Is Stockholm the world’s smartest city?

Ericsson, a world leader in communications technology and services, recently released a report naming Stockholm as the highest-ranking city in the Networked Society City Index for 2016.

The index studies the performance of 41 cities all around the globe, focusing on two perspectives: ICT Maturity, which studies ICT infrastructure, affordability and usage, and Sustainable Urban Development, which is based on social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Next in line after Stockholm are London, Copenhagen, Singapore and Paris. However, London ranks at the top in the ICT part of the index, beating Stockholm, which drops to second in that area, before Singapore.

The index notes some major improvements for Barcelona, Istanbul and Jakarta, while Hong Kong, Moscow and Dubai have all been dropped in their rankings.

In general, the report notes that cities with low ICT maturity seem to develop faster than cities with higher ICT maturity, indicating an overall catch-up effect.

From the report, it looks as though ICT is not only vital to socioeconomic improvement, but can also help remove this progress from an increased environmental footprint, in favor of more sustainable development.

Is Stockholm the future of sustainable smart cities?

With the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, smart city planning will be vital. For example, cities will be instrumental for the improvement of poverty reduction, climate action, better health and education, as well as advanced social and financial inclusion.

Erik Kruse, head of Ericsson’s Networked Society Lab, states, “UN-Habitat estimates that 70 percent of the world’s population will reside in urban areas by 2050. Many smart city initiatives to date have mainly used ICT to optimize existing systems and behaviors, for example, intelligent transport.”

“Instead, cities need to rethink existing structures to fully grasp the potential of ICT to make sure that “smart” is in fact sustainable. The future Networked Society city is characterized by resiliency, collaboration, participation and mobility, which are essential for ensuring our cities are attractive, sustainable and vibrant places.”

For smart cities to continue to improve and become more sustainable, a number of important steps need to occur. These include, making ICT a basic infrastructure in investment plans, creating regulatory environments that encourage the adoption of ICT, a holistic approach to integrating ICT across various sector planning that includes transport, energy and public safety, and more collaboration between cities.

Visa wearable at Eurovision gets you access, beer and sausages

Visa Europe plans to launch a new temporary wearable at the Eurovision Song Contest, which allows attendees to purchase goods during the event Stockholm, Sweden.

The wearable will be available for purchase at the Eurovision village and will work with any provider that supports near field communication (NFC); also known as contactless payment. Users will also receive VIP offers on food, drink, and merchandize, alongside fast track into Eurovision areas in Stockholm.

Temporary wearables have been trialled before at UK’s Download Festival and Glastonbury. The device itself is usually inexpensive or free and allows the customers to pay for items without carrying around cash. The cost factor means it is less likely to be stolen than a normal smartwatch, which is eye candy for thieves at these events.

Venerable Eurovision Song Contest joins the connected world

For most Americans, the Eurovision Song Contest is something they vaguely remembered from a Monty Python skit, or maybe from the year that Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst’s “Rise Like a Phoenix” took it all. But the event is in its 61st year now, and this year’s event will be the first to be broadcast simultaneously in the United States and China. Eurovision said in a statement that it expects 200 million people might tune in to watch the show; the grand finale on May 14.

“Visa Europe is delighted to be sponsoring this year’s [Eurovision Song] contest as well as enabling those attending in Stockholm to experience the speed and convenience of contactless payments,” said Efraim Preisler, Senior Relationship manager for Israel and Malta at Visa Europe. “Contactless is becoming increasingly prevalent across Europe, providing consumers with the benefits of faster checkout experiences, expanded acceptance as well as curtailing their need to carry cash for low value payments.”

Visa has not mentioned any of its partners at the event, though we suspect most of the retailers that already provide contactless payment will accept the wearable. Visa will then take the wearables offline on October 31.