Smart Cities & How AT&T and VZW are Positioning Themselves?

Every time I go to San Francisco, I take the Caltrain and not my car. The reason is quite simple - finding parking in San Francisco is a nightmare!

You may argue that there are several parking lots and you can book in advance etc., but in this age of instant gratification & instantaneous information, I am not too sure if I am wired to plan parking lots:-) If parking is a such a mess, driving there during conferences is equally a nightmare from a traffic perspective.

This set me thinking as to what kind of solutions do cities need to build to become smarter and make citizens happier? How can technology be leveraged?

To find answers, I obviously I looked in the direction, I was most familiar with - the wireless industry for answers. I digged around a bit, I found these two interesting videos from Verizon and AT&T. 

• Verizon Smart City
• AT&T Smart City

It's interesting what can be achieved by adding wireless capabilities to things! I loved the possibilities.

The idea is to leverage existing infrastructure, add incremental elements so as to minimize the capex outlay and provide solutions that are need of the hour. When I was talking about this to my colleagues, they pointed out a smart parking solution we have developed at Sasken [sorry guys, this is not a promotion], that leverages existing infrastructure of cameras, does some video-analytics from the camera feeds and directs the driver to a free parking lot quickly. Check it out here.

Imagine, finding a parking in San Francisco easily. Yes, there is a company that helps manage parking - Streetline. Check them out. I am sure they would be riding on the backbones of either VZW or AT&T.

Would love to hear your thoughts,