— Sanjeet Pandit , Senior director of business development and head of Smart Cities at Qualcomm Technologies Inc .

ecosystem providers ” to connect its members in their search for smart city solutions and relevant expertise .

Smart cities are continuously evolving . Key trends Pandit is seeing emerge within the industry include surveillance , edge computing , base computing , asset management , public security , public WiFi and most importantly ‘ smart tourists ’, “ We ’ ve seen a lot of cities utilizing one — stop apps for attractions , coupons and transport etc ,” he explains .

Looking to the future , Pandit sees the next big thing for smart cities being artificial intelligence ( AI ). “ I never imagined in 1996 that I would be able to order things on the internet to be delivered the next day . That ’ s where AI is today , and it ’ s only in its initial stage . I don ’ t know how AI is going to shape up and change the landscape of smart cities , but I would say it is going to be the next big thing for the space .” Pandit warns that the smart city revolution isn ’ t going to be immediate . “ You won ’ t wake up one day to a different city ; it will be a transition .” Gradual

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