The projects integrated within SmartSantander are showcased at the Riva-Herrera Palace, headquarters of the SmartSantander Demo Centre, which was visited by the participants in the Programme. In this building, donated by the City Council, the companies participating in the smart city scheme make new technologies available to citizens.
At the SmartSantander Demo Centre, the Head of Telefónica Cantabria and NEC, Joaquín González, showed the Leaders the Cloud City Operations Center (CCOC) platform, developed by NEC to integrate all the applications and sensors of the SmartSantander project. CCOC provides all the information available about the city in real time, from carbon and noise pollution levels to the status of the traffic or the parking spaces available on every road.
One of the systems the Leaders were most interested in was Santander’s smart waste management system, “one of the greatest projects of its kind in Europe”. The inorganic waste and paper bins have sensors indicating their capacity. Waste collection vehicles are equipped with GPS trackers and a communications system that designs the best collection route. The use of this system has allowed the city to streamline this service, reducing the use of fuel as well as noise pollution, among other benefits.
In the exhibition room, the Indian Leaders had the opportunity to see some of the technology prototypes already in use as well as research prototypes such as energy efficiency control systems, devices for security forces with metal and gas detectors and agent monitoring systems, bin control systems for oil recycling and telephone support for elderly people with disabilities, among others.
Santander City Council is deeply committed to research into smart cities, and this commitment has led it to promote RECI, a network of smart cities. This is a joint effort to encourage these kinds of technologies, which is headed by the Mayor of Santander. RECI is formed of 65 Spanish cities, including Coruña, Alicante, Barcelona, Córdoba, Madrid, Málaga, Salamanca, Seville and Valencia, to name but a few. These cities, together with the companies involved in projects such as SmartSantander, have turned Spain into the most advanced country in the world in the field along with Korea.
5th Indian Leaders Programme report.
Indian Leaders profiles.
More images in the Gallery.
