The concept of a smart city isn’t just a theory or a dream anymore. Nexter, a home improvement company with a start-up concept founded by SCG Cement-Building Materials Business in 2018, aims to develop a new business exploring the future's living opportunities.

Nexter believes that lives could be improved through innovations not only for the business or society but also for the environment. Nexter is separated into two divisions; Nexter Ventures and Nexter Living. Nexter Ventures is a venture capital company that invests in deep technology business and technology startups to accelerate business validation and growth. Nexter Living focuses on enhancing the quality of living through the development of smart cities. 

Wachirachai Koonamwattana, the Head of Nexter Living and Nexter Ventures, explains the role of Nexter in smart cities development. When thinking of smart cities, the general public may picture a technology-infused city that is futuristic. However, as stated by Wachirachai, Nexter’s definition of smart cities means the community’s ability to overcome and solve current and future challenges and problems with the help of modern technologies.

The trends in smart cities are very important in the future.

The list of problems you can find in a city is endless, but two of the most prevalent problems that everyone can expect to find in a big city are traffic and energy consumption. Furthermore, developing smart cities and transforming current cities into smart cities is how large scale the project would be. According to statistics, the average human who lives in a city spends 90 percent of their lives inside buildings. A smart building within a smart city could decrease this percentage and bring people to spend more time outside.

There are also several problems surrounding buildings, such as; the excessive amount of energy and carbon emissions, both of which are inevitable. When designing a building, some campaigns and trends focus on reducing energy and being environmentally friendly. However, the well-being of the users also needs to be considered in the design process. The combination of both goals in the building design process has resulted in many certification of standards such as LEAF Certification and Fitwel Certification, which have now become the standard for smart cities.

One of the most power-consuming appliances in a building is the air conditioning system. Most rooms in many buildings are equipped with some form of A/C system and more often than not, they are overlooked and left powered on overnight. This issue can be managed through the use of technology. For example, by installing smart sensors, many appliances can be powered on/off wirelessly, thus better managing the building's energy consumption. 

Another approach to tackle air conditioning energy consumption is developing an air conditioning system that is environmentally friendly. Normally, Industrial air conditioners (HVAC) work by pulling in outside air through compressors before releasing it into the area. The use of outside air means that they need to be purified and filtered, putting a lot of workload on the air conditioning system hence the high energy consumption. If the development allows us to recirculate the inside air continuously, that will reduce the energy consumption.

Another concern about the current situation is hygiene. Especially with the current coronavirus pandemic, hygiene has been the top priority in many buildings. Even though the virus isn’t airborne and is usually spread through human contact and droplets, in the right conditions, life expectancy is expected to be as high as 7 days. If we can develop a tool that can consistently kill the germs on a surface, we can potentially reduce the spread of the virus and therefore end the crisis at a much faster rate. 

Currently, air-purifying technologies can be classified into two types, active and passive. Active air purifiers utilize negatively charged ions by releasing them into the air and trapping heavy pollutants, while passive air purification uses air filters to catch pollutants physically. 

A newer form of air-purifying utilizes bipolar ion technology. The purifier releases both positively and negatively charged ions, which can trap more pollutant particles. Unlike active purifier technologies, bipolar ion technology can also reduce odors and is highly effective against bacterias/germs. Nexter is currently developing and incubating this technology to be more efficient on a larger scale.

As mentioned earlier, smart sensors are another key component of smart buildings that can be integrated into many systems within the building. Smart sensors allow us to control multiple electronic appliances from a single control system. With the wide range of sensors combined with multiple smart technologies, smart buildings could be appearing in cities in the near future. 

Nexter Ventures believes that it is essential for corporations and startups to cooperate and is currently working to bridge the gap between startups and major corporations. Nexter sees several opportunities to develop startups by investing capital into five areas: concepts and technologies, smart living technologies, sustainable cities, health and well-being, and manufacturing and logistics. Nexter Living and Nexter Ventures are currently searching for more startups to help improve smart living development. The future of smart cities isn’t as far away as you might think.

This is just a sampling of the great content you’ll find at the Techsauce Global Summit 2020. Check out all the sessions here http://summit.techsauce.co