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Smart governance as a new stage in the development of public sector management brings many challenges to the cities of the 21st century. It opens new possibilities for how to maximize the socio-economic and ecological performance of cities and cope with negative externalities. But to achieve these benefits, it is necessary to create conditions for smart governance implementation. The paper aims to define the principles and prerequisites of smart governance development in cities theoretically and verify them in the real conditions of cities. Based on the theoretical review on smart governance paper identifies principles and prerequisites of smart governance development in cities. They are verified by research results of two sub-researches - one among the experts from academia and practices and one among the representatives of the cities in the Slovak Republic. The paper identifies also the challenges in the implementation of smart governance and the potential future research in the international context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cyberphysical systems of smart cities are facing increasingly severe attack situations, and traditional separate protection methods are difficult to effectively respond to. It is urgent to coordinate public safety and cybersecurity protection. However, the integration of the two faces many challenges and is a very promising research field. The aim of this study is to investigate technical approaches for the synergy between public safety and cybersecurity. This paper proposes a smart city safety protection model inspired by the human immune mechanism. It was found that through a three-line defense architecture similar to the human immune mechanism, and with the help of certain algorithms and functional middleware modules, public safety and cybersecurity protection components can be dynamically combined to achieve collaboration. This work has verified through experiments a valuable path to effectively resist complicated attack threats intertwined with public safety and cybersecurity factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the research community has increasingly embraced topics related to smart cities, recognizing their potential to enhance residents' quality of life and create sustainable, efficient urban environments through the integration of diverse systems and services. Concurrently, recommender systems have demonstrated continued improvement in accuracy, delivering more precise recommendations for items or content and aiding users in decision-making processes. This paper explores the utilization of recommender systems in the context of smart cities by analyzing a dataset comprised of papers indexed in the ISI Web of Science database. Through bibliometric analysis, key themes, trends, prominent authors and institutions, preferred journals, and collaboration networks among authors were extracted. The findings revealed an average annual scientific production growth of 25.85%. Additionally, an n-gram analysis across keywords, abstracts, titles, and keywords plus, along with a review of selected papers, enriched the analysis. The insights gained from these efforts offer valuable perspectives, contribute to identifying pertinent issues, and provide guidance on trends in this evolving field. The importance of recommender systems in the context of smart cities lies in their ability to enhance urban living by providing personalized and efficient recommendations, optimizing resource utilization, improving decision-making processes, and ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and intelligent urban environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban digital twin is a key step to build a smart city, digital twin is an important application scenario for smart city platform, and the relationship between the two are both current research hotspots. In this paper, we will start from the demand of digital twin on smart city platform, study the architecture method and key technology of smart city platform, in this paper's platform construction method compared to the traditional construction method, reduces the difficulty of digital twin smart city construction, and also reduces the coupling degree between smart city platform modules, and use a smart city platform for engineering verification. Finally compared with the traditional smart platform construction techniques, the techniques in this paper are better than the traditional ones in terms of coupling, difficulty and cost. Through engineering verification and experimental results show that this paper on the digital twin-oriented smart city construction technology, the coupling degree of each module is the lowest, and in the development efficiency experiments, this paper by comparing with the traditional technology, the experimental development cycle compared to the traditional technology can be shortened by 61.7% of the development cycle, greatly reducing the development cost and improving the construction efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IoT devices produce a gigantic amount of data and it has grown exponentially in previous years. To get insights from this multi-property data, machine learning has proved its worth across the industry. The present paper provides an overview of the variety of data collected through IoT devices. The conflux of machine learning with IoT is also explained using the bibliometric analysis technique. This paper presents a systematic literature review using bibliometric analysis of the data collected from Scopus and WoS. Academic literature for the last six years is used to explore research insights, patterns, and trends in the field of IoT using machine learning. This study analyses and assesses research for the last six years using machine learning in seven IoT domains like Healthcare, Smart City, Energy systems, Industrial IoT, Security, Climate, and Agriculture. The author’s and country-wise citation analysis is also presented