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Smart City SolutionCordoba Province

Industry:
  • Government / Public sector
Region:
  • Europe
Products:
  • Software
  • Others
Solutions:
  • Integrated ICT Solutions
  • Others

Introduction

Situated in the heart of the Andalusian region in southern Spain, the Province of Cordoba is a vast and fertile area that boasts a cultural heritage rich with Islamic influences, a legacy of its historical past. It is composed of 78 municipalities, each on a path toward evolving into a smart city. As part of the efforts to make Cordoba Province a more livable and sustainable urban environment, a "common platform" plays a pivotal role by integrating and managing various types of data. Utilizing NEC's strengths in AI and cloud technologies, the platform collects and analyzes city-wide data. This process is aimed at providing improved services to citizens and encompasses; “a real-time data collection and analysis foundation”, “a waste management system”, “an incident management system”, “a facility and asset management system”, “an open data platform”, and “a web portal for communication between the administration and citizens”.
By deploying a smart city platform that cuts across different sectors, we achieve a high level of digital and smart transformation in various areas, facilitated by broad regional collaboration among municipalities.

Challenges

Aiming for Joint Cloud Platform Use by 78 Municipalities

One of the challenges faced by the Province of Cordoba was the depopulation of its municipalities due to a decline in their population. Young people were leaving for urban areas in search of better employment and administrative services, leading to an acceleration in the aging population. In the Province of Cordoba, where many municipalities have populations of less than 20,000, there was a lack of sufficient technology, policy, and operational resources in each municipality to address this issue, making it difficult for individual towns and villages to find solutions on their own. In order to resolve this serious issue and maintain a certain standard of living, an initiative to create a digital environment that can be commonly used by the municipalities within Cordoba was launched. This initiative aimed to put a stop to the regional population decline and to make the province a more attractive place for its residents. In an effort to combat this population decline and ensure the maintenance of a certain quality of life, Cordoba’s municipalities have embarked on creating a shared digital infrastructure that could be utilized collectively. The aim is to stem the tide of population decrease and transform the province into a more appealing place to live.

To resolve this challenge, after consideration, the Province of Cordoba decided to collaborate with NEC, which fully met the province's requirements. Furthermore, this project was selected as one of the initiatives from 111 proposals through a public offering by "red.es," an entity responsible for promoting and operating public policies in the digital transformation sector led by the Spanish government.

Digital Transformation Initiatives

"red.es" is an entity within the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, responsible for shaping the government's public policies on digitalization. It plays a key part in the "National Smart Cities Plan," where projects are selected in collaboration with local authorities through a public call for proposals.

The Three Objectives to Pursue the Digitalization of Cities and Regions

Mr. Francisco Javier, the Director of Public Digital Services at red.es, further explains: "The National Smart Cities Plan, aimed at fostering the digital transformation of urban and regional areas, rests on three core goals:

  1. Encouraging standardization and the establishment of norms
  2. Attracting technological sector enterprises to stimulate industrial policy
  3. Supporting the digitalization efforts of local governments
We believe the Cordoba project successfully met these goals and was a satisfying accomplishment. Our hope is that such initiatives will spread beyond Cordoba to other local administrations.

Undertaking digitalization and smart enhancements, as seen in this project, provides an ideal chance to roll out new public services. Digital transformation is an ongoing journey. We look forward to continuously integrating new services into our platform and through their deployment, ensuring that our citizens consistently experience their positive impacts."

Francisco Javier Garcia Vieira
Director,
Public Digital Services
red.es

Implemented Solutions

In collaboration with the Province of Cordoba, NEC has established a cloud-based common platform capable of real-time collection, analysis, integration, and management of relevant data gathered from the 78 municipalities within the province. A suite of shared service applications has been developed for this platform, which utilizes NEC's Urban OS based on the open-source FIWARE framework. The NEC Urban OS facilitates the connection of information about the city and its inhabitants by enabling data sharing across municipal boundaries, thus addressing regional challenges and enabling the creation of new services.

"The common platform was a necessary condition. By providing administrative services in collaboration across all 78 municipalities within the Province of Cordoba, it allows for easier deployment not just operationally but also in terms of maintenance. It has been extremely helpful for the province to acquire the data needed to understand 'what is happening' in each municipality," explains Sara Ruiz Marquez, Director of the Cordoba Province Energy Agency.

Sara Ruiz Marquez
Director, Energy Agency
Cordoba Province

Introduction to Administrative Services

For instance, through the common platform, we can encourage citizens to participate in governance and to report incidents. If a fallen tree blocks a road due to a disaster, residents can report it via an app, prompting the administration to address the issue promptly. Similarly, issues such as downed power lines or malfunctioning streetlights can be quickly resolved through reports and requests from residents.

Furthermore, the platform allows for consultation with the community about new commercial development plans, gathering their opinions on the necessity and feedback about such projects. For residents, the information obtained from this platform is crucial; it makes them feel part of the community and enables them to participate in decision-making processes.

"The most important thing for us is to continue providing civic services to our citizens. We want them to feel that the municipalities of the Province of Cordoba are friendly, appealing, and an ideal place to live."

Outcomes and Future Endeavors

"The public tender project by red.es was a significant opportunity for us, especially because we have many small municipalities. It paved the way to develop smart city projects suitable even for small-scale local governments using new technologies. Also, in the competitive public bidding process, NEC's proposal was the most advantageous and fitting," Sara explains.

Thanks to NEC's common platform, the Province of Cordoba has been able to ensure the safety of its towns and manage its regions efficiently. Municipalities that were not initially included have joined, and projects in new areas are under consideration. There is a great deal of anticipation for the continued provision of new administrative services that will improve the lives of citizens. NEC's smart city solutions play a significant role in creating attractive, sustainable communities where people want to live and settle.

Administrative Services Running on NEC's Common Platform

Real-Time Data Collection & Analysis Infrastructure
This system gathers and analyzes data in real-time from various systems, making correlations visible to support improvements in administrative services. It utilizes "FIWARE," a data utilization platform software developed and implemented under the EU's Future Internet Public-Private Partnership (FI-PPP) Program.

Waste Management System
Sensors are attached to waste collection containers to monitor the amount of waste and the location of the containers. This centralized management of information contributes to the optimization of waste collection operations.

Incident Management System
The system supports swift response to incidents such as fallen trees or severed power lines that occur within the city.

Facilities & Assets Management System
This system visualizes the location and operational status of facilities and assets managed by the municipalities, such as trash bins, through web portals and mobile applications. By doing so, it supports the efficiency of preventive maintenance work through lifecycle management of facilities and assets, leading to better preservation and utilization of municipal resources.

Open Data Platform
Provides a foundation and web portal for publicly releasing open data to municipal governments, companies, and organizations. Citizens are free to submit ideas and proposals regarding the utilization of open data.

Citizen Participation Platform
Provides a web portal that enables free communication between local governments and citizens, such as information provision from local governments and posting opinions and needs from citizens.

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(Dec 25, 2023)