By Maywun Wong, Service Provider Mobility Marketing Manager

Mobility is here to stay.  According to a recent survey, 70% of all consumers use Public Wi-Fi, spending an average of 44 minutes connected to the Internet.  It's not just people connecting, but processes, things, and data, too, leading to the revolution called the Internet of Everything.  At CES this year, John Chambers showed how the Internet of Everything could represent as high as$19 trillion in global opportunity in the next decade .  For the public sector alone, IoE could generate up to$4.6 trillion in value in the next 8 years.

Cities around the world are using the IoE to provide intelligence to provide a better experience for their citizens and visitors.  They are installing Wi-Fi across town so everyone can connect with their friends and family.  They are also placing sensors in parking spaces, bus stations, light poles, and others such that the public knows what resources are available.  Wim Elfrink, Cisco EVP of Industry Solutions and chief globalization officer, recognizes that "cities have the opportunity to transform the way citizens experience urban life."

The city of Barcelona has embraced IoE in a true Smart+Connected City.  They haveconnected everything from waste management, street lights, water management, bus stops and even built a Smart Citizen platform.   The city has even installed Smart Parking.  They estimate that 40% of traffic in city centers is caused by cars trying to find a parking space.  The city of Barcelona has installed in-ground parking sensors to communicate with applications and mobile devices to tell the public about the locations of the available parking spaces.

The city has also used location-based analytics as a key dashboard of information for the municipal authorities, as referenced by Brendan O'Brien during his visit at the Internet of Things World Forum.

All of the connectivity is done with Service Provider Wi-Fi and Connected Mobile Experiences installed in the city to connect people, places, devices and data.  Will you be coming to Barcelona for vacation, work, or to attend Mobile World Congress February 24-27^th?  If so, come experience how Barcelona has deployed Smart+Connected City Wi-Fi.  If you're at Mobile World Congress, visit Cisco and find out more about how we're enabling the Internet of Everything today!