As the world cautiously emerges from the effects of the global pandemic, the road to recovery is opening up more and more each day; and, while we must remain vigilant on the path forward, one thing is for certain: The very foundation or social paradigm of what it means to live in a modern society has been shaken to its core.
Not since the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 has the human species been so universally and detrimentally affected by a singular danger.
Arguably, in this day-and-age of globalisation and increased human mobility, compared to 104 years ago, there is an even greater need to rebuild confidence in how our societies function.
That said, by exploring the future trends in the technology, I believe we can look to solutions that meet a comprehensive approach to our safety, economic, health and overall well-being needs.
In this industry, we are often asked to elaborate on how technology will reshape our future living environments.
With over half of the global population now living within urbanised or city limits, concepts such as Terminus Group’s AI CITY are coming to define a more welcome global disruption; one that seeks to transform the dynamic of social life and our economy.
A trend that is already taking place within the world’s ever-growing number of urban clusters.
In the very near future, an AI CITY such as one under development by Terminus Group, in Chongqing, will be a highly appealing smart city that can make decisions independently, ensuring an enhanced and balanced living experience for all residents, workers, and visitors.
Using the latest Internet of Things (IoT) technology, we can now envisage a city that learns how to customise and create greater efficiency in energy use, offer smoother traffic co-ordination, and increasingly insist any number of economic and social transactions.
In 2021, Terminus Group showcased the AI CITY platform, which can be built on top of an existing or new urban ecosystem.
This level of integration is only possible with the right technical capabilities – an achievement that Terminus Group was recognised for at the “Technology Olympics” or Collision 2021 event.
Here, the platform was heralded as a game-changer that can assist cities successfully migrate or integrate their smart digital transformation.
The ability to transform the urban landscape and ecosystem is what will define a future city and this relies on three key aspects: digital urbanisation technologies; upgrading, transforming, and managing the urban landscape and environment; and, augmenting the abilities of the industrial and economic ecosystem.
The evolution of the various platforms that support city-wide technological solutions will greatly affect the form of any future city.
Its smart infrastructure, such as driverless vehicle zones and robotic platforms, will play a crucial role in shaping the city’s urban landscape.
For our part, we envisage an AI CITY platform as a smart city ecosystem that aims to improve the efficiency of the urban infrastructure through the use of smart software and hardware.
The goal is to enable cities to become smarter, more economically vibrant, and sustainable – for the benefit of all residents, workers, and visitors.
The AI CITY concept can see as much as 90 per cent digitisation, allowing residents to experience a whole new level of convenience, with new features and functionalities being added to the existing infrastructures, as both the community and technology requirements evolve.
When an AI CITY is fully established, the various industrial clusters will introduce new high-tech features such as artificial intelligence, driverless cars, and smart manufacturing.
This will create new market opportunities and contribute to the overall smart transformation of the urban ecosystem.
Creating a truly appealing smart city is not an easy task. It has to do so with a unique set of foundations and “smart” for smart’s sake is not what people need.
That is why, at Terminus Group, the AI CITY integrates what is called a core architecture of “operation as service”.
I truly believe that the AI CITY philosophy will eventually surpass the traditional smart city concept due to its operations-driven approach.
Namely, this will be appealing due to its architecture and operations actively reducing the urban carbon footprint by optimising energy consumption, in real time. Thereby improving efficiency – continuously – across the whole urban environment.
While we often talk about these developments and concepts as “future cities”, this is somewhat misleading. The future is already here.
The ability to integrate more technologically advanced and sustainable AI architecture is available now. And, at Terminus Group, we are future-ready and fully committed to playing our part in helping realising that next step in civilisation’s progress.
Victor Ai, founder and CEO of Terminus Group.
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