By Debbie Fisher, Market and Consumer Insight, Alcatel-Lucent.

As we continue our blog series around smart cities, research now shifts to the beautiful city of Zurich — best known by many for being the city with the highest cost of living. But to the citizens of Zurich, their city is one that today offers a high quality of life. And given this positive view, it’s no surprise that citizens are also very satisfied with the city’s overall “smartness.” This view is backed up not only by local residents, but also reported in Mercer’s 2011 Quality of Living ranking.

I’ve just returned from Zurich where we interviewed several citizens on their definition and vision of a smart city. As well we asked which services they thought could make a difference in their lives. Along with unseasonably warm weather, I heard what I can best describe as the “sunny,” satisfied disposition of Zurich citizens. The most commonly repeated phrase seemed to be “I have everything I need.” We’re proud to hear that our customer EWZ, via its ewz.zürinet, plays an important part in providing residents with the needed infrastructure. Internet access is nearly ubiquitous and allows for a virtual workplace. Swiss Railway and Zurich Traffic apps are already available for iPhone users and support the heavily used, efficient trams and trains.

But as we probed further with several of these satisfied citizens, we did hear some innovative ideas that caught my attention. The first one I’ll call Pedal Power. Keen interest in energy efficiency and eco-sustainability underlies this idea to have inhabitants report regularly to a local health club facility to ride a bike or “pedal” to help produce clean energy. There’s a double benefit — people stay fit and active while contributing to society’s energy needs. Very clever indeed!

Another insight came from a young father who expressed his support for the investments being made in fiber across the city and sees this as key to long-term success. He spoke of the idea of connecting pharmacies, patients, and doctors to improve health care, virtual shopping, and video communication as the vehicle of choice over SMS. But at the same time, these services need to be balanced so people don’t lose the social contact they gain by interacting with each other — face to face, person to person.

This feeling was echoed by another who suggested that new services are nice, but let’s not neglect the fact that customer experience is key…and for some providers, deserves more attention than investments in new services. Translation: Fix what you do today before you offer something new.

Maybe it has something to do with the advent of spring, but I left Zurich with a smile and I was glad to hear that its residents felt safe, secure, and happy that they were living in a smart city that delivers on their expectations for a high quality of life.

Watch for more blog posts on what we’re hearing from people around the globe and stay tuned for our detailed analysis on what we learned during our interviews later this year. If you’re new to joining the topic (or just want to learn more), check out our initial study which kicked off this Smart City project —“Getting Smart about Smart Cities”

For an exclusive and limited access to download our Market Analysis and Executive Summary please visit our web site at www.alcatel-lucent.com/mci.

As Louis Witters wrote in his blog post, we’ve now extended our research and partnered with Erin L. Henry, PhD Program in Organizational Behavior and Sociology at Harvard Business School, to gain insight from the people living in or relocating to what many are calling “smart cities.” How did they define a smart city? Were they aware they lived in a smart city? What services would make a difference in their lives? And, what was their vision for their city? We’ve captured three amazing stories in our recently completed video with citizens from Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA, that speak to these questions. These citizens are served by EPB, the local utility and now the proud supplier of North America’s fastest and largest 1 gigabit network. Watch this interesting and enlightening video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jack, Jim, and Helen exemplified what we heard from others — that a smart city is one that shares a culture and passion for collaboration. It celebrates differences and sets aside personal agendas for the greater good of the city. Moreover, a smart city respects the fact that technology is an enabler which touches the lives of its citizens in many ways.

But there’s more to the story … so I thought a Top Ten list might be the best way to share more of the presentations and visions of these wonderful people who are working and living in Chattanooga. And believe me, it was no small task selecting ten as I could have easily shared many more … maybe another day, another city.

So here’s my favorite “Top Ten Stories of the People Living in the Smart City of Chattanooga.”

#10 – A LEED-conscious architect who can imagine a host of new energy development applications and businesses creating more sustainable architectural designs and proving the value of eco-sustainable living.

#9 – A partner in a marketing services firm described a “life” rating system which would reward people who acted smart by changing their energy consumption to use power at off-peak hours, being more aware of their consumption, and by using real-time energy data to change behaviors.

#8 – A small business owner who recently relocated to Chattanooga — after living in Silicon Valley and Phoenix — to launch his education-based cloud services firm. He expects the gig and M2M technology to revolutionize the home entertainment industry. He goes on to suggest that utility and other service providers should shift their message from selling capacity to selling entertainment.

