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MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS
full advantage of the mobile device hardware, especially the
camera and the video camera.
3. WidgetPad is a collaborative, open-source mobile application
development environment. It can be used for creating smart
phone applications using standard Web technologies such
as CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript. is platform provides
features such as project management, source code editing
and debugging, collaboration, versioning, and distribution. It
can be used to create mobile applications that work on iOS,
Android, and Web OS.
4. PhoneGap™ was the winning pitch at Web 2.0 Expo San
Francisco’s 2009 Launch Pad event. It is a FOSS framework
that helps users develop mobile applications for iOS Android,
Symbian, and BlackBerry platforms using Web development
languages such as JavaScript and HTML.
5. MoSync is another FOSS cross-platform mobile application
development software development kit (SDK) that supports
common programming standards. e SDK includes tightly
integrated compilers, runtimes, libraries, device profiles,
tools, and utilities. MoSync provides an Eclipse-based IDE
for C/C++ programming. It is expected to provide support
for JavaScript, Ruby, PHP, and Python languages soon. is
framework supports a large number of operating systems such
as Android, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.
6. Cross-OS mobile platform from IBM—IBM® Worklight
[3]. IBM Worklight helps you extend your business to
mobile devices. It is designed to provide an open, com-
prehensive platform to build, run, and manage HTML5,
hybrid, and native mobile apps. IBM Worklight can help
you reduce both app development and maintenance costs,
improve time-to-market, and enhance mobile app gover-
nance and security.
IBM Worklight consists of five components. IBM Worklight
Studio is designed to provide a comprehensive environment for
advanced, rich, cross-platform mobile app development. IBM
Work light Server is mobile-optimized middleware that serves as
52
INTELLIGENT CITIES
a gateway among applications, back-end systems, and cloud-based
services. IBM Worklight Device Runtime Components offer run-
time client APIs designed to enhance security, governance, and
usability. IBM Worklight Application Center enables you to set up
an enterprise app store that manages the distribution of production-
ready mobile apps.
IBM Worklight Console is an administrative graphical user inter-
face (GUI) for the server, adapters, applications, and push services to
help users manage, monitor, and instrument mobile apps.
With IBM Worklight one can
• Support multiple mobile operating environments such as
iOS,BlackBerry®, and Windows mobile devices with the
simplicity of a single, shared code base
• Connect and synchronize with enterprise data, applications,
and cloud services
• Safeguard mobile security at the device, application, and net-
work layers
• Govern a mobile app portfolio from a central interface
In the next section, we examine some of the challenges of intelligent
cities and the solutions offered for them by the 3G and 4G wireless
mobile networks.
2.4 Challenges of Intelligent Cities and Solutions Offered
by Mobile Wireless Networks and Devices
Some of the key challenges faced by intelligent cities are
• Inability to effectively monitor and track various types of
energy consumption, which in turn leads to situations such as
energy theft and energy grid inefficiencies
• Congestion on roads due to the unavailability of information
on various transport options, their routes, timings, and so on
• Inefficient supply chain management, which in turn affects
the entire retail ecosystem
• Lack of availability of anytime, anywhere healthcare facilities
for residents
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MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS
• Excessive cost due to the maintenance of multichannel ticket-
ing systems
• Inability to extract useful insights from data as data from dif-
ferent agencies within a city are maintained in different silos
and there is no possibility to integrate and extract meaningful
insights and use them for the benefit of residents
e solutions for these challenges, which can be worked out using mobile
devices, are summarized in the diagram that follows. ese solutions are
the most prominent use cases of mobile devices for intelligent cities.
Remote
healthcare
Mobile
payments
and ticketing
Analytics and
commercial
insights
Intelligent
energy
Wireless fleet
management
Mobile
use cases for
intelligent
cities
e role of mobile devices in addressing these challenges is sum-
marized in Table 2.2.
