Month: March 2022
The Cabildo presents ‘La Palma Smart Island’, a project that will boost the sustainable growth of the island
Improving economic competitiveness, energy efficiency and sustainable mobility are some of the main pillars on which the initiative is based.
The Cabildo de La Palma and the companies Deloitte and Telefónica, who were awarded the La Palma Smart Island project, were responsible for initiating the presentation of this transversal and participative project to different agents and groups on the island of La Palma this Tuesday afternoon.
The president of the Cabildo de La Palma, Mariano Zapata, expressed the importance of the implementation of this project that “promotes a new ecosystem that achieves the model of an intelligent island and that, in addition, works in a sustainable way and is fully connected to new technologies, showing the attractiveness of the island to our neighbours and visitors”.
For his part, the Digital Transformation Councillor of the La Palma Island Council, Gonzalo Pascual, emphasised that the La Palma Smart Island project “aims to bring technology within the reach of the citizen, abounding in the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals through initiatives based on mobility, smart tourism, security and emergencies and the environment that will make us a more efficient island”.
With the presence of associations, companies and representatives of the island’s public administrations, the new Smart Office, one of the cornerstones of the La Palma Smart Island project, was officially inaugurated. This will be the physical location for the dynamisation of the project, the space where the data obtained will be analysed and where training programmes, networking and workshops, among others, will be held.
La Palma Smart Island is a project led by the Innovation, Projects and Information Society Service of the Island Council of La Palma, with funding from the Canary Islands Development Fund (FDCAN). The initiative is conceived as a tool to achieve a strategic objective such as the social and economic wellbeing of the island’s citizens, providing it with technologies that will enable a more efficient management of resources, services and infrastructures, creating spaces for interaction between citizens, businesses and administrations.
Six Smart domains
The consultancy firm Deloitte, together with Telefónica, the company awarded the project, are in charge of the planning and development of the project. The project is based on six Smart areas, including mobility, the economy, the environment, government and people, with the aim of laying the foundations for a more attractive and competitive island, a Smart Island that seeks to address public issues through efficient solutions based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), based on the basis of multiple stakeholders, such as administrations, businesses and citizens.
Benefits of Technology
At the event, which was attended by the President of the Cabildo Insular de La Palma, Mariano Hernández Zapata, and the Councillor for Innovation, Territorial Planning and New Technologies, Gonzalo Pascual Perea, the project was presented in depth, The benefits that the Smart Platform will provide for the inhabitants and visitors of the island of La Palma were highlighted, such as access to all the information on public transport routes and timetables from the Cabildo’s App ‘La Palma en tu mano’ within the Smart Platform or the implementation of an intelligent system for the management of emergencies and energy efficiency that will be deployed throughout the island, The implementation of a network of sensors, megaphones, webcams, video walls and weather stations will be deployed throughout the island in order to manage agricultural resources, establish more efficient routes, issue alerts and transmit useful information to the public immediately.
Enjoying La Palma on a different level
La Palma Smart Island is a project that will offer solutions adapted to the times in order to move towards a sustainable future. It is and will be, in short, a fundamental tool for improving the quality of life of residents and visitors, and a determining element in the creation of new business opportunities for entrepreneurs.
La Palma Smart Island will allow us to grow in a sustainable way and be more competitive as a society and a destination based on the infinite possibilities offered by technology and innovation.
The Cabildo puts out to tender the Smart Island Project for more than 3.2 million euros
The program aims to promote the efficient and sustainable development of the island through information and communication technologies.
The Innovation Service of the Cabildo de La Palma, headed by Gonzalo Pascual, has put out to tender the Smart Island Project, which aims to become a benchmark in the Canary Islands in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to promote the efficient and sustainable development of the island, as well as to promote citizen welfare by improving public services, according to a press release.
With a budget of 3,270,000 euros, financed by the Canary Islands Development Fund (Fdcan), this program is designed to intervene in six areas of action (environment, agriculture, waste, emergencies, mobility and tourism) and has an execution period of four years.