in this study. VOSviewer version 1.6.18 is used to provide a graphical representation of author citation analysis. This study may be quite helpful for researchers and practitioners to develop a blueprint of machine learning techniques in various IoT domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban three-dimensional (3-D) model, which can truly and vividly express the 3-D spatial information of ground objects, was an essential link in the process of smart city construction. The backpack 3-D laser scanning systems had gradually become an important technical means to build urban 3-D models because of their high efficiency and high fineness. In this paper, the error source of backpack point cloud data was analysed based on the composition of backpack 3-D laser scanning system. The distribution of point cloud error was statistically analysed by designing experiments. It was found that there was a systematic error in the backpack 3-D laser scanning point cloud. There were many factors influencing the system errors and they were superimposed on each other. In order to solve this problem, an error compensation model with additional system parameters based on a multiple linear regression algorithm was constructed. The results showed that this model can weaken the influence of system errors on the backpack point cloud, effectively improve the accuracy of the backpack point cloud, and provide reliable point cloud data for subsequent processing of the building point cloud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a very pertinent issue in the field of cybersecurity, particularly concerning the increased use of public Wi-Fi and the proliferation of IoT devices. The scenario, where an attacker captures user details through a malicious access point set up through a NodeMCU, is a practical illustration of a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack. These attacks are especially concerning in the context of smart homes and smart cities, where security breaches can lead to severe privacy invasions and disruptions of essential services. The NodeMCU, being a low-cost, open-source IoT platform, is accessible for creating such malicious access points. It can be programmed to mimic legitimate Wi-Fi hotspots to intercept the data of unsuspecting users. This type of attack can enable unauthorized access to sensitive information such as login credentials, personal data, and even control over connected IoT devices. This approach is user-friendly and can significantly reduce the risk of users unknowingly connecting to malicious websites. The contribution of this paper includes a demonstration and analysis of a common network and IoT attack and a novel method for detecting fraudulent URLs, particularly those used in phishing attacks. By addressing these aspects, the paper makes a significant contribution to the field of cybersecurity and helps foster a more secure and resilient network and IoT ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of smart cities has led to transforming modern city operations by applying emerging technologies from the fourth industrial revolution such as the Internet of Things, BIM and machine learning. To prepare for the future development of cities, it is necessary to investigate the current status of city development, research topics and the direction toward future cities. In this study, a systematic literature review was conducted following the combination of literature review guides by Kitchenham and the PRISMA statement. The review identified 141 peer-reviewed academic papers from web-based archives, such as Web of Science and SCOPUS, that were categorized into five topics related to smart cities and urban areas. The technologies applied in the research were analyzed to determine the direction future cities should take based on current smart cities and emerging technologies that will shape individuals' daily lives. However, it was discovered that research papers on critical areas, such as mobility and management, were lacking compared to those on building design and urban planning. This paper concludes with an example of a future urban area that has been transformed due to adoption of future mobility technology to address the shortcomings of the reviewed literature on building and urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of paper is to indicate the potential of using blockchain technology in smart cities. The author analyzes the state of development of blockchain-based solutions and relates it to areas of the functioning of cities. The aim is also to indicate blockchain applications importance in the context of city residents quality of life and the functioning of various industries operating within them. Design/methodology/approach: The objectives of the paper were achieved by analyzing literature, industry reports as well as selected blockchain projects’ websites. The theoretical scope of the article is the description of blockchain technology application areas within the modern cities, their main characteristics and the potential for its usage. Findings: The author indicated 6 areas of blockchain application, and then indicated a number of functioning solutions based on blockchain referring to them, and also indicated the potential of the impact of the described solutions on the development of the city. In the summary, areas for further research were indicated, referring to slightly differently perceived aspects of the city's development and improving the lives of its inhabitants. Practical implications: The successful implementation of blockchain solutions depends on a large amount of conceptual and technological work in organizations. The article suggests areas of blockchain use in the city and indicates examples of already implemented solutions that can constitute a reference point and inspiration for new solutions. Social implications: The blockchain technology shows the potential to improve the quality of life of city residents in the context of building solutions that eliminate the