A newly released study suggests that Boston stands to benefit from the development of “smart city” technology more than any other large city in the United States.
The analysis was touted as the first comprehensive study of the potential impact of connected buildings, energy networks, transportation systems and other urban infrastructure.
Compass Intelligence, which produced the report on behalf of CA Technologies and InterDigital’s smart city IoT business Chordant, used a proprietary algorithm to calculate the likely benefits of connected technology for 50 cities based on a series of broad data points, including demographic, economic, educational, and infrastructure factors.
The research firm estimates that the global smart cities market will exceed $1.4 trillion by 2020. Officials said that although every city is likely to benefit from new urban technologies, those perks will vary widely depending on circumstances in individual metro areas.
“Those cities ranked higher or that have higher total points on the index are expected to be earlier adopters of smart city technologies and could potentially reap greater benefits of a return on investment,” Compass Intelligence founder Stephanie Atkinson said in a statement.
Boston, one of the nation’s leading tech hubs, topped the index, but officials noted that the more traditional industrial cities of Chicago, Atlanta, and Philadelphia trailed closely behind.
Austin rounded out the top five, followed by San Diego, Seattle, New York City, Phoenix and Kansas City. Analysts also noted several more surprises, including that Cleveland outranked San Francisco and San Jose while Minneapolis ranked last among the 50 cities.
“A ranking like the CA-Chordant Smart City Benefits Index should catch the attention of public officials, as they hold the responsibility for making their cities and regions competitive as homes for people and businesses,” said Chordant EVP Jim Nolan. “It’s critical that they start thinking today about how Smart City technology can shape the future.”
Filed Under: IoT • IIoT • Internet of things • Industry 4.0, Infrastructure
