Ericsson Envisions Connected "Thinking Cities"

Just yesterday we talked about Evrythng pushing for "The Internet of Things" involving the digital interconnectedness of all physical objects around us, well Ericsson has long had an even grander vision applied to growing urban areas in what the company calls its Networked Society Project. Recently, they've delved deeper into this initiative with a new video called "Thinking Cities" to show the potential beauty of information and communication technology when deeply woven into cities backed by positive motives.

The Ericsson study discusses some lofty concepts and examines many of the issues that plague growing cities, where its estimated that 200,000 new people are born into or move into the cities every day. Although cities tend to be the centers for problems such as in financial markets, economies, health, pollution, crime, and disease, Ericsson believes that they are also the areas that are magnetic to all the creative ideas and solutions.

Ericsson researchers believe that having high-quality free broadband is an important basis for the infrastructure of cities, but that it needs to go beyond simply the ability for folks to connect to the internet. The physical infrastructural components of the city need to be connected as well and be able to communicate with each other. And by that, they mean roads can talk to roads, buildings to buildings, cars to cars, etc.

The high-minded concepts of the project is technically possible, but politics and the use of tax dollars certainly puts a damper on such an idealistic approach. The Ericsson video addresses the political issues and mainly focuses on the city of Stockholm, which is a forward-thinking city already known for taking an environmental and technological lead.

If you're curious what all the grand visions are in Ericsson's Networked Society Project and the idea of "Thinking Cities" be sure to watch the video below, although it is a good 18-minutes long.

[via Techi]