Commentary

Outdoor digital signage and the rise of smart cities

There's no doubt that outdoor digital signage is changing the face of our towns and cities. This isn't just about businesses trying to boost revenue; it's part of the shift to smart cities that urban planners believe is necessary to accommodate growth.

February 15, 2019

By Ben Telford, copywriter, Armagard

There's no doubt that outdoor digital signage is changing the face of our towns and cities.

This isn't just about businesses trying to boost revenue; it's part of the shift to smart cities that urban planners believe is necessary to accommodate growth.

As of 2018, 55 percent of the world’s population live in urban areas. This is set to rise to 68 percent by 2050. That's an extra 2.5 billion people looking for homes, services and jobs in our already crowded urban centers.

Smart cities are defined as those that use technology to improve services and become more efficient. As outdoor digital signage develops in line with physical, technological and environmental trends, it looks set to be a key part of this.

There are already examples of outdoor digital signage improving life in our urban areas by delivering better services, keeping people safe and improving quality of life.

Delivering better services

Self-service digital signage is increasingly common. Touchscreen kiosks are used in all sorts of contexts to reduce strain on service providers and improve customer service:

Interactive wayfinding kiosks.
Self-service ticket machines.
Through-window retail touch screens.
Drive-thru self-ordering displays.

Facial recognition could be the next step for self-service digital signage — KFC in China are already experimenting with self-service displays that suggest meals based on a customer’s gender and age.

Some of China's public services are also being delivered with the technology, including law and order. In Shenzen, outdoor facial recognition displays are used by police to monitor intersections and identify jaywalkers with greater efficiency than police could achieve in person.

Keeping people safe

In the U.S., outdoor displays have become a crucial source of information during hurricane season — a great example of digital signage being turned to non-commercial ends in times of need.

By using existing digital signage networks, authorities can provide weather alerts across multiple states with a delay of only a few minutes between updates. We will soon see digital signage being used in times of crisis in cities all around the world.

Improving quality of life

Smart cities aren't only about efficiency, safety and better services, digital signage technology can make our urban centres a nicer place to live, too.

The city of Bentonville, Arkansas, recently swapped some of its static billboards for digital ones. Because digital billboards allow multiple advertisers to share the same space, for instance, on a rolling loop of content, the city was able to reduce the overall number of billboards and improve the look and feel of the area.

Trends relating to the physical, technological and environmental features of outdoor digital signage allow businesses and governments to deliver better services to larger numbers of people.

These trends, and their benefits, all but guarantee the continued growth of outdoor digital signage in our urban centers and daily life.

Thankfully, businesses can adopt these trends and engage more customers without breaking the bank:

No matter how big displays can get, engaging customers day-to-day will still be done with signage that’s user-friendly and accessible.
Many of the most important technological advancements can be retrofitted into your existing digital signage network.
Improvements in the environmental impact of screens mean that adopting digital signage can be good for business as well as the planet.

If you're not already integrating outdoor digital signage into your business, then it's time to think seriously about doing so.

By paying attention to trends not fads, you can do so in a way that's cost-effective, future-proof and delivers a great ROI for years to come.

Image via Istock.com.