Innovative application that connects tourists and local people: transforming cities into smart cities

Currently, technology is an important part of our lives, we are constantly connected through it, not only with our family or friends but technology allows us to know what is going on around us. The technology has the ultimate goal of making life easier and more accessible and are the users themselves who are increasingly asking for smart user-oriented applications. In this context, with the objective of transform cities in smart cities and taking advantage of all the benefits that technology provides us, a Spanish company specialized in IT services, cybersecurity, data analytics, industry 4.0 and outsourcing, has developed an app which offers centralized information on culture, gastronomy and tourism of a city or location for tourists and local people. The process is very simple: the application can send relevant information to the user depending on where he or she is at any time through a geolocation system. The location is determined by a system of beacons placed in different points, allowing to cover all the area and enabling in an agile and simple way to send information to the user as he or she passes by the different points of interest. This system allows the application to be used as a tourist guide, and for information from the town hall of the municipality where the user is located. The information obtained through the beacon system, appears as the user visits the town. The information that is shown to the visitor during his walk in the town is the following: •Points of interest •Tourist Information •Historical Information •Monuments •Calendar of activities of the city council •Local shops The advantages that the app can provide to the local traders: •Provide updated information of their establishment to the users without access to internet. •Increase the visibility of their business and become a reference. •Receive ratings of their establishment through the app. •Set their preferences according to users’ tastes. The platform is multi-language and includes English and Chinese in addition to Spanish in order to meet the tourist needs. It has an offline mode that allows to have the information saved without using data connection at the time of the visit. The Spanish company is looking to expand its international business development by seeking ICT integrators with a good network of contacts within the tourism sector and city councils. The type of partnership sought is license agreement.