need for trust in service providers, weakened by frequently observed unethical behavior and negligence in the security and transparency of information flow. The widespread use of blockchain in the city is therefore undoubtedly in the interest of societies. Originality/value: The paper’s originality is expressed in a comprehensive look at the issue of using blockchain in the functioning of modern cities, together with an indication of both the potential of their implementation and already existing solutions in the subject area. Moreover, the author points out social benefits in the form of increased trust and an increase in the city residents quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preface to the Proceedings of the 8th Smart Data Smart Cities (SDSC) conference provides an overview of the concept of a Smart City, which involves the use of digital layers for city governance, citizen services, and sustainable development. Smart Cities utilize intelligent technology to enhance urban life by integrating data from various sources such as sensors, demographics, mapping, and building information models. The conference focuses on the use of spatial information and communication technologies in Smart Cities, covering topics such as 3D modeling, citizen engagement, transportation, urban decision-making, and smart urban mobility. The volume consists of 31 research papers selected through blind review, addressing different aspects of Smart Cities. [Extracted from the article]

In the dynamic landscape of 6G and smart cities, visible light communication (VLC) assumes critical significance for Internet of Things (IoT) applications spanning diverse sectors. The escalating demand for bandwidth and data underscores the need for innovative solutions, positioning VLC as a complementary technology within the electromagnetic spectrum. This paper focuses on the relevance of VLC in the 6G paradigm, shedding light on its applicability across smart cities and industries. The paper highlights the growing efficiency of lighting LEDs in infrastructure, facilitating the seamless integration of VLC. The study then emphasizes VLC's robustness in outdoor settings, demonstrating effective communication up to 10 m. This resilience positions VLC as a key player in addressing the very last meter of wireless communication, offering a seamless solution for IoT connectivity. By introducing a freely available open-source simulator combined with an alternative waveform, UFMC, the study empowers researchers to dimension applications effectively, showcasing VLC's potential to improve wireless communication in the evolving landscape of 6G and smart cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the global urbanization process is further accelerating, the number of urban people is also steadily increasing. With the continuous growth of the urban population, the use of various functional facilities in the city is gradually becoming saturated, which seriously restricts the development of the city. Therefore, real-time perception and prediction of the operational status of various functional urban facilities, as well as environmental safety monitoring in the city, are of great significance for improving the functionality and livability of the city. In complex urban environments, multi-source data is interrelated, and the noise reduction of multi-source data and the integration of this correlation still face great challenges. At the same time, how to apply urban intelligent monitoring in the reconstruction of old cities is rarely mentioned. Based on the above problems, this paper proposes a data noise reduction model based on a wavelet algorithm and combines it with the Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) multi-source data fusion structure proposed in this paper to provide a theoretical basis for the construction of an urban intelligent monitoring model. Then, the author constructed a data-driven urban safety environment monitoring model and a multi-source data-based urban congestion monitoring model, which have good experimental results and certain practical value. At the end of the paper, the author briefly discussed the application of the smart city monitoring model in the reconstruction of old cities, hoping to provide certain guidance for further integration in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of internet of things (IoT) and big data technologies is transforming the overall perspective of managing various sectors of modern life; with higher educational sectors being no exception of this transformation. This paper explores the idea of a "smart university" as an extension of the overarching "smart city" framework, emphasizing the blending of IoT and big data technologies within higher education institutions. The study investigates the incorporation of IoT technologies throughout university campuses, including intelligent classrooms, smart infrastructure, and device networking. Moreover, the paper delves into the substantial role played by big data analytics in processing and extracting meaningful insights from extensive data generated by IoT devices in a Smart University. The use of predictive analytics, machine learning algorithms, and data-driven decision-making contributes to personalized learning experiences, adaptive campus management, and proactive maintenance of university facilities. Furthermore, this paper not only emphasizes the potential benefits of deploying IoT and big data in a university setting but also addresses challenges related to security, privacy, and ethical considerations. By embracing a comprehensive approach to technology integration, universities can leverage the capabilities of IoT and big data to establish intelligent, interconnected, and flexible educational environments that align with the broader vision of a smart city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A massive number of Internet-of-things (IoT) devices communicate with each other in a wireless network for applications like smart cities, smart