The project includes the creation of the so-called Smart Island Platform. This is a technological platform that will provide better, innovative and ubiquitous public services to people, companies and public administrations on the island.
Through this platform, services will be implemented for citizens, such as a one-stop shop; innovation ecosystems and tools for companies; computer applications for the analysis and integrated management of the environment, including those for the prevention and management of emergencies, or services for tourism, such as computer applications for tourists.
More specifically, the development of the program foresees the creation, among other applications, of an open government platform; a facility reservation manager; weather and air quality stations; public address warning systems, as well as people and vehicle counting; an intelligent system for emergencies; the so-called smart agro; intelligent waste management; an energy resource management system; a heritage management platform or a network of photometers.
These are actions that generate direct benefits to La Palma, but at the same time can serve as a driver of new private investment thanks to the enhancement of the digital economy through these public services, which will result in an increase in economic activity and, consequently, the generation of employment on the island.
The project also contemplates the creation of the Smart Office, which will be composed of a highly specialized functional working group in charge of implementing the actions of the Smart Platform.
This Smart Office is set to become the backbone that connects technology with the island’s reality, providing technological solutions for each case and the appropriate services in each area (risk, emergencies, environment, waste, agriculture, mobility and tourism).
Gonzalo Pascual pointed out that the Smart Island project is designed as a coordinated and collaborative system among La Palma’s economic and social agents to promote the island’s development within the necessary economic, social and environmental balance.
The Minister assures that this is an important project for La Palma, as it will provide the island with the tools and technological solutions that will enable residents and visitors, the Administration and its citizens, economic actors and social agents to actively participate and benefit from the improvement of quality of life and sustainability standards.
Cabildo to create a network of 40 photometers to monitor the quality of the night sky
The stations will be located throughout the island and will mainly cover the network of astronomical viewpoints.
Palma Smart Island, will create a network of stations composed of 40 photometers, sensors for online monitoring of night sky quality parameters on the island of La Palma. The stations will be located throughout the island and will mainly cover the network of astronomical viewpoints, as these are the most frequented points by astronomy enthusiasts to observe the firmament.
As Pascual explains, “the objective of this sensor network is to monitor the quality of the night sky for stargazing, offering citizens, especially those interested in astronomy, a public access tool that allows them to see in real time the quality of the night sky for their observations”.
The councilor recalls that during the last few years the Innovation Service of the Island Council of La Palma has been developing the La Palma Smart Island project in a clear commitment to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as mechanisms of transformation and economic and social development. “Within this framework, we intend to progressively provide the whole island with infrastructures, resources, incentives and programs, so that each municipality has within reach the resources that allow citizens to make technology the engine that ensures the improvement of public services and a more equitable and sustainable economic and social growth”, Gonzalo Pascual assures.
One of the fundamental pillars of La Palma Smart Island is precisely to have a network of sensors that allows to capture certain parameters in real time. The network is integrated into the system, which contains several areas of action that will be implemented progressively.
In this case, 40 TESS photometers (tess.stars4all.eu) will be installed in the coming days, which will measure in real time night sky quality parameters, as well as meteorological parameters such as temperature and cloudiness. Two types of sensors will be installed, 20 TESS-W type devices, a standard sensor with wifi connection that has been successfully used by Universities and Research Centers; and 20 TESS-Lora devices, a new prototype developed by the IAC within the European project EELabs (eelabs.eu) that uses the Lora Network of the Cabildo and is self-sufficient in energy with a small solar panel.
For this project the Cabildo de La Palma has had the collaboration of the European project EELabs coordinated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.
The data can be downloaded from the open data portal, and consulted in real time on a specific web portal (https://tess.dashboards.stars4all.eu/).
The Innovation Service has already predetermined several points on the island to establish the network, whose locations have been consulted with astronomy professionals, although requests or suggestions for establishing new points in other locations are open to those who wish to participate via email to servicio.innovacion@cablapalma.es.
