Acronis, a global leader in hybrid cloud cyber protection solutions announced another significant sports partnership during the Formula 1 finale in Abu Dhabi.

The BMW Group has celebrated the official opening of its autonomous driving campus in Unterschleißheim.

German car manufacturing colossus BMW has accelerated its efforts to develop autonomous driving technologies by announcing that it plans to construct a test track for self-driving cars in the Czech Republic. The estimated cost of the track is rumored to be around €100m.

Experts have suggested that Canada looks set to join the US, Europe and Japan in the race to develop, deliver and deploy driverless technology. The claim was made following the announcement by Canadian automotive parts firm Magna International that they have developed its own autonomous technology.

China is leading the global race in the development of smart cities with the world’s second-largest economy now having over 500 smart city projects either ready or under construction.

A Chinese technology firm has confirmed that it has carried out the first manned trials of a new ‘drone taxi' service in the country.

Huawei recently released the world's first 3GPP R14-based commercial NB-IoT solution in eRAN13.1. This latest NB-IoT solution can provide much better performance than its predecessors.

South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company and multinational conglomerate Cisco has announced plans for a next-generation hyper-connected car that it hopes to officially unveil in 2019. In 2016, the companies announced that they had entered a strategic agreement in relation to a new approach to communication inside vehicles.

The development of a new 'smart community' in Canada labelled one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in the country is underway. REZ Real Estate officially confirmed that the construction of District Union, a project worth $900m has begun and signaling the emergence of a 'new smart, organic community' in the home of the Maple Leaf.

An innovative waterfront development project which has drawn inspiration from the world famous French Riviera, is now underway. UAE-based Azizi Developments have announced that construction has started on the 'Azizi Riviera', which will represent Dubai's very own version of the French Riviera.

The global smart city movement continues to gather momentum and new revolutionary technologies will only serve to accelerate the process.

Social networking colossus Facebook has announced that it is attempting to make a 'technical 'breakthrough in relation to developing and manufacturing futuristic 'smart glasses' specifically designed to allow you see to see virtual objects in the real world.

Fiat Chrysler has become the latest car manufacturer to throw its weight behind the development of autonomous vehicles - after it was formally announced that it would join an existing consortium that includes BMW, Intel and Mobileye.

A French global energy services company and a real estate developer have agreed to partner on an ambitious new project that will create what they describe to be as a new 'smart city of tomorrow' in Paris.

The focus on self-driving technology, electrification and autonomy continues to accelerate and that was evidenced further by the investment in Silicon Valley based start-up NAUTO, by General Motors and SoftBank Group.

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid has officially opened the world's largest Solar Park in Dubai - which will generate clean and renewable energy that according to officials involved in the project will ultimately pave the way for a more ‘stable electricity tariff rate' in the long run. The second phase of the park was inaugurated by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The inauguration ceremony coincided with the International Day of Happiness - and the innovative Solar Park reflects a new era in the excellence and leadership of the UAE.

Hikvision, the world’s leading provider for innovative security solutions launched the Hikvision Ecosystem Alliance Event 2019, bringing together government end users, leading technology enterprises, AI Technology professionals, system integrators and over 200 CXO level decision makers, to explore the potential for collaborating and developing new technology opportunities together. 

Hong-Kong professor Dr. Winnie Tang has launched her highly-acclaimed Smart City 3.0 e-book which attempts to examine and establish the role played by Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Robotics and the sharing economy in the development and future evolution of smart cities on a global basis.

The detailed insight into the future of smart cities which has been compiled by Dr. Tang has drawn critical acclaim from smart city industry peers.

Anthony Yeh, Chair professor, Department of Urban Planning and Design, The University of Hong Kong said, "I believe that this book is a must-read for anyone who is passionate about how smart cities can enhance quality of life and foster sustainable growth."

In her book, Dr. Tang highlighted some of the key emerging trends and predictions that are set to reshape our future cities. By 2020, the world's population aged over 60 years and older will outnumber children under the age of 5. According to the Hong Kong based professor a ‘tsunami of the ageing problem is fast approaching.'

In addition to this, we're also facing a huge issue in relation to increased urbanization. By 2030, it has been projected that urban areas will house 60% of people globally. This will inevitably put governments under enormous pressure. In the book, Dr. Tang outlines what she believes can be implemented in order to curb some of these trends and reduce the negative impact of them.

The Smart City 3.0 e-book stresses that whilst the opportunities represented by AI, Internet of Things and Robotics are incredibly exciting technologies destined to transform the way we live and how societies interact with each other, it's important to factor in the potential harm the mass adoption of these technologies will have. It has been estimated that half of the current livelihoods will disappear from working-class to professional.

There are many challenges and obstacles facing smart cities but with the correct strategic implementation of programs, projects and technologies, there's no doubting the fact that they can improve the lives of all living in the city.

President and Founder of Esri, Jack Dangermond praised Dr. Tang's work and said the core value of the e-book was trying to strike a balance between smart city development and conservation.

He said, "This is the essence of a smart city, which is to strike a balance between conservation and development, improving our quality of life without undermining our future with the help of information technologies and data driven decisions. This is also the core value of Winnie's book Smart City 3.0."

According to Dr. Tang, a smart city is defined by six key characteristics or attributes and they are smart people, smart economy, smart environment, smart government, smart living and smart mobility. In what is a compelling, in-depth and fascinating insight into the past, present and future of smart cities, Dr. Tang is able to clearly identify how cities have gone from digital cities, to intelligent cities to smart cities.

She claims that with further advancement in ICT and the Internet of Things, smart cities will become smarter. This will also subsequently make individuals, governments, firms and the environment smarter in the process. It will bring convenience and a much, much better quality life to those who reside in urban areas. According to Professor Tang there is no city in the world that can no longer afford to be not smart. She highlights that whilst governments and the private sector are trying to make cities smarter for different purposes, it's evident we're entering a new era of smart cities.

This Smart City 3.0 e-book compiled by Dr. Tang is an incredible insight into how smart cities have evolved and how they will continue to evolve due to advancements in technologies such as AI and Internet of Things, whilst the emergence of 5G will also have a revolutionary impact on smart cities all across the world, because a smart city can't be smart without connectivity.

The book is available to download now online. So don't miss out on the opportunity to examine and explore what the incredible and visionary future of our smart cities will look like.

Chinese telecommunications behemoth Huawei has announced that continuous large bandwidth (100 MHz per operator) has become the key trend to drive future 5G business success. Huawei made the declaration at the Fourth Annual Asia-Pacific Spectrum Management Conference.

UK car manufacturing colossus Jaguar Land Rover and ride-hailing service Waymo owned by US technology giants Google, have announced that they will partner on the development of a new self-driving electric car.