Future and importance of Cloud Solutions for Smart Cities in India
We have been aware of the many advantages of Cloud Solution for some time now. As an individual our daily activities like Personal E-mailing, Facebook, Google, and many other applications are enabled through cloud. Our work environments have been slowly migrating to Cloud over years now. SOHO, SMB’s, MSME’s moved to Cloud applications like Office 360 and others. Trends like BYOD, 4G Penetrations accelerated Cloud adoptions even in larger organizations. The Current Covid-19 new normal of Work from Home (WFH) or Work from anywhere (WFA) will be become base of inflection point in this technology. Owing to this new normal, efficient data management, low entry barrier, unlimited future upgrades, lower maintenance cost individuals, 4G/5G enterprises, governments will be adopting sooner or later.
Various factors and the onset of COVID-19 pandemic could drive the adoption of Cloud Solutions within Smart Cities also, as these solutions minimize physical contact and support in faster deployments. As the economy is opening in phases and various organizations and businesses are adapting to the new normal, social distancing and individual safety toolkits are being prepared to safeguard the health of individuals while sustaining businesses and revenues. Remotely managed and operated Cloud Solutions like PaaS, IaaS, SaaS for various applications shall be assuming greater importance.
Let us take parking for instance. Most operators still use a technology that involves physical contact between the customer and the parking attendant. Zero-contact Cloud Parking solutions can fully transform parking management and operations across the city. It can be easily deployed by Municipal Corporations, Malls, Commercial Buildings, Hospitals, Railway Stations, Schools, Residential Localities, Metro Parking’s etc. without doing away with existing access control hardware or existing layout plans. Zero-Contact parking is powered through an exhaustive cloud delivered Parking Management & Guidance System so parking owners need not invest in new software which will be available on pay as you go basis. This reduces deployment timelines. Back end GUI and commuter mobile application can be customized in no time. The platform providers are going to be hardware (boom barriers, cameras, MPOS, QR Code scanners etc.) agnostic and will either integrate with existing hardware or parking owners can buy an open architecture hardware on their own.
Zero-contact cloud parking will offer commuters advance parking availability information, they can pre-reserve parking slots, digital payment options and other advanced features like AI enabled express entry & exit and personalized welcome & exit experience. Zero– Contact parking will additionally support us to save on carbon footprints by reducing entry and exit time significantly.
Owing to the many benefits, Cloud Solutions should be adopted for all smart city applications, be it lighting, traffic management, monitoring environment or others.
Efficient management of data: Cloud solutions help streamline the process of managing data. When data is transmitted via cloud applications to their centre node, it is stored in the cloud till used for future references.
Boost in the economy: When innovative technologies are used to support smart cities, it results in the boost of the economy. The mutual cooperation between cities and businesses can attract huge profits. Along with the city, even businesses can leverage the data being gathered. They can comprehend their target population better and provide relevant service.
Cost reduction: Reducing cost levels in the city becomes important in the long run. Cloud computing helps deliver better results, at reduced operational costs. Moving to cloud applications or storage can also lead to significantly lower labour and maintenance costs while maximising space and cutting energy expenditure.
Sustainable living options: Sustainable living is a crucial element in today’s society. In a way, Globally Cloud solutions providers are adopting cleaner and greener energy to power massive data centres and various other energy management tools which at Individual organization level are not viable.
In India, the cloud operations are set to grow at an unprecedented rate, more so with no-touch technology becoming the new way of life. Increased storage capacity, and enhanced performance of internet are the building blocks of Cloud Solutions. In this decade only or even much lesser time, all business will primarily be operating from the cloud. Cloud is set to be a bridge of hybrid connectivity. Further innovations and trends like serverless computing, Hyper converged infrastructure, Software defined networks, DaaS (Desktop as a Service) will
