Smart City Concept Discussed in St. Petersburg

‘On the Way to a Smart City’ was held on November 12 during the III Investment Forum. Participants talked about the potential of St. Petersburg, digitalization and processes, and discussed the work that has been done already.

       

According to the research data by McKinsey, the number of Smart Cities all over the planet will grow up to 600 by 2020. St. Petersburg occupies the 88th place in the SmartCitiesIndex international rating by EasyPark for 2017. Criteria of smart cities adopted by the Economic Commission for Europe includes quality and availability of public utilities, innovative infrastructure, and a safe and comfortable environment. The development of infrastructure will allow integrating digital technologies into the economy and city services.

In the course of the panel discussion experts confirmed that much had been already done in St. Petersburg to implement various tools for a smart city. However, according to architect Daniyar Yusupov, residents themselves are not always ready to accept innovative technologies of a smart city. “It’s a big problem, and it needs to be solved. That’s why the next step is preparation of social tools instead of administrative ones,” reasoned Yusupov.

Natalya Trunova, Vice-President of the Center for Strategic Research, agreed with him. She noted that residents of the city are not always ready for changes; even if changes are for the best, they still react negatively at first. In addition, she thinks that it’s necessary to respect the opinions of residents, but not to do as polls show all the time.

“We have started the digitalization of urban development. In particular, we have created about 400 geo-information systems,” Natalya Trunova added.

The concept of a smart building was presented by Sergey Voronkov, Director General of EXPOFORUM International. He specified that smart venues are the heart of the event industry. They combine beauty and conceptual importance. “Here, exponents and visitors can have a new experience and interact as efficiently as possible. It’s these venues of the future that become centers for gathering competencies and producing knowledge. They solve the problems of the organizers of events and create a special level of comfort for their users,” Sergey Voronkov highlighted.

He named the EXPOFORUM congress and exhibition center as an example of a smart city venue: “Speaking about EXPOFORUM as a smart venue, it’s important to keep in mind that it was built taking real demands of the market and certain event riders into account - from global congresses to sports events and exhibitions. It’s the only Russian complex built for holding global congresses. It was built while taking competencies of the city as a capital of event tourism into consideration.”

Sergey Voronkov added that though EXPOFORUM is already rightfully considered the best venue in Europe, the company is continuing to increase its capabilities. “We plan to equip the complex with LED screens to use them for navigation and media advertising. We also plan to use projections and holograms for navigation,” the speaker said. “So we are working toward a "wow" effect for every visitor. Every guest should be impressed with all six senses when coming to our venue.” He clarified that the EXPOFORUM of the future would influence the entire spectrum of visitors’ emotions through vivid visualization, innovative advertising media and navigation, background music and fragrances. For example, test fragrance marketing was launched at the venue in August. The aroma of edelweiss became the official fragrance of the best venue in the country.

More

Smart City Concept Discussed in St. Petersburg

‘On the Way to a Smart City’ was held on November 12 during the III Investment Forum. Participants talked about the potential of St. Petersburg, digitalization and processes, and discussed the work that has been done already.

       

According to the research data by McKinsey, the number of Smart Cities all over the planet will grow up to 600 by 2020. St. Petersburg occupies the 88th place in the SmartCitiesIndex international rating by EasyPark for 2017. Criteria of smart cities adopted by the Economic Commission for Europe includes quality and availability of public utilities, innovative infrastructure, and a safe and comfortable environment. The development of infrastructure will allow integrating digital technologies into the economy and city services.

In the course of the panel discussion experts confirmed that much had been already done in St. Petersburg to implement various tools for a smart city. However, according to architect Daniyar Yusupov, residents themselves are not always ready to accept innovative technologies of a smart city. “It’s a big problem, and it needs to be solved. That’s why the next step is preparation of social tools instead of administrative ones,” reasoned Yusupov.

Natalya Trunova, Vice-President of the Center for Strategic Research, agreed with him. She noted that residents of the city are not always ready for changes; even if changes are for the best, they still react negatively at first. In addition, she thinks that it’s necessary to respect the opinions of residents, but not to do as polls show all the time.

“We have started the digitalization of urban development. In particular, we have created about 400 geo-information systems,” Natalya Trunova added.

The concept of a smart building was presented by Sergey Voronkov, Director General of EXPOFORUM International. He specified that smart venues are the heart of the event industry. They combine beauty and conceptual importance. “Here, exponents and visitors can have a new experience and interact as efficiently as possible. It’s these venues of the future that become centers for gathering competencies and producing knowledge. They solve the problems of the organizers of events and create a special level of comfort for their users,” Sergey Voronkov highlighted.

He named the EXPOFORUM congress and exhibition center as an example of a smart city venue: “Speaking about EXPOFORUM as a smart venue, it’s important to keep in mind that it was built taking real demands of the market and certain event riders into account - from global congresses to sports events and exhibitions. It’s the only Russian complex built for holding global congresses. It was built while taking competencies of the city as a capital of event tourism into consideration.”

Sergey Voronkov added that though EXPOFORUM is already rightfully considered the best venue in Europe, the company is continuing to increase its capabilities. “We plan to equip the complex with LED screens to use them for navigation and media advertising. We also plan to use projections and holograms for navigation,” the speaker said. “So we are working toward a "wow" effect for every visitor. Every guest should be impressed with all six senses when coming to our venue.” He clarified that the EXPOFORUM of the future would influence the entire spectrum of visitors’ emotions through vivid visualization, innovative advertising media and navigation, background music and fragrances. For example, test fragrance marketing was launched at the venue in August. The aroma of edelweiss became the official fragrance of the best venue in the country.

More