challenges associated with this unprecedented urbanization. Already in 2012, although cities occupied only about 3% of the global land area, they consumed 75% of the natural resources and were responsible for 60-80% of carbon emissions. Cities face mounting sustainability challenges, including increased risk of disaster events due to climate change along with the strain on infrastructure from population growth. This hasn’t stopped rising expectations of quality of life.
Sustainable, smart cities enable progress when the integration of technology is directed into a strategic approach to sustainable development (energy efficiency, pollution, resources), citizen well-being (public safety, education, healthcare, social care), and economic development (investment, jobs, innovation).
Smart city and sustainable development policies and goals must be based on smart industries and services (smart energy, water, transport, buildings, and government) and supported by smart infrastructure (sensor networks, data analytics, intelligent devices, control systems, communication platforms, web services).
A sustainable, smart city is both a place to live and an economic area that provides sustainable development through the systematic deployment of innovative technologies, materials, and services. This comprises production processes, services, and technologies as well as infrastructures which, by means of the new, “intelligent” information and communication technologies, only become viable at all because they are integrated, networked, and mutually supportive.
DNV GL’s approach to smart cities and sustainability
Sustainable, smart cities must be attractive both to the people and to businesses to be economically viable. It is crucial to understand the needs of the citizens and be able to engage them to participate in the city’s sustainable development to create an efficient and effective urban ecosystem. The basis of sustainable smart city solutions must be built on the foundation of the functional, social, and emotional needs of citizens, otherwise even the most technologically ‘perfect’ solutions will fail.
DNV GL’s Smart City team has expertise in infrastructure performance, cybersecurity, and climate change – addressing the current scenario for smart cities and sustainability. We look at:
- Global and urban trends
- IoT and smart grids
- Big data and cybersecurity for smart cities
- Climate change and resilience
- Livable and sustainable smart cities
- Rise of self-supporting and sustainable communities
- Converging smart city infrastructure
- New entrants, platforms and ecosystems
We help you take control of:
- Information and cybersecurity
- Intelligent smart city networks and communications
- Enterprise risk management
- Resilience against extreme weather
- Asset performance optimization
Smart cities and sustainable development - DNV GL Digital Hub expertise
Combining technical industry expertise with leading software and a global network of digital experts, DNV GL advances cities’ efficiency, resilience, security, and sustainable development. Our Smart City team focus on three main areas to develop sustainable, smart cities:
- Digital and Connected Cities – We help you introduce new technologies into your networks. We develop smart city digital solutions for and with stakeholders to improve sustainable development, affordability, reliability, efficiency, safety, and security.
- Prepared and Resilient Cities – We help you gain an overview of the future climate risks of your assets. With our extensive domain expertise and state-of-the-art tools, we can model the risks, thoroughly analyze the impact of climate hazards, and provide recommendations on mitigating actions.
- Cyber Secured Cities – As an independent advisor on cybersecurity for critical infrastructure in all industries, we provide services that help identify valuable assets, quantify and manage risk, achieve compliance, and improve business performance. Combining specialized operational technology expertise with deep industry knowledge, we provide support from assessment to process implementation, systems, and product assurance for sustainable, smart cities.
The digital hub in Asia
Digital Hub in Singapore is part of the transformation of the oil and gas, maritime, and energy industries toward digitalization, with solutions including sustainable, smart cities, cybersecurity, and digital development. The Digital Hub, part of DNV GL – Digital Solutions, is set up to work closely with local and regional authorities and industry players to improve the performance of assets and infrastructure and to increase the quality of life, showing a way toward sustainable development. Our in-depth domain expertise in industrial asset operations allows us to see smart city challenges and solutions from both technical and a holistic perspective, striking a balance between operational technology and information technology.
Our consulting professionals have expertise in:
- Analytics and data management
- Industry data platform / Veracity
- Technology architects
- Industrial IoT
- Full-stack developers
- Cyber and information security
- Methodology and project management
- Digital transformation – strategy and roadmap
- Training and enhanced support
