Street lamps constitute the densest electrically operated public infrastructure in urban areas. Their changeover to energy-friendly LED light quickly amortizes and is increasingly leveraged for smart city projects, where LED street lamps double, for example, as wireless networking or sensor infrastructure. We make the case for a new paradigm called SLaaP--street lamps as a platform. SLaaP is proposed as an open, enabling platform, fostering innovative citywide services for the full range of stakeholders and end users--seamlessly extending from everyday use to emergency response. In this article, we first describe the role and potential of street lamps and introduce one novel base service as a running example. We then discuss citywide infrastructure design and operation, followed by addressing the major layers of a SLaaP infrastructure: hardware, distributed software platform, base services, value-added services and applications for users and'things.' Finally, we discuss the crucial roles and participation of major stakeholders: citizens, city, government, and economy. Recent years have seen the emergence of smart street lamps, with very different meanings of'smart'--sometimes related to the original purpose as with usage-dependent lighting, but mostly as add-on capabilities like urban sensing, monitoring, digital signage, WiFi access, or e-vehicle charging.a The future holds even more use cases: for example, after a first wave of 5G mobile network rollouts from 2020 onward, a second wave shall apply mm-wave frequencies for which densely deployed light poles can be appropriate'cell towers.'

SINGAPORE - Plans are underway to turn every lamp post into a smart lamp post that can carry and transmit information gathered from surveillance cameras and sensors around the country. The network of interconnected lamp posts could form the spine of the Smart Nation Sensor Platform (SNSP), which aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to analyse, for instance, video footage collected by government agencies. These could be used to detect anomalies and predict situations such as potentially unruly crowds and traffic congestion. "We are making every lamp post a smart lamp post to mount different types of sensors," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday (Aug 20) when he spoke about making Singapore a Smart Nation. The AI-based video analytics system is slated for a trial in Orchard Road and selected housing estates from October (2017).

There are numerous obstacles retailers need to overcome before employing drones to deliver packages - and the UAV's lifespan is at the top of the list. However, Amazon seems to be headed in the right direction with an application that illustrates using'docking stations' for its autonomous carriers. The newly awarded patent that describes using tall structures such as lamp posts or churches that would allow the drones to recharge and continue on their route. Amazon's newly awarded patent that describes using tall structures such as lamp posts or churches that would allow the drones to recharge and continue on their route. The patent describes the use of the docking stations to make the drones fly longer routes, more accurately and provide the system with shelter during rough weather conditions.