A partner-led approach to city transformation
As the 2016 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) approaches, it’s an exciting time for Microsoft and our CityNext partners. We’ve accomplished a lot over the past year with a truly partner-led approach as we’ve worked to inspire cities to engage and empower their citizens and their employees, optimize their operations and services, and transform themselves digitally.
Our current CityNext network includes more than 300 partners with over 1,000 innovative solutions that are helping cities be more sustainable, prosperous, and economically competitive. And the good news is that it’s just the beginning! Over the next seven years, the worldwide smart city technology market is expected to more than double from today’s $12.1 billion to $27.5 billion, presenting tremendous opportunities for partners interested in shaping the future of municipalities.
As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, cities are looking to better prepare themselves for the challenges that lie ahead—and four technologies are playing a lead role in this digital transformation. The Microsoft cloud is making it possible for cities to accomplish their work far more cost-effectively by offering a trustworthy, interoperable, scalable platform—without the need to upgrade and maintain on-premises infrastructures. Mobile computing is enabling citizens, case workers, inspectors, first responders, and other field workers to accomplish far more from any device wherever they are. Big data and the Internet of Things are allowing cities to collect and analyze vast amounts of data, while using predictive analytics that improve all aspects of city operations and citizen life. And social media is enabling cities to better engage and enable citizens while obtaining deeper insights into the issues they care about.
Together with our partners, our goal is to help cities around the world incorporate technologies like these so they and their citizens can become more efficient, safer, healthier, more educated, and more sustainable places to live and work. And thanks to our diverse network of global partners, that work is already taking place on a major scale.
A great example of what’s possible is the groundbreaking work of COPA-DATA, this year’s WPC CityNext Partner of the Year. COPA-DATA has combined its zenon software, tracking sensors, and the Microsoft Azure cloud platform to develop an innovative Internet of Things (IoT) solution that monitors hydropower plant operations for the Slovenian utility GEK. The owner of 13 solar and hydroelectric power plants across Slovenia, GEK is using COPA-DATA’s IoT solution to track plant health and automatically alert engineers when operations become sub-optimal via an easy-to-visualize dashboard. The solution has enabled GEK to reduce its energy use, while saving costs by reducing the need for field engineers to visit plant facilities. As cities across the globe work to lower both their costs and their natural-resource consumption, solutions like the one developed by COPA-DATA will be increasingly critical.
Another example of the important work taking place is the digital transformation of Hollands Kroon in the Netherlands. CityNext partner Sparked, a Government Partner of the Year finalist, has been helping Hollands Kroon to transform itself into one of the first municipalities in the world that operates 100 percent in a Microsoft based hybrid cloud. With the help of Sparked, the municipality has transferred data to the cloud, where it can efficiently analyze large amounts of information. It is using the cloud to introduce new citizen products and services. And it has created a mobile workforce where employees communicate, collaborate, and share documents from any device using Office 365.
These examples offer just a glimpse into the amazing work our CityNext partners are accomplishing as they help cities embrace the march toward urbanization. To learn more, please see our CityNext website.
