Black & Veatch Release 2016 Report

Smart City Infrastructure Gaining Global Momentum

Black & Veatch, a global engineering, consulting and construction services firm, released its 2016 Strategic Directions: Smart City/Smart Utility Report in February.  This report identifies trends and highlights issues reported by local communities as they upgrade their utility infrastructure. The main takeaway from this report is the major investment American cities are making in Internet of Things (IoT) technology, and how that is not only expected to increase in coming years, but the integration of two-way communication into municipal assets will allow big data to drive government investments, inform capital planning, and empower consumers through increased functionality and real-time customer service from their public utilities.

A statistic from the report states “90% of government and municipal respondents said they view smart city initiatives as transformational with the potential for long-term positive impacts on cities globally. Yet, more than half of respondents say their organization does not really understand the smart city concept.” Metering as a service (MaaS) is a great option for local governments that do not have the means to manage the full requirements of smart city initiatives in-house. Almost 50% of municipalities who responded to Black & Veatch voiced this concern. If your local government is having trouble identifying how smart metering infrastructure can work for your city, we can help. MeterSYS offers a range of services specifically designed to help public officials evaluate, design, bid, and implement smart metering technology for gas, water, and electric utilities.