HONOLULU (KHON2) — Not many people outside of a smart city know or understand what a smart city is.

A smart city has the ability to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) in order to improve the quality and performance of urban services such as energy, transportation and utilities so that there is a reduction in resource consumption, wastage and overall costs.

“So, basically today, what we view as smart city is these kind of things,” Ed Sun, CEO of Sun Global Broadband began to explain. “Each city has its own interpretation of what a smart city is; so, each smart is a bit different depending on how the people want it set up.”

The backbone of a smart city is an ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) framework. This is where devices are interconnected which allows for efficient data collection, real-time analysis and management of city assets.

Sun explained how Japan utilized the smart city when they hosted the Tokyo Olympics.

“In cities like Tokyo for the Tokyo Olympics; and they use the smart city concept as a link between transportation systems, commerce systems, credit cards and commerce systems, telemedicine and transportation systems,” said Sun. “These all intersect in such a way to construct public safety.”

He then went on to explain how South Korea has approached the smart city concept.

“If you’re talking about highly developed countries like [South] Korea and so forth, their idea is that a smart city is based on applications for banking, applications for gaming, applications for education and applications for police and public safety,” explained Sun.

Smart cities leverage technologies like AI, cloud computing and analytics to optimize traffic flow, enhance public transportation, reduce energy usage, improve waste management and ensure safer public spaces.

“This data-driven approach enables city officials to monitor and manage infrastructure proactively, predict potential issues before they occur and respond more quickly to emergencies,” said Sun.

For Honolulu, a smart city concept would connect the fire alarms to a network that would immediately notify fire departments and emergency services. Broadband would be a universally accessible system regardless of where you are on the island. This would improve access to education and entrepreneurial access to web-based commerce.

And with all the data collected within the system, the smart city would evolve based on the needs and interests of the citizens. So, how we use the internet would help us construct the smart city we want.

“We can stimulate economic development; we can create an economic hub,” explained Sun. “It would allow us to see how space is being used and how these spaces can be optimized based on how we are using them. So, for example, if there are more office spaces downtown than are being utilized by workers, because in a smart city working from home would be easier, then we can opt to turn those offices spaces into hotels or residential living spaces.”

As with most smart cities, internet becomes free, eliminating that monthly payment from your expenses, and mobile phone carriers become obsolete since you can utilize the internet on your smart phone for anything you would need, even phone calls, once again eliminating that hefty monthly payment.

Ultimately, the goal of a smart city is to enhance the quality of life for its residents through sustainable development, efficient urban services and the creation of a more livable, workable, and resilient city environment.