classrooms and smart agriculture. The real-time information exchange between these massive IoT nodes require connectivity and coverage. Advanced wireless techniques, cooperation among the communicating nodes and use of relays are fast emerging. But, increasing the communication reliability without adding to the energy or hardware overhead is the main challenge for these relay enabled massive IoT networks. Use of large number of relay nodes, antennas, radio-frequency (RF) transceiver chains in the cooperative communication enabled network increases the hardware complexity of the system. This paper addresses this challenge by proposing an energy efficient resource management model. The proposed resource optimization framework enables selection of optimal relay node and optimal number of antennas at the mobile node such that the system outage performance is improved. It is analysed that the resource optimization improves the outage probability by 12% at transmit power of 10dB at source node. The impact of increasing the number of node antennas on system ergodic capacity is also highlighted. The presented analysis finds applications in 6G enabled smart cities for seamless multimedia communication. As compared to existing systems with no resource optimization, the paper claims that incorporating resource optimization also results in huge energy savings at the mobile nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital economy is gradually emerging as a new driving force and engine for high-quality economic development. In the context of reaching carbon peak and carbon neutrality, can the digital economy empower the development of urban green technology innovation? Based on the panel data of 274 cities in China from 2011 to 2019, this paper measures the development level of digital economy at the city level and employs the two-way fixed effect model to empirically analyze the impact of digital economy on urban green technology innovation. The results indicate that: (1) Digital economy development exert a significant positive impact on urban green technology innovation. This conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. (2) Digital economy enhances urban green technology innovation by optimizing human capital structure, enhancing the level of financial and credit investment, and strengthening public environmental concern. (3) Heterogeneity analyses show that the digital economy has a greater positive effect on green technology innovation in the eastern region and non-resource cities. The higher the level of intellectual property protection and the better the development of the factor market, and the lower the intensity of environmental regulation, the greater the positive effect of the digital economy on urban green technology innovation. These findings are not only of great practical significance for accelerating the development of green technology innovation in China, but also serve as a reference for other developing countries to utilize the digital economy to empower the development of green technology innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'smart city' has received growing attention as a concept that could play an essential role in the sustainability of the Arctic. Today, the idea is associated with information and communication technology (ICT) when used in urban areas to improve quality of life, offer more efficient and effective use of cities' infrastructures, foster social inclusion, and mitigate environmental harm. However, the relationship between smart cities and Arctic sustainability remains ambiguous, especially from perspectives beyond those of techno-optimism. Our aim in this paper is to critically discuss the value of smart city concept for Arctic cities, from an urban dynamic perspective. To this end, this paper reflects on how the sustainability of Arctic cities can be challenged by urban dynamics in metrics for (1) smart city development, (2) politics and bureaucratization, and (3) the role of citizens. The paper has several implications for academia, practitioners, and policymakers: for the former, it advances an alternative debate to explore the complex relations between smart city development and Arctic sustainability; for practitioners and policymakers, it indicates the problematic but often hidden side of smart city development, stressing the need to carefully translate the concept and its promises to fit the unique Arctic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart Cities have emerged as a promising approach for transforming urban living into more sustainable and resilient systems through technology-driven innovations and data-driven governance. Despite its growing implementation and diffusion around the globe, many questions surrounding this topic have emerged. Many critics have emerged since its first conceptualization in the first decade of the current century. Smart Cities have been criticized for their utopian objectives and the security, safety, people's freedom, and privacy within these systems. There are also capitalistic and neoliberalism-related critiques. Other critiques also highlight the current climate cost of Smart City initiatives. In the context of those critiques, bioclimatic and passive strategies might provide an interesting evolution of the concept but seem to be left in the background. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the linkages between environmental design approaches and the Smart City discourse. The contribution will explore to which extent bioclimatic and environmental design principles are present in the Smart City discourse and what the patterns are inside the current literature. The methodology of the research included a quali-quantitative analysis of the body of literature in Scopus and a bibliometric analysis using the VOS Viewer tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-level interventions through technological updates and connectedness are quite popular within smart city visions. These interventions, under the collective label of smart and connected communities (SCC), promise to increase technology access, services, and the sense of entrepreneurship and organization at the community level. This paper addresses the lack of academic research investigating SCC with regard to its merits and linkages to the debate on smart cities. It reviews the academic literature on conceptions, constituents, and enablers of SCC. It highlights SCC as a concept with more issues and complexity than conventional smart city projects, particularly with regard to soft or human-related factors. While SCC is associated with diverse objectives, there are some basic elements of SCC projects such as a common direction, digitalization, optimization, better services, and participation. This paper also presents a range of critical factors and enablers based on previous studies. These factors include the features of communities and services as well as collaborative and institutional mechanisms. This paper shows the importance of the planning and design tasks in initiating SCC interventions. When designing successful and context-specific SCC projects, it is important to address the contextual environment of SCC through an informed SCC project design. This is particularly relevant for (ill-defined) communities with unconducive institutional context or no cooperation legacies. The success of SCC often depends on engagement and change management within communities as well as the development of context-specific, and often iterative, project designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the potential of blockchain technology to create more efficient, secure, and transparent smart cities. The paper covers the six main components of smart cities and how blockchain can address challenges and provide benefits in areas such as governance, transportation, environment, economy, living, and citizen. It includes use cases, technical requirements and potential limitations of blockchain implementation in smart cities. Additionally, the paper explores the current state of smart cities and their challenges and how blockchain can address them. Furthermore, it delves into the future impact of blockchain on urban life, including improved governance, business models, citizen engagement, transportation, security, sustainable development and real-estate. The paper highlights the potential benefits of blockchain in smart cities but also emphasizes the need to approach its implementation with caution, considering limitations and engaging all stakeholders to create smart cities that better serve citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the development of a Next Generation First Responder (NGFR) communication platform with the key goal of embedding it into a smart city technology infrastructure. The framework of this approach is a concept known as SmartHub, developed by the US Department of Homeland Security. The proposed embedding methodology complies with the standard categories and indicators of smart city performance. This paper offers two practice-centered extensions of the NGFR hub, which are also the main results: first, a cognitive workload monitoring of first responders as a basis for their performance assessment, monitoring, and improvement; and second, a highly sensitive problem of human society, the emergency assistance tools for individuals with disabilities. Both extensions explore various technological-societal dimensions of smart cities, including interoperability, standardization, and accessibility to assistive technologies for people with disabilities. Regarding cognitive workload monitoring, the core result is a novel AI formalism, an ensemble of machine learning processes aggregated using machine reasoning. This ensemble enables predictive situation assessment and self-aware computing, which is the basis of the digital twin concept. We experimentally demonstrate a specific component of a digital twin of an NGFR, a near-real-time monitoring of the NGFR cognitive workload. Regarding our second result, a problem of emergency assistance for individuals with disabilities that originated as accessibility to assistive technologies to promote disability inclusion, we provide the NGFR specification focusing on interactions based on AI formalism and using a unified hub platform. This paper also discusses a technology roadmap using the notion of the Emergency Management Cycle (EMC), a commonly accepted doctrine for managing disasters through the steps of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. It positions the NGFR hub as a benchmark of the smart city emergency service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Digitalising cities requires new urban governance processes that account for rapidly changing environments and technological advances. In this context, agile development methods have become valuable, if not necessary. However, agile development contradicts public administration practices of risk aversion and long-term planning. The purpose of this study is to discuss practical avenues for navigating these two contradictions by adapting agile development to the needs of public sector organisations. Design/methodology/approach: The authors review the collaborative elaboration of Dresden's smart city strategy as a critical case study. Dresden's smart city strategy was developed using agile development and quadruple-helix innovation. The year-long co-creation process involved stakeholders from various groups to conceive an integrated and sustainable vision for digitalisation-based urban development. Findings: Despite the apparent contradictions, this study finds that key aspects of agile development are feasible for public sector innovation. Firstly, risks can be strategically managed and distributed among administration and non-administration stakeholders. Secondly, while delivering value through short iterative loops, adherence to formal processes remains possible. Informal feedback cycles can be harmoniously combined with official statements, allowing iterative progress. Research