#7 – The head of the NGO leading downtown redevelopment spoke with pride of the ceremony which drew 300 people to the Spirit of Innovation Award. This award was given to a local lighting company that developed a solution leveraging the high-speed infrastructure which remotely controls the lighting of the streetlights depending on activity in the area. Now she feels a new sense of safety walking to her downtown office.

#6 – The head of the regional planning initiative who envisions a self-cleaning kitchen or the ability to make video calls (without any jittering or buffering) while enjoying a day boating on the river.

#5 – The city CIO who shared many stories of how technology had delivered numerous benefits by thinking broadly rather than in departmental silos. He cited saving over $1 million in the city’s lighting costs and 30% to 40% additional energy savings per streetlight by connecting it to the city’s wireless network to remotely dim during off-peak hours. They’ve also turned the same streetlights into rain gauges to reduce flooding and “sniffers” to identify safety threats. Smart technology has also had an immediate impact on reducing crime and the cost of fighting crime. Within the next two years, he expects between 2000 to 3000 connected devices and a continuing explosion of new services and cost reductions. That’s good news for citizens who see their tax dollars are being spent wisely while realizing a safer, greener lifestyle.

#4 – The head of the local housing authority who envisions changing the lives of residents and reducing the digital divide by drawing on the talents of application developers to invent solutions for social change.

#3 – A young mother who simply told how she’d love to hold live Internet-based, parent–teacher conferences for her 7-year-old son while her 2-year-old daughter took a nap.

#2 – A lifelong resident now heading one of the city’s leading foundations who has been at the center of nearly every story we heard by connecting people and ideas. He spoke of a firm called Global Green which set up shop in Chattanooga rather than in China because of the wireless network and support structure available to them.

#1 – The head of a local enterprise organization who wished he was 20 years younger so he could experience the incredible, positive changes that would touch the lives of all citizens of Chattanooga and the citizens across the world due to the gigabit infrastructure and ability to implement smart/M2M solutions.

This list is only the tip of the iceberg, so watch for more blog posts on what we’re hearing from people around the globe. After all, smart cities and the quality of life they deliver is extremely personal and truly experienced through the eye of the beholder. Technology will continue to impact people’s quality of life and help make cities smarter. But in the end, it is the people who realize and shape the potential of a connected society.

By Louis Witters, Market and Consumer Insight team, Alcatel-Lucent

Isn’t it amazing that today half of the world’s population lives in cities, and just a few decades from now, more than three out of four people will call a city “home”? At the beginning of last century, the number of mega-cities worldwide could be counted on the fingers of one hand. But within some decades, adding the toes of our feet will not be enough to count them.

This growing concentration of people in cities will lead to constraints, new needs and additional pressure on the cities’ various systems. That’s why Jane Anderson, Debbie Fisher and I, all members of the Market and Consumer Insight (MCI) team within Alcatel-Lucent, were asked to study smart cities — and consider related market opportunities.

Research phases

Our 2011 research included the following phases.

• We first reviewed studies undertaken by key stakeholders in smart cities and looked at 18 smart city projects in order to better understand the players, the processes and the focus of vendors and service providers.
• Next, students from the EDHEC Business School of Nice joined us for a deeper dive into seven smart city projects. “Persons of interest” in these projects helped us grasp the business models, funding, and engagement models that manage complex relationships among players.
• Finally, we substantiated the smart city types and the initial motivations behind smart city projects by applying them to 52 projects. Students from the Presidio Graduate School of San Francisco (California, USA) joined us in this phase.

Key results

What did we learn from our research? We gained a better understanding of who takes the initiative to set up greenfield smart cities or to refurbish existing cities into smarter ones. We learned that smart cities are not possible without government involvement or government backing, and that, in general, telecom service providers are not yet taking a leading role in smart cities, despite having assets that could enable a more active and beneficial role. (However, a lot is changing in this respect since we undertook the studies.) And finally, we found that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play a major role in the development of smart cities projects, but ICT is seldom seen as a separate segment with its own designated budget. ICT is typically part of other functional areas, such as transportation, energy saving, or waste management.

A market for service providers?

Our research results are available on the Alcatel-Lucent website (see Getting Smart about Smart Cities). But how do these results help us in better understanding the market opportunities for service providers? We have segmented smart city projects in terms of types and motivations, so that telecom service providers can develop a focused strategy for each.

We concluded that there are four basic types of smart cities (which can be further segmented). IT box types are the best fit with service provider offerings. Dream box projects require cooperation or partnerships with companies in the industry that drives the project. Black box types are “inaccessible,” except when invited to join the ecosystem. And, Fragmented box projects need a case-by-case evaluation to better define the appropriate strategy.