2.4.1 Mobile Payments and Ticketing
Mobile devices have an inevitable role in developing an integrated
infrastructure and platform for managing ticketing applications and
other micropayments in an intelligent city environment. One impor-
tant use case for mobile ticketing would be public transport services,
which are the most important mode of travel to interconnect differ-
ent parts of a city. ey typically involve a high volume of low-value
54
INTELLIGENT CITIES
transactions that take place throughout the course of the day. If
there is a possibility to devise a cashless transaction mechanism
using mobile devices, it would immensely benefit both the public
and the transport authorities. e benefits would be twofold if there
was a possibility for the ticket itself to be distributed back to the
mobile device. Many cities today have disparate independent tick-
eting systems for different modes of transport and other city ser-
vices such as stadium access, museum entry, and so on. e result
is a lack of good user experience for end-users, higher rates of theft
or loss, and a loss of opportunity to generate a consolidated view
of urban traffic patterns. To best understand the concept of mobile
Table 2.2 Role of Mobile Devices in Addressing Challenges of Intelligent Cities
MOBILE USE CASES FOR
AN INTELLIGENT CITY URBAN CHALLENGE MOBILE-BASED SOLUTION
Intelligent energy • Access to electricity for
development of cities
• High levels of electricity theft
• Inefficiencies of traditional grid
• High levels of electric vehicle
charging
• Inability to track energy
consumption and usage in real
time
A mobile-based energy
management service that helps
consumers track and manage
energy consumption in real time
and pay bills using mobile
devices; provides features to
track energy theft and identify
energy leakage.
Wireless fleet
management
• Inefficiencies in supply chains A mobile-based intelligent fleet
management solution for
mobile tracking of fleet and
routing using embedded
telematics.
Remote healthcare • Reliance on costly healthcare
models
• Aging infrastructure and
outdated technology
• Limited real-time data about
patient’s body parameters
Remote patient monitoring and
healthcare solutions using
mobile devices.
Mobile payments and
ticketing
• Cost of maintaining
multichannel ticketing systems
• Inconvenience for consumers
A mobile ticketing platform that
uses near-field communication
technology to provide
end-to-end ticketing solutions
for customers.
Analytics and
commercial insights
• Disconnected data sets in silos
• Inability to track and derive
useful insights about various
aspects pertaining to residents
in diverse city domains
Mobile business intelligence
platforms that provide real-time
insight for city government.
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MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS
ticketing, it is very important to know more about near-field com-
munication (NFC) technology.
NFC is a combination of radio frequency identification (RFID)
and networking technologies. It is a unique wireless technology that
enables easy and convenient short-range communication between
electronic devices. It connects all types of consumer devices and facil-
itates easy communication among them. It acts as a secure gateway
and allows consumers to use NFC-enabled mobile devices to store
and access all kinds of data. If two NFC-enabled devices are brought
closer to one another, they can automatically initiate network com-
munication without the need for any preconfiguration or setup.
2.4.1.1 Role of NFC in Mobile eTicketing An eTicket is a token or pass
that is used by consumers for various purposes such as travel on public
transportation and gaining entry to various entertainment/sports venues.
With the help of NFC, the eTicket process takes just a matter of seconds
for completion. It also provides much convenience for consumers. After
completion of payment information, the purchased eTicket will be trans-
ferred to the consumer’s mobile device. e different steps involved in
eTicketing using NFC are described in the diagram that follows.
• User holds mobile phone close to the payment terminal to initiate a transaction.
• e user types in credit card PIN on phone to confirm the transaction and complete
the purchase.
• Arriving at the concert hall, the user simply holds his mobile phone close to a reader
fitted to the entrance turnstile, which allows access after checking the eTickets that
are stored in the mobile phone.
• While at the concert the user will be also able to take advantage of any loyalty offers
which are linked to the eTicket.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
NFC technology will enable consumers to use their mobile devices as
contactless payment and ticketing devices. One successful trial of NFC
is the O2 NFC initiative in London for mobile eTicketing services. e
success of this trial opens the door for the wealth of opportunities that
are available for various contactless mobile payment options in cities. To
facilitate mobile payment options, in many intelligent cities, the necessary
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