limitations/implications: The empirical material is based on a single case study and thus risks overemphasising the general applicability of the proposed methods. Practical implications: This paper outlines practical steps to greater agility for public administration engaged in digitalising cities. The paper conceptualises a forward and lateral momentum for the agile development of a smart city strategy that aims to reconcile formal policymaking processes with short-term loops and risk aversion with experimental value creation. This approach balanced risks, created value and enhanced the strategy's alignment with strategic frameworks, ultimately promoting innovation in the public sector. Originality/value: This paper proposes a novel, empirically grounded conceptualisation of implementing agile methods that explicitly recognises the peculiarities of public administrations. It conceptualises the orchestrated and pragmatic use of specific agile development methods to advance the digitalisation of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication networks are crucial components of the underlying digital infrastructure in any smart city setup. The increasing usage of computer networks brings additional cyber security concerns, and every organization has to implement preventive measures to protect valuable data and business processes. Due to the inherent distributed nature of the city infrastructures as well as the critical nature of its resources and data, any solution to the attack detection calls for distributed, efficient and privacy preserving solutions. In this paper, we extend the evaluation of our federated learning framework for network attacks detection and classification based on random forest. Previously the framework was evaluated only for attack detection using four well-known intrusion detection datasets (KDD, NSL-KDD, UNSW-NB15, and CIC-IDS-2017). In this paper, we extend the evaluation for attack classification. We also evaluate how adding differential privacy into random forest, as an additional protective mechanism, affects the framework performances. The results show that the framework outperforms the average performance of independent random forests on clients for both attack detection and classification. Adding differential privacy penalizes the performance of random forest, as expected, but the use of the proposed framework still brings benefits in comparison to the use of independent local models. The code used in this paper is publicly available, to enable transparency and facilitate reproducibility within the research community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective quality management plays a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth operation of smart city systems, which have significant implications for safety, accessibility, affordability, and maintainability. Dependability of autonomous systems is of utmost importance, as achieving satisfactory levels of availability and reliability poses considerable challenges. Smart cities are characterized by interconnected sub-architectures, encompassing vehicle monitoring, sidewalk monitoring, and building monitoring, all of which need to function efficiently. Analytical models such as Petri nets, Markov chains, and fault trees are well-suited for evaluating complex scenarios in the context of smart cities. This paper presents analytical models that utilize fault tree and Markov chain techniques to assess the availability and reliability of smart city monitoring systems. The model is divided into shared and non-shared components, with non-shared components being specific to certain contextual applications, while shared components, such as data processing and electrical power, are essential for all smart city monitoring and management systems. The study underscores the ease with which the fault tree model can enhance availability by modifying failure requirements and resources. Case studies provide concrete examples of how availability improved from 95.3 to 99.8% by varying a configuration known as "KooN" in multiple components. This paper takes a comprehensive approach to evaluating the dependability of smart city architectures and contributes advancements, such as hierarchical modeling, sequential sensitivity analysis, and the "KooN" analytic method. These contributions expand the existing knowledge and methodologies in smart city dependability analysis. Moreover, this work aims to serve as a practical tool to assist smart city managers in optimizing their proposals. All modeling aspects and parameters are detailed thoroughly to enable effective implementation of the proposed approach by anyone using it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) make it possible for applications such as autonomous driving, active safety systems and smart cities. As the infrastructure of ITSs, vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET) plays a key role in ensuring traffic safety while improving driving experience and comfort. However, VANET faces many challenges as the network is exposed to the public and involves sensitive information such as vehicle control commands and driving records. Although blockchain technology can provide such features as decentralization, immutability, non-reliance on trust and traceability, most of the existing blockchain systems impose high storage and computing capacity requirements for participating nodes while terminals nodes in VANET, such as road-side units (RSUs), on-board units (OBUs) and sensors, usually have very limited storage and computing capacity. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a blockchain system that provides scalable storage capacity for VANETs. The proposed scheme uses network sharding and multi-consensus strategy to improve the topology and consensus process of the blockchain. Aimed at lowering the storage requirement on the RSU nodes that participate in the blockchain, a collaborative storage mechanism and a dynamic copy number strategy for the blockchain ledger is designed. Experimental results show that compared to existing schemes, the proposed scalable blockchain storage scheme can significantly lower the storage requirement for the blockchain nodes, thus making it possible for the nodes with limited storage capacity in VANET to participate in the maintenance of the blockchain to prevent the blockchain from drifting towards centralization, and support maximal sharing of road traffic information while ensuring the security, privacy and trustworthiness of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern building automation systems implement plenty of advanced control and monitoring functions that consider various parameters like users' activity, lighting, temperature changes, etc. Moreover, novel solutions based on the Internet of Things and cloud services are also being developed for smart buildings to ensure comfort of use, user safety, energy efficiency improvements, and integration with smart grids and smart city platforms. Such a wide spectrum of technologies and functions requires a novel approach in building automation systems design to provide effective implementation and flexibility during operation. At the same time, in the building design and operation industries, tools based on building information modeling and digital twins are being developed. This paper discusses the development directions and application areas of these solutions, identifying new trends and possibilities of their use in smart homes and buildings. In particular, the focus is on procedures for selecting automation functions, effective integration, and interoperability of building management systems with the Internet of Things, considering the organization of prediction mechanisms and dynamic functional changes in buildings and smart networks. Chosen solutions and functions should consider the requirements set out in the EN ISO 52120 standard and the guidelines defined for the Smart Readiness Indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of smart city has become the frontier trend of city development. Smart education shows the inner beauty of smart city, and smart education is the connotation extension of educational informatization. At present, smart education has become an important symbol of education modernization worldwide, which is an important way to improve the quality and efficiency of education, cultivate innovative talents, and is the inevitable choice to realize the leap-forward development of education. Furthermore, preschool education is a critical period for the rapid development of children's nervous system. Education in this period plays a decisive role in children's development and is also a necessary condition for their development of intelligence and potential. However, traditional teaching cannot guarantee the fun of children's teaching activities. According to the characteristics of multi-sensory, immersive, and interactive virtual reality (VR) technology, VR is introduced into the live demonstration application of preschool education. Since VR video contains information in all directions of a scene, its data volume is much larger than that of traditional video, and different panoramic video projection layout schemes have a great impact on the quality of video. To solve this problem, a continuous layout method based on octahedral projection is proposed, which eliminates the internal discontinuous edges and has good boundary continuity. Experimental results show that the layout method proposed in this paper has good performance in both video quality and computing cost, which provides power for VR technology in the live demonstration of preschool education, and increases the immersion and comfort of children when watching VR videos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper thoroughly explores the role of object detection in smart cities, specifically focusing on advancements in deep learning-based methods. Deep learning models gain popularity for their autonomous feature learning, surpassing traditional approaches. Despite progress, challenges remain, such as achieving high accuracy in urban scenes and meeting real-time requirements. The study aims to contribute by analyzing state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms, identifying accurate models for smart cities, and evaluating real-time performance using the Average Precision at Medium Intersection over Union (IoU) metric. The reported results showcase various algorithms' performance, with Dynamic Head (DyHead) emerging as the top scorer, excelling in accurately localizing and classifying objects. Its high precision and recall at medium IoU thresholds signify robustness. The paper suggests considering the mean Average Precision (mAP) metric for a comprehensive evaluation across IoU thresholds, if available. Despite this, DyHead stands out as the superior algorithm, particularly at medium IoU thresholds, making it suitable for precise object detection in smart city applications. The performance analysis using Average Precision at Medium IoU is reinforced by the Average Precision at Low IoU (APL), consistently depicting DyHead's superiority. These findings provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners, guiding them toward employing DyHead for tasks prioritizing accurate object localization and classification in smart cities. Overall, the paper navigates through the complexities of object detection in urban environments, presenting DyHead as a leading solution with robust performance metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture is gaining significance in the sustainable development of rapidly growing cities like Bengaluru, with a particular emphasis on leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for its enhancement. This paper investigates how ICT initiatives can bolster the productivity, sustainability, and inclusivity of urban agriculture in Bengaluru. Employing a qualitative research design, the study draws upon various data sources, including a series of interviews with