Future-Proofing Our Cities for Tomorrow’s World

11-March-2020

By Osama Nasr, Chief Information Officer, BisB

I have a vivid memory of watching the film Back to the Future II, wondering when, if ever, flying cars would be invented. Fast-forward to 2020, and although cars may not be flying, they are well on their way to driving themselves, while remote unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are set to take over the world of city taxis.

More and more, companies are following in the footsteps of Tesla using machine learning-enabled technology to bring self-driving cars to the masses. However, a level-5 autonomous vehicle does not exist, yet. Since the CEOs of these leading companies have set extremely tight deadlines, they keep realigning their goals. This all comes at the cost where the critical balance is a combination, of cost, demand and supply that will satisfy the end user, the customer.

Even though a fixed date on when to expect such autonomous vehicles is very debatable, one cannot but notice the fact that these cars have unparalleled promise to completely transform society. Not only does this technology get rid of the stress of the morning commute to work, but it also provides benefits to those who have trouble getting around, due to disability, illness, or old age, which had previously been impossible for them. As with every new technology, change becomes inevitable. If autonomous vehicles can lead to less congested roads, more efficient journey times, reduce “bottlenecks” and traffic jams, we may well see commuters travelling to work from further afield as a consequence.

One of the significant advantages of autonomous driving is the precision and complete “focus”, which will lead to greater road safety. This will be likely to encourage people to opt for being driven by an autonomous vehicle rather than a human, or even driving themselves. As this becomes the norm, operating with multiple people (autonomous car sharing) will become more common. This should decrease the number of cars on the road, making travelling by road more efficient. Just as the computer and internet have dramatically changed lives, so will artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving.

With all that said, we are still far from an ideal scenario. The reality is, the sheer amount of data these cars will need to process is enormous. Just think about it. What does it take to turn left at a four-road intersection? AI is enabling the development of autonomous cars to progress rapidly. However, not only does the car have to be able to “think for itself”, it still has to be receptive to instructions, likely verbal in nature. Cars you can buy from a dealer are already fitted with cameras and sensors that mean they can park themselves, which is a mammoth leap for autonomous driving. However, at an intersection, the car has to be able to sense the movement and speed not only of other cars, but external agents such as pedestrians, and even flying debris on a stormy day.

In snowy or icy conditions, autonomous vehicles have to use sensors to gage the level of traction available on the road surface and, where necessary, recommend adjustment to tire pressure. While autonomous vehicles may be able to drive themselves, they currently still require a fair degree of human input in order for them to operate – filling up with petrol, oil, recharging if it is an electric vehicle, the list goes on.

The advent of new technology and its incorporation into our everyday lives has already provided us with a clear indication of the massive volume of work required to deal with ‘infrastructure’. Think about how smartphones and tablets have changed the public space. Today, as you walk into an airport, pass by a mall, or as passengers fly into the clouds, you expect free Wi-Fi and plenty of charging stations. Have you ever stopped to think of the disruption, as well as the cost, to get these services into place? It was a daunting task and remains ongoing.

Transforming infrastructure to be more agile and simpler is no easy task. We experienced this within our company when we decided to digitize our services two years ago. Starting from organizing IT for efficiency, then opening our technology innovation lab and implementing the required platforms, to getting our systems ready for Open Banking last summer, the challenges were seemingly never-ending. The amount of work required behind the scenes was substantial, particularly considering the importance not only of creating systems that were operable 24/7/365 without fail, but one, because of the very nature of banking, which was 100% safe against external threats. Maintaining those systems and continually improving them was also a challenge for us owing to constantly changing technological trends.

Early on we realized that we did not want to fully “digitize” our branches. Our desire was for “Financial Malls” to be more of a social space that offers the best of both worlds: technology and social interaction. Our new Innovation Hub will provide both a fully digital floor together with the human touch, a vital element of traditional customer service.

It is not just about the technology that we have access to that matters, it’s realizing what works best for today’s consumer. Ordering food on the phone would not have been possible a hundred and fifty years ago, but is commonplace today. Smartphone penetration has now reached over 90% in certain countries, including Japan – a leader in modern technology. More people today access the internet via a smartphone or tablet than a PC. “Smart” is the prefix to so many words in today’s lexicon, and smart city is one of those words. However, a city can be called “smart”, but that doesn’t mean people will enjoy living in it. The more autonomy takes over and the less we humans have to do for ourselves, do we not, consequently, become depersonalized?

The success of a “smart” society lies in the ability to make smart cities more efficient, less polluted, and more comfortable to live in, but not to the cost of the consumer as a person. AI has the potential to increase the already exponential curve of IT’s influence on the way we live today. However, one has to be careful not to get too carried away to the point where the way we design the world around us is done more for the benefit of living in a “smart” world than living in a real world.

It is not too late to talk, at depth, how we want our cities not just to function, but how we want them to look. We are, after all, humans, not machines, and humans still require individuality and character within the world they live. We have to discuss, at great length, the impact developments such as autonomous cars and UAV taxis will have not just on the way we live, but how such dramatic changes can be effectively rolled out into society, as that is a giant step from the world of the test track. Lawmakers across the globe will be rubbing their hands as part of ‘futureproofing’ smart cities will undoubtedly require considerable changes to the laws under which we have become used to living.

Now is the time to have these conversations, not tomorrow. To ask you what you would imagine a city of 2040 to look like and operate might seem like a crazy question as it is 20 years away. However, we have already run 20 years into a new millennium and look at what has changed in that time. Have we been ready for all these changes? No. Have we made the most of innovative technologies? Not yet. You only have to look at all the problems electric cars are beset with to realize that you have to look at the ‘big picture’ and not just make it up as you go along.