Almost all established companies in the telecommunications industry have recently shown progress in transformation and focused on further innovation leadership in their core capabilities. The industry’s drive has been to embed even greater intelligence into every step of the network; from the chips and modules to the devices, the network, and the necessary middleware and applications. The dynamics at the moment are increasingly collaborative, especially in tapping future market opportunities within #SmartCommunities. “#SmartCommunities as a hashtag reflects our belief that Information Communication Technologies are a key tool for communities – regardless of their characteristics – to serve citizens more efficiently and in a sustainable manner,” says Frost & Sullivan Industry Manager for Telecommunications and Connected Public Sector, Saverio Romeo. “Communities are defined by a broad variety of traits including rural or urban living spaces, permanent or temporary membership via social networks, commercial or private.” The recent world telecommunications industry gathering, Mobile Wireless Congress (MWC), had the GSMA exhibition of Connected City, showcasing deployments or experiences that a digital citizen can enjoy when an environment is connected and embedded with intelligence and augmented reality. The MWC proved that while the progress towards convergence continues; there is an even greater emphasis on telecommunications core expertise. Moreover, as the #SmartCommunities concept moves into showcase deployments and transcends the different stakeholders within a community boundary, specialty technologies become crucial. “The eco-system is still evolving; tier 1 partnerships are important but so are specialty technology companies and ideas of elegant processes to garner and secure machine data for intelligent applications,” comments Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst, Yiru Zhong. Frost & Sullivan has recently launched the #SmartCommunities Journal which is a compilation of latest analysis on the various ICT building blocks in a smart communities’ network. The journal discusses the evolution of big data, cloud computing, mobile technologies, long-range and short-range network infrastructures, and their role in key industries – such as health, transport, and energy – for the communities we live in. If you would like to receive a complimentary copy of the Journal, email Joanna Lewandowska, Corporate Communications, at [email protected]. Please include your full contact details in the query.