key stakeholders, extensive field observations, and a comprehensive review of pertinent literature. Our findings underscore the transformative potential of ICT initiatives in addressing key challenges encountered in urban agriculture in Bengaluru, such as limited access to information, inadequate market linkages, and constrained financial resources. Specifically, we highlight ICT's role in optimizing crop management practices, fostering stronger market connections, facilitating financial access, and promoting social inclusivity within urban agricultural systems. Furthermore, this paper discusses the implications of these findings for policymakers and practitioners in Bengaluru and offers insights that extend to urban agricultural contexts beyond this region. By emphasizing the potential of ICT to revolutionize urban agriculture, this study contributes to the broader goals of sustainable urban development. Suggestions for future research directions in this domain are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In recent years, the rapid growth of virtual reality has opened up new possibilities for creating an immersive virtual world known as Metaverse. With advancements in technology, such as virtual reality headsets, and the emergence of applications with social interaction, Metaverses offer exciting opportunities for cities to build the future and a competitive advantage. The paper focuses on analyzing the theoretical and practical aspects of the Metaverse, particularly in the field of city development. This paper aims to discuss the potential benefits and challenges of the Metaverse projects for building cities' competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach: The article comprehensively describes the use of Metaverse as a project created to build the city's competitive advantage in a technology-based future. Therefore, in the article, we asked a research question: What is the potential of Metaverse projects for cities as a tool for building competitive advantage? The method used was an in-depth literature study based on an electronic basis, e.g., SCOPUS for theory background. In the empirical part, we have done the qualitative research using the multiple case study (Three selected cities: Seoul, Tampere, and Dubai) associated with bibliographic and documentary research. Findings: Metaverse has become one of the hot topics in society and, consequently, is the theme of scientific research worldwide. The development of the Metaverse world will inject new vitality into modern cities, open up more application scenarios for smart cities, and push them forward. It can also be stated that the fundamental concept of Digital Twins emerged with a Digital twin of a person (DToP) and a Digital twin of a customer (DToC). The Metaverse is an entirely new concept, and there are still too many unknowns and uncertainties about its development direction. Originality/value: This article comprehensively describes using the Metaverse as the project for building a city's competitive advantage. The cross-sectional case study and comparison of three cities provided valuable insights into cities' challenges in creating a metaverse project. The main contribution is identifying repeatable decision-making areas that scops become future potentials of Metaverse for cities in building competitive advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In smart cities, bicycle-sharing systems have become an essential component of the transportation services available in major urban centers around the globe. Due to environmental sustainability, research on the power-assisted control of electric bikes has attracted much attention. Recently, fuzzy logic controllers (FLCs) have been successfully applied to such systems. However, most existing FLC approaches have a fixed fuzzy rule base and cannot adapt to environmental changes, such as different riders and roads. In this paper, a modified FLC, named self-tuning FLC (STFLC), is proposed for power-assisted bicycles. In addition to a typical FLC, the presented scheme adds a rule-tuning module to dynamically adjust the rule base during fuzzy inference processes. Simulation and experimental results indicate that the presented self-tuning module leads to comfortable and safe riding as compared with other approaches. The technique established in this paper is thought to have the potential for broader application in public bicycle-sharing systems utilized by a diverse range of riders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of cities into smarter and more efficient environments relies on proactive and timely detection and maintenance of city-wide infrastructure, including roadside infrastructure such as road signs and the cleaning of illegally dumped rubbish. Currently, these maintenance tasks rely predominantly on citizen reports or on-site checks by council staff. However, this approach has been shown to be time-consuming and highly costly, resulting in significant delays that negatively impact communities. This paper presents AIoT-CitySense, an AI and IoT-driven city-scale sensing framework, developed and piloted in collaboration with a local government in Australia. AIoT-CitySense has been designed to address the unique requirements of roadside infrastructure maintenance within the local government municipality. A tailored solution of AIoT-CitySense has been deployed on existing waste service trucks that cover a road network of approximately 100 kms in the municipality. Our analysis shows that proactive detection for roadside infrastructure maintenance using our solution reached an impressive 85%, surpassing the timeframes associated with manual reporting processes. AIoT-CitySense can potentially transform various domains, such as efficient detection of potholes and precise line marking for pedestrians. This paper exemplifies the power of leveraging city-wide data using AI and IoT technologies to drive tangible changes and improve the quality of city life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]