Imagine a city where technology is leveraged to enhance the quality of citizen welfare and municipal functionality. Smart cities are now an actual reality across the globe. Data-driven infrastructure, developed communication networks, and automated public services make smart cities a modern necessity.

Smart city technology spending is expected to reach $135 billion globally by the end of 2021 – this clearly indicates that they’re the new wave of the future, not just a mere passing trend. Public spaces in smart cities utilize various technologies and innovations to enrich the standard of community living.

One such radical technology is digital signage. The concept of digitally empowered signs has transformed the information dissemination and communication landscape in smart cities.

So, what is so remarkable about a digital sign? For starters, it is more than an ordinary screen with a single message. Digital Signage Software enables owners to control the visual display, and content of a sign through various customization options.

Digital Intelligence: A Solution for Urban Connectivity

Digital signage is a powerful and cost-effective platform for smart cities that can improve quality-of-living indicators by 30%. Harnessing technology to provide digital signs for citizens and visitors is a great idea – it reduces commute time, increases the standard of living and promotes environmentally conscious urban living.

Digital signs are an integral part of some of the world’s cosmopolitan cities and they have been employed as a novel feature for a vast number of benefits:

• Interactive kiosks to facilitate public navigation and transportation
• Assisted and live way finding
• Robust data networks that can integrate with mobile devices
• Location-specific targeted advertising campaigns
• Emergency public broadcasts
• Accurate weather updates
• Provision of local city information
• Smart buildings, healthcare, and educational facilities

Digital signboards are now an on-the-move resource that can dynamically alter the social, financial and environmental aspects of urban living. They are changing the way people live and creating socially responsive societies. Digital signs are truly a community asset – one that entertains informs and secures citizens in the long run.

Digital Signage Brings Up The Smartness Quotient in Cities

Digital signs are a key element of smart cities. They are interactive LED powered screens that display timely and relevant information to a mass population. Versatile and flexible – digital boards are a vital medium that can get a message across to an audience by doubling information retention.

Outdoor signs have always been a staple way to communicate, and digital signs offer a visually beautiful, captivating LED display that immediately gets noticed by the intended audience. Smart cities utilize digital signs in a vast array of public and commercial areas, as they serve as a useful tool for interactive way finding. Self-service kiosks with digital display signage are also an intelligent platform that ensures that city dwellers navigate transportation options easily, and get real-time live updates on train/bus/ tram running status. This helps not only in facilitating seamless travel within the city limits, but also saves time and energy.

The increased use of the Internet of Things for digital signs is another buzzing trend emerging on the horizon. IoT signboards allow for live user interaction through touchscreen displays. Strong data networks also play a huge role in keeping people connected, accessible and well-informed with current happenings. With radical emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, citizens get continuous access to real-time data which can also be integrated into their mobile devices, literally giving them the required information on their fingertips.

The best part about digital signs is that they are motored by up-to-date real-time data. It is an intelligent way to broadcast emergency messages such as weather alerts or residential security issues. Digital signs are a multifaceted resource – news stories, maps, directories, and events can all be easily communicated to city residents through them. Advanced technologies such as facial recognition systems, surveillance technology, and data analytics support digital signage kiosks further by facilitating relevant content toward target users.

Digital screens are omnipresent in most smart cities across the globe. Right from city directions to community notifications, digital signage software can be used for a diverse range of functions. Screens fuelled through intelligent video analytics are able to adapt content suited to the person standing in front of them, making them a potent medium that can influence the behaviour of residents. Optimal communication is vital in smart cities, and digital signboards lead the way in malls, roadways, and commercial centres due to their high functionality.

Advertisement space on digital screens also sells like hot cakes – it generates revenue for the city, and also saves taxpayers hefty amounts as it can be used to fund the signboard costs.

Digital signage propagates the green movement too, as they integrate conservation initiatives throughout the city. It results in fewer emissions and minimum wastage of energy – definitely a sustainable and holistic solution for clean living.  There is no doubt that this novel technology is the ideal platform to reach out to large audiences, and helps engaged citizens to make informed data-driven decisions.

The Final Picture

We live in a hyper-globalized world where over 55% of the population live in urban areas. Smart city development is on the rise, and technology investments are bringing about a positive transformation in healthcare, medical, education, transportation, and other vital government services. Digital signage makes the most of scarce resources and aims to provide streamlined services in a sustainable manner.

Digital screens are a valuable asset that can harmonize a city’s overall functioning by driving economic growth and better living through the use of technology in daily tasks. Knowledge would be available at every turn for residents, thus offering them a heads up on traffic conditions, route navigability, and weather conditions.

On a macro level, it can be noticed that digital signage devices empower city residents and allow them to play a proactive role in enhancing living wellness indicators. A greater sense of connectivity, smooth flow of information, structured public transportation and government services provision – there is no doubt that digital signs are a revolutionary public asset that is here to stay in the long run!

Parth Mavani is nurturing his future at SoftwareSuggest as Software Analyst. He has a keen interest in Remote Desktop Software, payroll software, Digital Signage Software and many more. He loves to spend his free time, traveling to different places.