Santander — The “Living Experimental Laboratory”
Santander, a port city located in the northern coast of Spain has thousands of sensors installed within the city which measure almost everything — light, temperature, vehicles and people. Santander is a famous tourist attraction not just for its beaches and harbors, but also to learn more about this “living experimental laboratory”. Luis Munoz, an IT professor at the University of Cantabria received $12 million from EU to develop Santander as a smart city. He installed 10,000 sensors all around the city and hid them in the street poles, building walls, buried under the ground etc. These sensors keep track of the infrastructure.
These sensors transmit the data to the laboratory at the university where a central computer compiles all the data from the different sensors and produces a larger picture of what is going on in the city. This way, they have information about the noise pollution, air quality, parks, street lamps, garbage bins etc. and the city officials take the necessary action.
Along with these sensors, the mayor of the city also launched an app called “Pulse of the city” which provides real time data for its users. For example, if you are waiting for your bus at the bus stop, all you have to do is open the app and point the phone towards the bus stop. The app will display all the bus lines serving that stop and their information. You can also point the phone towards any fountain or an important building and the history and related information will be displayed on your phone.
If any citizen has any complaint about the infrastructure, say for example with the potholes in the city, all they have to do is click a picture and upload the picture on the app. They can also track the complaint and the repair procedure. It is important to note here that all the data is made public, however, the identity of the person who sent the complaint stays anonymous.
I think the steps taken by the city officials in making Santander a smart city by monitoring all the infrastructure and the vehicles has made the city efficient and the city government much more accountable. What caught my attention was the fact that even though all the data is made public, they have expressed their concerns about cyber attacks and user privacy and are taking necessary steps in that direction.
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