Flying cars, maintenance robots, buildings that talk… The smart city is often depicted as a spectacularly futuristic city. His real face is more discreet. In 2023, smart cities are actually those that skillfully take advantage of the new information flows available to the world. Those produced by these new generation minisatellites which multiply in low orbit and scan the earth with unprecedented precision. Those brought about by the digitalization of all aspects of the economy and society: location of smartphones, comments on social networks… A colossal cloud of data that humans would not know what to do with, but only artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly fine can operate efficiently.
Ile-de-France has just taken the plunge with QuantCube. This specialist in economic intelligence powered by AI, whose clients include the World Bank, the financial services giant MSCI and the mining group Eramet, has designed a tailor-made dashboard for the region: “CityStat”. The latter tracks several indicators in real time such as the volume of online job offers, that of tourists in the region as well as the region’s manufacturing production. The analysis of satellite images crossed with meteorological data also gives a forecast of wheat yields. “An important data given the weight of agriculture in our area”, we point out to the Region.
Air pollution, the level of drought and urban sprawl are also closely monitored. A section of social indicators completes the whole with a real-time measurement of inflation in the community, as well as an annual analysis of medical deserts and tensions on certain specialists, dentists or others. Known for having anticipated the Brexit vote and the election of Trump, QuantCube also scans social networks in order to reveal to Ile-de-France teams the main concerns of their constituents.
“Real time is a game changer”
The Paris Region Institute is also interested in satellite data “to analyze the evolution of vegetation, evaluate light pollution or detect illegal dumping of garbage, all very concrete issues for local communities”. notes Nicolas Bauquet, its general director. In 2022, Val d’Oise, where illegal waste dumping costs 14 million euros per year, had already started experimenting with the use of this type of images to identify illegal dumps. Other communities are interested in data. The Occitanie region thus had the idea of analyzing in real time the unfilled job offers on its territory in order to adapt the professional training offer, highlighted last year a note from the Bank of Territories and The post office.
Of course, identifying problems does not magically unlock solutions to address them. And QuantCube’s sophisticated dashboards come at a cost. The company does not reveal that of CityStat, but depending on the complexity of the measurements requested by a client, months or even years of development may be required. “The Covid pandemic has shown this very clearly: having real-time indicators is a game-changer, especially in times of crisis, argues Ghizlaine Amrani, co-founder and director of operations of QuantCube. Institutions have took a long time to produce measurements of the impact of confinement on employment, international trade or more generally, economic growth. Our tools saw this after a few days.”
The private sector has understood this well. QuantCube’s clients include many investment funds and banks who use its data to guide their decisions. In raw materials, for example, the company can track the production of various foodstuffs – rice, soy, wheat, sugar – across the globe. Its forecasts of political election results are also of interest to financiers, as changes in government have a significant impact on the markets. Finally, satellites do not only provide images. “They can also analyze the atmospheric composition of specific areas, on the scale of a region, a city or even a factory,” underlines Ghizlaine Amrani. An effective tool for assessing polluting gas emissions from different stakeholders. And an indirect index of the real manufacturing activity of countries – particularly those whose official statistics are considered opaque.