Our research also revealed three defining initial motivations, which will play a role in further development: social motivations intend to improve the quality of life for citizens and businesses; economic motivations result in observable advocacy for economic growth and a new economic model; eco-sustainability motivations intend to hit targeted sustainability goals that will result in environmental benefits. Service providers must take these motivations into account when creating solution offerings and approaching key decision makers.

Going forward

MCI’s research on smart cities does not stop here. The next round of research will focus on bringing out the voices of the citizens who live — or will live — in smart cities. Debbie Fisher is leading a survey of citizens, government officials and NGOs in cities worldwide. Some of the primary research results were presented at the Digital London event (March 13 and 14). Initial results of the research in Chattanooga (USA) can be found in the blog “Smart Cities – Today’s Difference; Tomorrow’s Ideas.”

For an exclusive and limited access to download our Market Analysis and Executive Summary please visit our web site at www.alcatel-lucent.com/mci

As part of its commitment to environmental responsibility, Alcatel-Lucent joined a consortium with BT and Cisco to pilot test three measurement methodologies, using them to evaluate a wholesale Internet service offered by BT. Through the pilot tests, Alcatel-Lucent is contributing to the standards and helping demonstrate their usability. Gabrielle Giner – Programme Manager, Environmental Sustainability at BT explains what prompted her company to ask Alcatel-Lucent to join the pilot study. We discuss the importance of establishing industry-standard assessments and the role that ICT can play in enabling a low carbon economy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more information about this project at Alcatel-Lucent, you can contact Tom Okrasinski, Eco-sustainability Program Manager.

This week, the Carbon Disclosure Project issued its 2011 Europe 300 report, and this year Alcatel-Lucent earned a place in its Carbon Performance Leadership Index.  The Carbon Disclosure Project is an independent, not-for-profit organization that has created the largest database of primary corporate climate change information in the world.  Representing some 550 investor groups with combined assets of $71 trillion, its mission is to “accelerate solutions to climate change by putting relevant information at the heart of business, policy and investment decisions.”

More than 3,000 organizations voluntarily disclose their carbon emissions to the CDP, and for this report the CDP analyzed disclosures from 271 (90 percent of the FTSEurofirst 300 Index) of the largest European corporations based on market capitalization. The organization provides two scores and a performance band.  In addition to being named to the Carbon Performance Leadership Index, Alcatel-Lucent rated placement in the “A” band and its score in the disclosure section improved by 10 percent over last year’s score to 89 out of 100 points.

Because it comes from the most visible carbon and climate change NGO, we consider this a terrific acknowledgement of the strength of Alcatel-Lucent’s climate change and sustainability program.  It is particularly gratifying coming on the heels of being named a sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in September and earlier this month being ranked fourth worldwide by the Environmental Investment Organization for the comprehensiveness, public reporting and verification of our emissions in our annual Corporate Responsibility report as well as with the CDP.

An Alcatel-Lucent colleague of mine, Joel Pagot, attended the CDP’s launch event in Paris Tuesday afternoon, and he was struck by the growing awareness and attention companies are paying to the issue of climate change and how they impact it.  Last year 253 major European corporations made their disclosures available for this particular report, this year the number is 271.  Even more encouraging is that, in spite of tougher scoring criteria, average scores for disclosure by the Europe 300 rose.  The average disclosure score in 2011 is 71, an increase of 2.5 points from 2010.

Nonetheless, one of the key messages of the CDP is that to effectively combat climate change, we all need to do more, and major corporations can lead the way.  At Alcatel-Lucent we have committed to reduce our carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2020 from our 2008 baseline and are well on the way to meeting that goal.  By working more sustainably in our own operations and our supply chain we not only reduce our carbon footprint, but we reduce our costs as well, helping to accelerate us on our transformation journey.

Rich Goode, Global Head of Sustainability, Alcatel-Lucent

By Richard Goode, Director of Sustainability, Alcatel-Lucent

Last week, the Environmental Investment Organization, an independent, non-profit research group that promotes eco-friendly investments, published their Global 800 Carbon Ranking report. This report investigated the state of reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the world’s 800 largest companies, with a focus on so-called Scope 3 emissions, primarily indirect emissions, such as travel, shipping and emissions from vendors.

Out of the 800, Alcatel-Lucent ranked 4^th worldwide for the comprehensiveness, public reporting and verification of our emissions in our annual Corporate Responsibility report as well as the Carbon Disclosure Project.

To rank them, the EIO undertook the massive job of independently surveying the information publicly available on each of the companies in its list to determine the how transparent each was in its reporting.

Companies who report their emissions publicly follow the GHG Protocol, which lays out three major categories:

Scope 1 – All direct emissions from fossil fuels.

