With the global population growing exponentially and more and more people moving to cities, plus the continued industrialisation of society, the Smart City market is set to explode over the next few years. Up to now, procedures and processes in cities have been ineffective in many areas. But with recent advancements in digital technology and the resulting communication possibilities, particularly between different objects, cities are gradually becoming smarter and solutions such as Smart Grids, smart transport systems and smart buildings are gaining traction.
For urban information and communication infrastructures alone, the market experts at Technavio are predicting average annual growth of over 17 per cent for the next four years. This would result in a market volume of 712 billion dollars by 2020 just for information and communications technology (ICT). But there are many more components involved in a Smart City, from sensors of all kinds to data analysis tools and cloud technologies. Similar growth rates to those predicted for the ICT infrastructure are also expected in all other areas over the next few years. According to analysts from Grand View Research, the entire Smart City market is expected to grow to over 1,400 billion dollars by 2020.
When it comes to the different areas of application, the transport sector plays a particularly significant role in market growth. Smart transport solutions are already in place in various cities around the world and have succeeded in reducing traffic jams. The field of security technology, meanwhile, also holds a large share of the market with intelligent surveillance cameras and access control systems – according to Technavio, annual growth rates of over 18 per cent are expected in this sector.
One thing that all technical solutions for Smart Cities share is the need for microcontrollers, sensors and ICs for communication and power. This makes the Smart City a key market for the electronics industry and for manufacturers of connected devices. This exciting market is going to influence our lives like almost no other in the years to come.
Smart Cities are a mega-trend
