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SDx and the software-defined city

Since we started talking about Software Defined things , we have moved, along with the rest of the IT industry, from using the narrow term SDN to the broader SDx.  This has allowed us to use one acronym to encompass software-defined networking, data centres, storage, server and any yet to be developed technologies that are all software-defined. What we didn’t anticipate was  the Software Defined City, writes Chris Gabriel, the UK CTO of Logicalis.

Earlier this year, Bristol is Open was announced. A joint venture between the City Council and the University of Bristol, it is an ambitious research project to create a citywide, fully programmable data network. We then saw the launch of a functional testbed on which best practices for connectivity in the age of the Internet of Things can be modelled. In comments to SDxCentral, Bristol Is Open CTO and managing director, Dimitra Simeonidou, said: “We want to go beyond smart to an open, programmable city with an infrastructure that could be directly programmed and customised.

“One of the very first requirements was that it had to be SDN-controlled, because we wanted network infrastructure that would be fundamentally technology-agnostic, and that could withstand many technology generations and a lot of heterogeneity.”

The development will potentially allow driverless car experiments, traffic and environmental sensor networks, smart energy grid management and experimental 5G wireless, delivered through a network of 1,500 connected street lights.

A chief feature of the network, which my colleague Fabio Hashimoto demonstrated at Futurecom a few year ago, is the ability to segment bandwidth and provide a guaranteed allocation to dedicated users.  This capability will be useful to early adopters in Bristol, including the BBC. With a large presence in the city the broadcaster will be guaranteed high-bandwidth access.

If your inner geek is itching to get over to Bristol and get involved, you’re not alone.  It has been stressed that this is an open model from which other cities can learn – already the Chinese city of Guangzhou is planning to get involved.

My colleague said of the Internet of things: The question is not really ‘Is this even possible?’  It is ‘What value can we derive from engaging with it?’ followed by ‘How do we do it?’

I think it’s time for CIO and CTOs to ask the same questions of Sdx.