The Cabildo will offer real time information on public transport service at bus stops
The Cabildo Insular de La Palma has put out to tender a project for the supply and installation of an information system for regular public transport users by means of information panels to be installed at 16 bus stops. The panels will display, in real time, the estimated arrival times of the bus at the bus stops in their surroundings, as well as other information related to the service.
The initiative is part of the global project La Palma Smart Island, which aims to gradually incorporate the use of communication technologies in the society of La Palma. The project has a base bidding budget of 220,000 euros, financed by the Canary Islands Development Fund in line 1 of Research, Development and Innovation.
The acting island councilor for New Technologies, Jorge González, and the acting island councilor for Transport, Laura Paz, agree in pointing out that “with this project, public transport by bus in La Palma continues to advance steadily on the path of an effective modernization of the service, which is taking shape in measures that favor comfort, information and interaction with users”.
The entry into operation of the information panels is subject to the new buses of the regular public transport service incorporating GPS systems this summer that allow the geolocation of the vehicles, so that the aforementioned information on route and schedule is offered. In addition, the company awarded the service, Transportes Insular La Palma (TILP), has already made available to users an application (app) for mobile devices in which this information can also be consulted.
To date, the Innovation, Projects and Information Society Service of the Island Council of La Palma has already installed, as a pilot project, two information panels of this type at the main bus stop in Santa Cruz de La Palma, at the island’s airport, and will soon install one at a bus stop in Los Cancajos, in Breña Baja.
The Cabildo begins to implement an Insular Network of sensors to measure air quality
The Cabildo Insular de La Palma, through the Department of New Technologies directed by Jorge González, will implement an insular network of sensors to measure air quality. The Innovation, Projects and Information Society Service has already installed the first six stations dedicated to the real-time monitoring of air quality parameters.
One of the main pillars of the new project is to have a network of sensors to capture different parameters in real time. This network is integrated into the system, which contains various fields of action that will be implemented gradually.
In this case, six air quality stations have been installed by the company Hop Ubiquitous, which measure in real time air quality parameters such as particles and gases, as well as meteorological parameters such as temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure and luminosity.
The primary objective of this project is real-time monitoring of air quality. The stations will be located in Santa Cruz de La Palma, Breña Alta, Fuencaliente, Los Llanos de Aridane, Puntagorda and Barlovento.
The data can be downloaded from the open data portal Open Data La Palma, and consulted in real time at http://calidadaire.lapalma.es.
The Cabildo is committed to this new initiative within the framework of the global project La Palma Smart Island, which is progressively providing the entire island with infrastructures, resources, incentives and programs that allow institutions and citizens to make technology the engine that ensures the improvement of public services and a more equitable and sustainable economic and social growth.
The Cabildo adds its first 100% electric vehicle to its fleet of vehicles
The new electric car of the Island Corporation is a Volkswagen e-Golf, a non-polluting, five-seater car with a range of 300 kilometers. Its cost has been 29,799 euros.
The Cabildo Insular de La Palma has incorporated a 100% electric vehicle to its fleet, which will be destined to the Innovation, Projects and Information Society Service, under the Department of New Technologies. This is the first vehicle of these characteristics to be added to the fleet of the island institution, which to date also has two hybrid vehicles in the Presidency Service.
The new electric car of the Island Corporation is a Volkswagen e-Golf, a non-polluting, five-seater car with a range of 300 kilometers. Its cost has been 29,799 euros.
“The Cabildo maintains a coherent and consistent line with the policies and projects promoted to continue making La Palma an ideal place to implement innovative and sustainable measures,” said the Minister of Infrastructure and New Technologies, Jorge Gonzalez.
It should be recalled that the Cabildo de La Palma has already made available to the public the first charging points for electric vehicles of an island network that will continue to increase its capacity and has promoted the celebration of three fairs dedicated to electric vehicles on the island.
