March 2023

Written by Sidharth Sabyasachi

In recent years, governments across many countries have made significant efforts to make their cities smarter, in addition to the improvements in fundamental amenities like smart mobility, smart waste management, and smart communication across different service areas. In the implementation of various strategies such as smart energy, electricity anti-theft approaches, load forecasting, and energy trading can be made smarter with the aid of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in the smart city. The advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and blockchain concepts can also play a significant role in various Smart City design initiatives.

Written by B V Surya Vardhan, Mohan Khedkar, Ishan Srivastava and Sidharth Sabyasachi

Power generation is one of the important pillars of a smart city. There are also other important factors like power transmission and distribution. Intelligent power management uses technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and blockchain to improve the efficiency of power delivery across a smart city, as well as make grids smarter. The availability of relevant data is crucial to implement AI and ML. In developing countries, the main challenge lies in digitalization and the availability of such data. Data manipulation is often hindered by the presence of too many outliers when implementing AI and ML solutions. The emergence of data extraction techniques using computerized means can be a solution to this issue. Another important issue that power systems of smart cities are facing is cyber security. Blockchain and decentralization of power systems can be effective solutions to address such problems. This article discusses the role of AI and blockchain for various power related applications like Load Forecasting, Intermittent Source Forecasting, and Peer-to-Peer Trading.

Written by Ishan Srivastava, Abhishek Kumar, and B V Surya Vardhan

Residential energy demand in India has been steadily increasing, with the primary causes being a combination of factors including population growth and rapid economic and technological development. The control and monitoring of the power distribution network is an increasingly complicated task as the complexity of the power grid rises. Smart energy management therefore, becomes one of the key components of transforming a traditional city into a smart city. This entails incorporating more renewable energy sources into the system, installing smart lighting fixtures, placing sensors in the grid, putting Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in place, and deploying smart meters at load centers. The two-way communication system needed for AMI poses a number of difficulties, including the development of an upgrade plan that is financially viable and management of cyber-security issues. Additionally, AMI implementation yields a number of advantages that make grid monitoring and control processes simpler. AMI is needed in the deployment of the majority of contemporary methodologies for detecting and preventing electricity theft. This article presents a variety of challenges and advantages of using AMI in the smart grid.

Written by Sudhansu Sekhar Das and Sidharth Sabyasachi

India is home to a population of 1.4 billion, with most of the population living in rural areas. According to the 2011 census carried out by the Government of India, 31% percent of India’s population lives in urban areas and contribute to 63% of its gross domestic product (GDP). Also, according to an estimate, 40% of its population will live in urban areas and contribute to 75% of its GDP by 2030. The government of India has tirelessly pursued efforts to build the required infrastructure of the cities to accommodate the increased population. In order to fulfill the above cause, a number of programs in the past and present has been initiated by Government of India. Out of several programs initiated by the government in recent years is the smart city mission. The smart city mission is to radically improve the infrastructure and facilities of the cities in India.

Written by Irfan Ahmed

A smart city can mean different things to different people from different perspectives. The general understanding and perception of the Smart City concept can vary from country to country, as well as within regions of the same country.  Generally, Smart Cities use the deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to improve the services offered to its inhabitants to enhance their living standards and promote sustainable development.

Written by Abhishek Kumar and Ishan Srivastava

Improvement in the quality of life and rapid growth across urban regions drives administrators, urban planners, and architects alike to focus on shaping smart cities. One of the incentives for making a city smarter is to facilitate monitoring and optimization of its natural resources, including water and renewable energy, as well as man-made resources like power, infrastructure, and smart buildings, without harming the environment. Smart cities utilize recent advances in technologies for resource optimization. One of the most significant attributes of a smart city is the efficient utilization of electrical energy. Smart Grid (SG) makes use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions to optimize electrical energy and reduce the losses.