Smart City at your service - empowered by emerging technologies Vol. 2
Publication Date/Time
2018-08-29T09:00:00+00:00
How Open Data and Artificial Intelligence improve the air quality in
Smart Cities
CLEAN AIR IS CRUCIAL FOR US, HOWEVER, THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IT WILL RISE
IN THE FUTURE

Air is essential for our daily survival - it is more important than
food or water for us. As urbanisation processes, more and more people
and industries are moving into the cities, which has an impact on
urban air quality. Forecasts predict that the world population will
increase from seven billion
[http://www3.weforum.org/docs/Harnessing_Artificial_Intelligence_for_the_Earth_report_2018.pdf]
to almost ten million by 2050 of which almost seventy percent will
live in cities. This clearly shows the increased importance to focus
on air quality in urban areas. Actually, the air quality is already
low in many areas: ninety-two percent
[http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health]
of the world population lives in cities which fail to meet the World
Health Organization's air quality guidelines.
[http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/69477/WHO_SDE_PHE_OEH_06.02_eng.pdf;jsessionid=E1692FDAC04774156B663F1500A5A4A7?sequence=1]
Thus, there is already a severe urgency to improve the air we breathe,
which in the near future is likely to intensify even more.

EFFECTS OF BAD AIR

Most affected of air pollution are quick-growing cities, however, the
problem has effects to all sorts of cities within the EU as well as
around the globe. According to the World Health Organization
[http://www.who.int/], the global air pollution rose up to eight
percent within the last five years, which is an incremental increase.
A fact that draws more attention to the topic is the serious health
issues caused by bad air. Every year, more than seven million people
[http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/]
die as a consequence of air pollution, which equals to one out of
eight deaths worldwide.

TECHNOLOGIES - CAUSE OR RESCUE

Numerous information about smog and air pollution is provided in the
news, with pollution being a result of, for example, factories,
vehicles and power plants. Stating it differently: pollution comes
from technology and industry. We tend to think of technology mainly as
a cause for air pollution but what if we use it to improve the current
situation, what if technology can rescue our air quality?

NEW TECHNOLOGIES BOOST SMART CITIES

Digital technologies act as a catalyst leading to an urban
transformation and making cities more smart, efficient and liveable.
By generating, processing and linking information, situations can be
monitored, assessed and tackled. In this way, urban challenges like
traffic, pollution and infrastructure can be addressed to further
develop smart cities. The aim of smart cities is to increase the life
quality for visitors as well as citizens by establishing smart
solutions, e.g. to improve air quality. In doing so, smart cities add
value to the inhabitants, economy and ecosystem.

OPEN DATA AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - THE FUTURE SOLUTION FOR SMART
CITIES

Artificial intelligence is one of the promising technologies that
support (smart) cities to address their future challenges.
Technological advances and the availability of (Open) Data are the key
ingredients for the recent global Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom
and enable the next wave of Intelligent Automation across all
industries and functions. Andrew Ng
[https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/andrew-ng-why-ai-new-electricity],
professor at Stanford University, stated: "just as electricity
transformed almost everything 100 years ago, today, I actually have a
hard time thinking of an industry that I don't think AI will transform
in the next several years".

The combination of Open Data and AI may bring a solution to reduce
pollution in (smart) cities. With Open Data, it is possible to compare
the air quality of countries as well as cities across Europe and
derive measures from that. Moreover, Open Data helps to draw more
attention to the issue and to raise awareness for the current
situation as well as the negative impacts from low air quality. Access
to Open Data is, for example, provided on the European Data Portal
[/en/what-we-do/highlights-archive]. By re-using this Open Data, AI
can gain insights and solutions from the data faster and more
efficiently than solely human intelligence could. Therefore, the
combination of Open Data and AI is most valuable and offers multiple
fields of action.

AI CAN SUPPORT CITIES REGARDING CLEAN AIR IN MULTIPLE WAYS 

As the figure
[http://www3.weforum.org/docs/Harnessing_Artificial_Intelligence_for_the_Earth_report_2018.pdf]
below displays, AI can improve air pollution within cities regarding
filtering and capture, monitoring and prevention, clean fuels and
early warning.
[https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/img/media/20180829-technologies-chart.png]
SOFTWARE, WHICH INCLUDES AI ALREADY HELPS CITIES TO IMPROVE THEIR AIR
QUALITY

The following two use cases show, how AI helps to improve the air
quality.

The quality of air can vary on a day to day basis due to several
factors such as traffic congestion, weather or industry activities.
Via a specific software that makes use of AI, air pollution can be
tracked. Furthermore, it connects real-time data
[/en/highlights/smart-city-your-service-empowered-emerging-technologies]
from weather and traffic and allows to predict and simulate data for
certain regions in which sensors have not been installed yet. At the
end of the analysis, the software generates a map, showing real-time
pollution values and providing information about the air quality. This
data can then be reused to reduce traffic in certain areas or to lead
local companies to implement additional filters. Additionally, the
gathered data can be used for climate studies in order to gather
further insight.

AI ALLOWS BETTER PREDICTIONS

Currently, IBM [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcJz6nkYbkQ] tests a
computer system which includes AI. The underlying data is collected
via air pollution sensors, for example, traffic or satellite data.
This data is crunched with AI, better to say, cognitive computing as
well as predictive analytics. Through machine learning, the system
learns to predict the air pollution's severity a few days in advance
by using this huge data set. After data gathering, the data is mapped
to one model, in which physical and chemical parameters are included
and combined. Based on past experience, the machine learns to find the
ideal parameter combination. The AI component in this model enables
better results than the two separate models could reach without the
intelligent combination. Thus, this software sees patterns where human
intelligence only sees chaos. With the software results, it is
possible to provide high-resolution forecasts of air quality
one-by-one-kilometre, three to ten days in advance. The advantage of
this solution is that, based on the analysis of the data scenarios
(what if), respective actions can be undertaken, for example, traffic
control or production limits in order to reduce emissions.

So, the Internet of Things generates data that, if processed by AI,
acts like a highly efficient monitor for the environment and improves
the forecast quality using cognitive capability as well as machine
learning. Although cities tend to become smarter through such
technology, we are still at the beginning of the path with an
uncertain but promising future. Open Data an AI support the
transformation of traditional industries and systems to address
climate change and cleaner air. Therefore, it is only the beginning of
an age of new opportunities and possibilities supporting to generate
cleaner air in smart cities.

Read more about Open Data and Clean air on the European Data Portal
[/en/highlights/quality-air-hope-or-despair].