El Paso and Breña Alta host children’s educational robotics workshops with more than 25,000 Lego pieces
“The activity, promoted by the Cabildo, the Canary Islands Agency for Innovation and the municipalities of both municipalities, will take place on December 28 and January 4 at the fairgrounds and the Agromercado, respectively.”
Boys and girls from La Palma between 5 and 14 years old will become “engineers and architects of a smart city thanks to a set of robotics and constructive creativity workshops to be held on December 28 and January 4 in the municipalities of El Paso and Breña Alta, respectively,” according to a press release from the Cabildo. “The challenge,” it adds, “will be to build these cities with more than 25,000 Lego pieces in which, along with robots, participants will have to overcome different challenges.
The activity, which will take place at the fairgrounds Pasense and Agromercado del Parque de Los Alamos, is part of the scientific Christmas program, an initiative of the Ministry of Economy, Industry, Trade and Knowledge of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society (ACIISI) that seeks to bring science is its various fields to young people of different ages. This project is also promoted by the Cabildo Insular de La Palma, from the area of New Technologies directed by Jorge González, and has the collaboration of the town councils of El Paso and Breña Alta.
The city built in Breña Alta will be on display from January 5 until the 12th, and can be visited by those who come to the Agromercado del Parque de Los Álamos. Places to participate in these workshops, which will be held from 9:30 to 14:00 hours, are limited. Registrations should be made by calling 620 599 073 and / or 622 395 100.
Open data
The Cabildo Insular de La Palma makes available to all citizens, companies and administrations the open data portal of the island. It is the portal of access to public data of the Cabildo de La Palma in reusable format. Its objectives include Generate value and wealth by obtaining products derived from the data by third parties, Generate transparency by reusing data to analyze and evaluate public management, and Facilitate interoperability between administrations by creating services that use data from different administrations. The publication of the data will be progressive depending on its availability.
Objectives of OpenData La Palma:
In the daily activity of the Public Administration, a large amount and variety of data with high value and great potential is generated. The ultimate goal of an open data initiative is to enable and facilitate, as far as possible, the reuse of public sector information so that it ultimately has an impact on society, in compliance with the Law on Reuse of Public Sector Information, thus increasing the level of transparency of the Island Corporation.
The OpenData la Palma portal is designed as a meeting point between the different actors -users, developers and public organizations- involved in the culture of open and reusable data on the island.
The open data portal allows:
- Generation of value and wealth. Data-derived products are obtained by companies and citizens in general that generate new business models. The opening of data generates value and economic wealth for society. Companies and private citizens will be able to take advantage of the data to enrich them and generate new applications and utilities that could not be developed without the raw or basic data.
- Transparency in Public Administration. Allowing the reuse of exposed data to analyze and evaluate public management. The opening of data is part of the basis of any transparency policy within Public Administrations. In a changing and increasingly more and better informed society, governments and public administrations must strive to provide citizens with all the information available to them as a sign of openness and as a necessary proof to improve citizen confidence.
- Interoperability between administrations. Facilitating the creation of services for citizens that use data from different public administrations. The generalization of data openness is improving data interoperability. A relative unification of the formats in which the administrations offer their information to the general public is taking place.
- Organization and improvement of the Administration’s information. Promoting efficiency in the documentation and classification of data. The opening of data is a driving force for improving public information storage systems.
The OpenData La Palma Portal is accessible at www.opendatalapama.es, the new tool is structured in several sections: a data search engine, a catalog that sorts the datasets by subject, a series of applications (apps) that illustrate the economic and social potential, and other links of interest.
The Portal initially makes available 63 datasets on planning, environment, infrastructure, transportation, tourism, etc.
Commitment to Transparency
The concept of Open Data implies making data available to the public, so that citizens, companies and public bodies can use it freely, without restrictions, patents or other control mechanisms. The publication of Open Data is an example of transparency, participation and collaboration between administrations, citizens and companies. In addition, it generates business among companies and cost reduction for both companies and the Administration.