* Songdo looks to offer the most advanced digital infrastructure imaginable
There’s a giant digital experiment rising from muddy lands reclaimed from the Yellow Sea in South Korea. If you haven’t yet heard about this place, you’ll hear plenty in the next few years as the life of George Jetson becomes a reality in New Songdo City.
Songdo is a master planned digital city being built just 40 miles southeast of Seoul, which in itself is one of the most digitally advanced cities in the world. Songdo, however, promises to deliver “the most advanced digital infrastructure imaginable” to its anticipated 65,000 residents. The plan includes blanket wireless Internet coverage and universal smart cards that will provide access to all sorts of services.
Billed as a “ubiquitous city,” Songdo will merge medical, business, residential and government data systems so that data flows freely among them. Sensors throughout the city will help residents manage their work and personal lives. For example, an imbedded computer in a person’s home might detect that his blood pressure is rather high that day. With his permission, this information is reported to his physician, who might prescribe a change in medications for the patient. The new prescription order is sent to the pharmacy, which fills the order and has the medication delivered to the person’s office. Billing information for the doctor’s service and the prescription cost is forwarded to the insurance company. And all of this can happen before the person even leaves his home for the day.
Observers following the development of Songdo – which is expected to house its first residents in 2009 – call the city the ultimate testing ground for RFID. While Americans are skeptical of RFID due to privacy concerns, South Koreans generally do not share the same concerns. For good or bad, they tend to trust corporations with their private data, which will enable the vision of integrated systems throughout the city.
Most of the buildings will have smart card readers. This will allow for the tracking of people – say, children going to school – as well as services, such as groceries being delivered to a home. Traffic will be monitored throughout the city, and drivers will be able to get up-to-the-minute traffic reports and alternate routes.
While the details of the technical infrastructure are still in development, Songdo has the advantage of being designed and built from the ground up, so there is no need to retro fit new technology into old buildings. Rather, computing technology will be embedded everywhere. Songdo’s integrated facilities management service provider, Songdo U-Life, is partnering with telecommunications companies, IT equipment providers, and ISPs from around the world to bring it all to life.
The scope of this massive IT integration project is valued at about $1 billion, with implementation running through 2014. After that, Songdo U-Life will provide ongoing maintenance services once the ubiquitous computing infrastructure is in place.
If you think you’d like to put a deposit down on the condo next to the Jetsons, you’d better sell your stock options. The first homes available will sell for an average of $500,000 each. Of course, that’s not a bad price for a fully automated, fully integrated digital home and society. You might even get an apartment with an ocean view.
