Hervé Delphin, Ambassador of the European Union to India, visited IIIT Hyderabad’s Smart City Living Lab along with EU delegates Pierrick Fillon-Ashida and Sara Zennaro. The lab focuses on various aspects of smart cities such as water, energy, solar, pollution, weather, and occupancy/crowd management. Benoit Sauveroche from the European Commission recommended the lab as a must-visit place in Hyderabad.
The lab provides a live testing environment for innovations before implementing them in cities. It has sensor nodes for different aspects and uses communication protocols like 5G, 4G, WiFi, LORAWAN, and Wi-SUN. The data is sent to OneM2M following IoT standards and stored in a data warehouse with standardized information models. Currently, there are 300 nodes deployed across the campus.
During the visit, low-cost sensors for monitoring air quality and water level were showcased. A retrofit model for water management using analog meters was explained. The Center of Excellence on IoT and oneM2M for Smart Cities at IIITH was highlighted, along with the Smart City Research Center funded by an India-EU collaboration project.
The EU delegation discussed waste management and IIIT’s openness to startups and new ideas. They also learned about Wi-SUN technology and its benefits for city-wide deployments. The delegation inquired about partnerships and collaborations with IIIT Hyderabad, to which Prof. Ramesh Loganathan discussed the institute’s partnerships and ongoing Smart City mission.
