Calgary Recreation is working with Information Technology (IT) at The City of Calgary to test the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and custom software on its network based on the LoRaWAN™ protocol to determine if an in-house, low-cost solutions exists to effectively track pace of play at the Shaganappi Point Golf Course with Semtech’s LoRa® devices and wireless radio frequency technology (LoRa Technology). Understanding the pace of play on a golf course will help staff to tackle pace of play issues in order to elevate customer experience.

The Devonian Gardens is a three-acre horticultural refuge on the top floor of The CORE Shopping Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. One of the largest indoor gardens of its kind, it boasts more than 10,000 ground cover plants, 250 trees, a 900-square-foot living wall, koi ponds, and a children’s play area. This impressive botanical oasis, perched above 116 retail stores, is maintained by The City of Calgary Parks. Since 1977, Devonian Gardens, with its imported exotic plants and tropical trees, has served as an alluring retreat for Calgarians and tourists – especially during the long winter season.

Noise pollution is a persistent problem for residents in an urban environment. Recent studies have estimated that nine in ten people in major cities are exposed daily to noise levels exceeding international guidelines. The negative health effects of excess noise include disturbed sleep, hearing loss, cognitive disorders, and high blood pressure. Municipal noise ordinances aim to reduce noise pollution, but assessments of noise and monitoring are performed infrequently and are primarily complaint-driven. The City of Calgary set out to build a network of low-cost acoustic sensors to enable continuous monitoring of noise in its urban environment. The Internet of Things (IoT) platform identified for the project: Semtech’s LoRa® devices and wireless radio frequency technology (LoRa Technology).

In this guest blog, TEKTELIC Communications presents its role in The City of Calgary’s smart city based on LoRa Technology. Learn more about the Smart City of Calgary and stay tuned to Semtech’s blog throughout December for more stories about #SmartCalgary.

The City of Calgary is leading the smart city revolution as one of the first cities in North America to build a municipality-owned, carrier-grade network based on the LoRaWAN™ protocol. This innovation is possible through the collaboration of business and community partners, such as the University of Calgary (U of C). Facilitated by the Urban Alliance, a research partnership between the City of Calgary and University of Calgary, the Computer Science Department at U of C played a key role in driving smart city innovation with Semtech’s LoRa® devices and wireless radio frequency technology (LoRa Technology). Learn more about this valuable community partnership in the Q&A below with U of C Professor Majid Ghaderi, PhD, and graduate students Edward Rochester and Asid Muhammad Yousuf.

For the next two weeks, Inside Out will feature stories about the Smart City of Calgary, which deployed one of the first City-owned LoRaWAN™-based networks in North America. We kick off the series below with a guest blog from The City of Calgary below. Learn more about the Smart City of Calgary and stay tuned to Semtech’s blog throughout December for more stories about #SmartCalgary.

Mallorca, the largest of Spain’s five Balearic Islands, is known for its white sand and crystal-clear turquoise waters. It’s no surprise the island’s popularity as a tourist destination has steadily grown to more than 10 million visitors in 2017, up from six million in 2010, and just three million in the 1970s. The residential population of this Mediterranean island has doubled from 460,030 in 1970 to 895,000 in 2017. A study by the University of the Balearic Islands anticipates an additional 32.7% population growth by 2030. The report equates this to 25 people for every meter of beach in Mallorca. With increasing environmental limitations, Mallorca’s citizens are developing smart solutions to conserve natural resources by saving water, recycling waste and reducing consumption.

Streetlights use a tremendous amount of a city’s energy; the operation of these lamps can sometimes represent up to 60% of a city’s entire energy bill. Furthermore, current streetlight models are not optimized to be as energy efficient as possible. For example, most streetlights operate only on binary “on, off” settings, on a fixed schedule. There is now way to dim the lights during twilight hours to conserve energy.

The metropolitan region in Southeastern Virginia called “Hampton Roads” is prone to flooding. The area is home to two million citizens and 14 military installations, including Langley Air Force Base and Naval Station in Norfolk, the largest naval complex in the world. Like many of the 665 coastal communities in the U.S., this region regularly floods during moderate to heavy rains and high tides. Hampton Roads has the additional burden of experiencing land subsidence – the ground is sinking as sea level water is rising.

As the end of the month grows near, companies around the globe eagerly prepare for Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2018 (MWC Shanghai), from June 27 to June 29.