Fibre and Wi-Fi broadband 'will enhance intelligence'

A further report on the rise of smart cities has predicted the role of fibre optic and wireless broadband networks in helping to power the intelligence of communities for the future.

Pike Research says broadband technologies including optical fibres and wireless communication networks are key to distributing the information needed to coordinate the 'smart' response of cities on a number of different areas.

These include smart government, a smart approach to building, intelligent transportation and utilities - which itself is part of the wider trend towards using smart grids to control power distribution.

Eric Woods, senior analyst for Pike Research, says: "Smart city models are at a nascent stage and smart cities will take many different forms in different parts of the world."

He adds that no large-scale example yet exists of a fully fledged smart city, but that there are already pilot schemes taking place in the Middle East and Asia.