The International Istanbul Smart Grids and Cities Congress and Exhibition opened its doors for the eighth time this year with the contributions of the Smart Transportation Systems Association. BTK President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu also spoke on the impact of 5G on smart grids and cities.
Drawing attention to the need to develop new approaches for city management beyond classical urbanism, Karagözoğlu stated, “We need to use technology effectively in city management as well. This highlights the importance of the technological and innovative solutions we refer to as ‘smart cities’ in recent times. Smart cities, established with the aim of making citizens part of the solution, detect citizens' requests, existing and potential problems in a timely and on-site manner, determine problem priorities with objective criteria, facilitate city life, elevate residents' social status, and make their lives easier.”
Karagözoğlu shared that, “According to studies, smart city solutions applied only to vehicle traffic and electricity grid management can provide up to 160 billion dollars in benefits and savings due to reductions in energy use, traffic congestion, and fuel costs. Again, according to studies, smart transportation systems can reduce time spent in traffic by 29%, average stopping time in traffic by 56%, increase emergency response speed by 50%, and reduce the total time required for emergency interventions by 40%.”
President Karagözoğlu: We Are Working to Position Our Domestic and National Products in Our 5G Networks
Emphasizing that the impact of information and communication technologies on decision-making processes in city management cannot be denied, Karagözoğlu said, “The technology that will carry all these applications we mentioned and many more smart city applications beyond them in the short and medium term is 5G technologies. When 5G technology is combined with other connectivity solutions and fully integrated data center networks, it significantly improves quality of life, public safety, and energy efficiency on one hand, while protecting valuable resources and contributing to a better future on the other. In this context, it is of great importance for our mobile operators, who continue their preparations for 5G, to deploy their networks in a way that can be integrated with smart city applications.”
Karagözoğlu concluded his speech by saying, “At this point, I would like to inform you that our work towards 5G as the Information Technologies and Communication Authority has been ongoing for a long time. In coordination with our Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, along the axis of our President's ‘National Technology Move,’ we are continuing our efforts to introduce 5G technologies to our country's service on one hand and to position our domestic and national products in our 5G networks on the other.”