SECTION NAME
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
SMART & SUSTAINABLE TOURISM BY LEXIE ASSUNTO
How smart city technologies are enabling smart tourism by implementing resilient and decentralized infrastructure.
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he idea of smart cities came about in the 1970s, but it didn’t gain much traction until the 2000s when cities worldwide began to test their envisioned smart initiatives. With advances in technologies and monitoring, every industry that impacts the quality of services to our communities is continuously being reimagined. From increased connectivity to waste management, EV charging, smart lighting, and smart tourism, smart cities aren’t possible without decentralized tech. ClearWorld provides aesthetically pleasing source lighting infrastructure with robust battery storage. It hosts multiple IoT applications providing sustainable and resilient infrastructure for our city and utility partners. Sustainable and smart city infrastructure lays the foundation of power for technologies as they grow. ClearWorld works with industry leaders on P3 partnerships developing largescale, smart city solutions. These partnerships drive innovation by leveraging and sharing open data and technologies so that our cities can make better decisions and monetize their data. We increase efficiencies, drive economic development, and improve the quality of life. While smart tourism has lacked a clear definition, technology has developed and cities have begun to narrow down their vision of a smart city. Sustainable and smart city initiatives go hand in hand with smart tourism. Without a smart city plan of action, smart tourism is much more difficult to attain and even harder
to monetize. Smart city infrastructure and applications aren’t referring to technological advances alone, but the interconnection and the operational synchronization of those technologies. Collaboration and access to open data through these interlinked databases help develop new tourism activities and services. We are at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution. We can choose where we want to visit and what we want to experience. With all of these apps, cities are getting an incredible amount of data. With smart infrastructure in place, we are paving the way to optimize smart tourism. And when we can monetize our data, we can better support our community. ClearWorld and our partners leverage core infrastructure for an intelligent corridor with multiple use cases. We have been playing catchup on an antiquated grid, but sustainable solutions like what we provide maximize efficiency and create additional revenue streams for our cities. With initiatives in place, now is the time to build for our futures. Each streetlight gathers and sends data, which opens a world of opportunities. By connecting streets and infrastructure, we enable cities to avoid costs and increase efficiencies through connectivity. Cities implementing smart strategies are deploying easily discoverable and accessible EV charging stations and real-time parking sensors. They are optimizing efficiencies within
Lexie Assunto Vice President of Business Development, ClearWorld New Orleans, Louisiana With over 15 years of experience in construction and sales and a background in disaster response, Lexie Assunto joined ClearWorld in 2020, bringing green tech solutions to cities pursuing smart and sustainable initiatives. She focuses on bringing cities turnkey microgrid solutions to increase efficiency and resiliency and drive economic growth.
48 | Smart City Miami
their public transit and water systems and using environmental alerts with weather monitoring. This data translates to gold and a more efficient city. We can monitor and regulate our traffic flows and relieve congestion in real time. We are also seeing cities use digital billboards and kiosks to provide interactive information to direct visitors and residents for entertainment, transportation, and in an emergency. These technologies are for data, energy, and efficiency, but they’re also useful for tourism. Until now, the costs associated with sustainable technologies have been a huge deterrent. But cities now have the incentive and federal financial backing to become more sustainable while creating additional revenue streams that go back into public services and programs. Tourism has always been an integral component of our economies. These technologies support new forms of collaboration and innovative partnerships. Not only can we attract more visitors but we can also assure they’re accessing the best our city has to offer. And, more importantly, they share their experiences with their friends. No matter the size of your city, sustainable smart infrastructure ensures that visitors get the most out of their stay. Tourists don’t only financially contribute to our economies; they share our story. When putting together a smart city plan of action, we ask, “What do you want your city to look like?” Then we lay out a network infrastructure to support that vision. When we’re expanding smart tourism, the question is a little bit different: “What is your city’s story? In a digital age, our visitors preview that story and plan how they want to experience our culture long before they get here. How can we better tell that story by implementing sustainable solutions? The stage has been set to make changes that will drive our economies. What will that look like?