Scope 2 – All indirect emissions from the purchase of electricity

Scope 3 – All other indirect emissions, such as distribution of goods, business travel, contracted manufacturing services, purchased goods and services, emissions from our products use phase and even employee commuting.

In all, there are 15 categories in Scope 3, and obtaining that data is quite challenging. Alcatel-Lucent reported on seven of these categories in 2010 and plans to report on 10 categories for 2011.  Only five companies reported more than seven categories in 2010.

Since these emissions aren’t directly incurred by Alcatel-Lucent, why even count them, especially if getting the data is so difficult?  There are a few good reasons.

• First, to be a leader in sustainability and Corporate Responsibility (remember, we are sector leaders on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index), being as transparent as possible about total environmental impact is crucial.
• Second, without a firm understanding of where our emissions come from, we cannot take the best, most targeted measures to reduce them.
• Finally, full emissions disclosure and verification are expected of us, by our customers, our ratings agencies and increasingly, by government agencies.

Green is one of the three pillars of Alcatel-Lucent’s Corporate Responsibility strategy (the other two are Our People and Digital Inclusion) and to be true to these principles we have to do the hard work to gather and report as many sources of our emissions as possible, and be transparent about disclosing them in a public place.

We appreciate the work the EIO did in compiling this list as well as the acknowledgement it gives us for our work in this area.  It validates that we walk the walk when it comes to Green, as well as gives us another incentive to do more in the future.

Christine Diamente in Dalian, China

By Christine Diamente, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Alcatel-Lucent

I have had the exceptional opportunity of attending the World Economic Forum’s Summer Davos for several years now.   And beyond the awe of being in a unique environment with the world’s top leaders, this last meeting in Dalian, China on Sept 14-16^th more than any other, stood out in my mind.

Many of us arrived in Dalian wondering, “what does the conference theme Mastering Quality Growth really mean”?

After intense days of discussions with Young Global Leaders, Young Scientists, Tech Pioneers, Public, Private and Civil Society Leaders–  the answer to me was clear.  “Mastering Quality Growth” is about a collective, global responsibility, to make our world better.  This means a world that is more inclusive, with sustainable growth and that puts humans at the centre.

What does it take to master quality growth?  Here are some the ideas that people shared which I liked:  a changed mindset, the power to dream, the will to act, thinking on a global scale, developing on a local scale, with disruptive innovation.  Ultimately, I personally believe it takes the passion to bring about positive change and a sense of joint responsibility, no matter where you are in today’s connected globe. And the drive to reach out to those who are not connected and to let them participate.

At Alcatel-Lucent, we have put forth 3 key commitments in our Corporate Responsibility strategy to drive change and play our role in “mastering quality growth”:

1-       GREEN: Continue to lead in developing and deploying eco-sustainable innovation

2-       OUR PEOPLE:  Invest in our people and talents while reflecting the diversity of the markets we serve

3-       DIGITAL INCLUSION:  Realize the potential of a connected world by developing and deploying affordable communications solutions globally

We are very proud that in the recent Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Alcatel-Lucent was ranked industry leader in sustainability for the communications technology sector.  And after spending the week at the WEF, it struck me that our role as a corporation and as individuals has never been so important.

I can drive change through Green, Our People and Digital Inclusion at Alcatel-Lucent.  But ultimately, in today’s connected world, we need to do it reaching out to new stakeholders.  Mastering Quality Growth cannot be done alone in silos.

So this is my invitation to all of you reading this blog:  whether you are a corporation, a public institution, an NGO, an entrepreneur, a citizen who really cares — join me, us, be part of our action to “master quality growth”. The responsibility is mine, ours, together.

Rich Goode, Global Head of Sustainability, Alcatel-Lucent

By Rich Goode, Global Head of Sustainability, Alcatel-Lucent

Over the past week I hit the speaker circuit to talk about sustainability – specifically about how sustainability can be a driver of innovation. Last week I moderated a panel discussion called Sustainable IT: What does it mean and how do you get there? This online, free discussion was sponsored by Focus.com and featured 4 experts from different industries. The companies reppresented included Dussault Solidworks, Redemtech, 4 Winds Research and the Center for Environmental Health.

The discussion started out with an explanation of how “Sustainable IT” differs from “Green IT” in that Green IT typically looks at how to save energy. While a noble goal, Sustainable IT goes well beyond that by looking at the energy and material used in manufacturing, minimizing impacts in hazardous substances, being open and transparent, and having responsible end-of-life activities.  The discussion went on to talk about life cycle analysis for product design, product take back, nature-inspired design (called bio-mimickry) and how to speed the adoption of green products.

In my role as moderator, several mentions about what Alcatel-Lucent is doing made its way into the discussion. In the area of reuse I mentioned the over 70,000 circuit packs that our SCO (Special Customer Operations) group refurbished and resold, preventing all that from ending up in landfills. SCO takes back formerly used equipment from our customers and refurbishes the equipment and resells it to other customers. This not only provides Alcatel-Lucent with an excellent source of revenue, but prevents tens of thousands of tonnes of used electronic waste from going into landfills [more info here]. Finally, as the discussion turned to the topic of industry collaboration, I mentioned our Greentouch organization so attendees could see what the power of larger-scale industry collaboration can do to change the world.

The event recording is now available for free download here.

Yesterday I was invited to keynote the Cleantech Open Academy. I love the mission of the Cleantech Open: The Cleantech Open mission is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big, disruptive ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges. In this room packed with over 100 entrepreneurs I started off with Ben’s quote of “A problem the size of billions of people is too large to be a problem – it must be an opportunity.”  I went on to talk about the role of ICT in helping to address some of the biggest climate challenges and how we are using a culture of innovation to address this opportunity with things like lightRadio and sustainable energy-powered base stations [more here]. After the talk I was crowded with about 20 entrepreneurs asking questions about our technology.

Being invited to these two events shows that Alcatel-Lucent is starting to attract more and more attention in the field of green and is being viewed as a leader in the space. We have great momentum so let’s keep it going.

New 1.2-megawatt solar power system at Alcatel-Lucent facility in Murray Hill, NJ. This facility serves as the global headquarters for Bell Labs and the company’s Americas region headquarters. Image by Chris White.

By Barry Dambach, Senior Director, Environmental, Health and Safety, Alcatel-Lucent

On an appropriately sunny June morning, Alcatel-Lucent flipped the switch to the “on” position for its new 6-acre solar array at its Bell Labs global headquarters in Murray Hill. Solar systems are popping up on many companies’ corporate campuses around the globe, but what is notable about this project, is that the use of this technology represents a homecoming of sorts. The underlying technology for this project was actually developed more than 50 years ago by Bell Labs at Murray Hill. Bell Labs scientists then were trying to find better ways to provide telephone service to farmers and others outside the reach of the country’s electrical grid. Coincidentally, one of those early solar panels is on display in the Alcatel-Lucent Technology Showcase at Murray Hill.

The 1.2-megawatt ground-mounted solar power system was installed in conjunction with SunPower Corp and ConEdison Development, and when it is operating at peak efficiency will be able to meet 10 percent of the power needs of the facility, which has some 3,300 employees.

The project is one of the steps Alcatel-Lucent is taking to dramatically reduce its energy use and carbon footprint – it has committed to a 50 percent reduction by 2020 from what its footprint was in 2008. It is a proof point in how seriously Alcatel-Lucent takes the threat of climate change and its willingness to combat it through modifications in its own operations.

While the communications industry is responsible for only about 2 percent of the world’s carbon emissions, and Alcatel-Lucent is working to reduce that, the company knows its biggest impact will be in the technology it develops – smart grid and other applications, for example – that will help other industries be greener. And in the meantime, we are using the rays from the sunshine that beams down on our research headquarters to keep the lights bright for the innovation happening inside.

Alcatel-Lucent General Counsel Steve Reynolds flips the switch on the new solar array at Bell Labs headquarters in Murray Hill, NJ. Joining him for the ceremony were, from left, Robert Mennella, Chief Operating Officer of ConEdison Development, Michael Gennaro, New Providence, NJ, Council President, and John Conley, Project Development Director, SunPower Corp. ConEdison Development is the developer, owner and operator of the system, which is located on Alcatel-Lucent’s Murray Hill campus, and SunPower was designer and builder. When operating at full capacity, the system will be able to provide the equivalent of as much as 10 percent of the power needed for the 3,300-employee facility. Image by Denise Panyik-Dale

Here are some key figures:

• Communications technology accounts for approximately 2% of global carbon emissions, a figure that is predicted to double by 2020, as demand for broadband services grows.
• The network component of ICT represents approximately 250-300 million tons of carbon emissions. This is equivalent to 50 million automobiles or 20% of the cars in the US.

A radically different approach is needed.

Driving environmental sustainability is an integral part of our company strategy. In addition to reducing our own direct impact on the environment, Alcatel-Lucent can also help its customer meet the environmental challenges they face.

Watch more in this video.

Learn more about our approach to eco-sustainability at: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/eco