Technology Overview
Cities face pressure from every side: growing populations, aging pipes and grids, climate risk and rising power demand from AI data centers. Smart city and smart building technology is how they respond. Sensors, connected meters, data platforms and AI turn infrastructure that once ran blind into systems that can be measured, modeled and managed in real time.
This ebook covers that full stack. Software leaders build digital twins, BIM models and GIS maps of the built world. Metering and grid-edge specialists connect water and electricity networks. Utilities from Washington, D.C. to Australia's Sunshine Coast roll out digital meters and leak detection, while satellite and acoustic tools find hidden water losses. LiDAR and computer vision firms manage traffic, enforce bus lanes and protect construction workers. Around them are smart home brands, modular and 3D-printed construction innovators, AI-powered recycling robotics, influential architecture practices, research institutes and new-city projects such as NEOM and Woven City. Infrastructure, data and design are converging, and this sector is where that convergence happens.
Current Products and News
- Itron Inc launched a burst of grid-edge and AI offerings in September 2026. These include IEE Cloud AI, an AI meter data platform for utility cloud operations, the Riva IEC Grid Edge Portfolio for Asia Pacific, and Riva Meters in Australia. It also began a collaboration with Crytica Security on rapid threat detection and delivered its 3 millionth Cyble 5 module to Consorcio de Aguas de Bilbao Bizkaia.
- Schneider Electric announced what it calls the world's first fully Software-Defined Medium Voltage switchgear for AI factories on 28 September 2026. The launch follows a new Motivair coolant distribution unit and next-generation prefabricated power modules for AI-ready infrastructure.
- AECOM and an AECOM–Jacobs joint venture were appointed program delivery partner for Ireland's MetroLink on September 10, 2026. Recent wins also include design of the New Lisbon Airport, the Pure Water Silicon Valley demonstration facility and a section of New Zealand's Northland Corridor.
- AMP Robotics secured $70 million in project financing led by Galvanize for its AI-powered waste infrastructure on September 30, 2026. The financing follows a new partnership with Kent County to recover recyclables from municipal waste.
- Tantalus Systems Inc. joined the Nasdaq OMX Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index and the First Trust Smart Grid Infrastructure ETF on September 24, 2026. The company also partnered with Calix on fiber-based AMI deployments and reported record second-quarter 2026 revenue.
- ICON Technology, Inc delivered 10 3D-printed barracks at Fort Bliss, housing 560 service members, in July 2026. Earlier in the year it launched ICON Prime, a government division led by Will Hurd, and began commercial rollout of its multi-story Titan robotic construction system.
- Offsight introduced Offsight AI on September 9, 2026. The AI-powered factory management platform for offsite and modular construction is billed as "the brain of your factory."
- Woven City marked its first year of real-world testing and community growth on September 25, 2026. Earlier in September, Shizuoka Prefecture and Woven by Toyota signed a partnership on innovation and real-world implementation.
10 Leading Companies
- Bentley Systems, Inc – Builds digital twin and infrastructure design software used on some of the world's largest and most complex infrastructure projects, giving it a strong position across smart city and smart building development.
- Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) – The world's leading GIS supplier, whose ArcGIS platform is used by an estimated 300,000 organizations, including most national governments, all 50 US states and 20,000 cities.
- Itron Inc – A NASDAQ-listed metering and grid-edge leader serving over 7,700 utilities, municipalities and smart cities in more than 100 countries, and currently shipping new AI and grid-edge products.
- Schneider Electric – A global energy management and automation company that is expanding its smart grid, microgrid and AI-ready power infrastructure portfolio, including new medium voltage switchgear for AI factories.
- AECOM – A large engineering and professional services firm that applies digital twins, BIM and smart sensors to infrastructure, and is winning flagship mandates such as Ireland's MetroLink.
- Suez Group – A Paris-headquartered global resource management company covering the full water cycle and waste value chain, backed by sensor and data-driven leak detection.
- Graphisoft R&D Rt. – A global leader in BIM software through ARCHICAD, now advancing AI-assisted design, an Archicad–Autodesk Forma connection and acquisitions of its distributors in Australia and New Zealand.
- Kyocera Group – A Kyoto-based multinational supplying wireless, optical and semiconductor components to telecom OEMs, and the co-developer with Tohoku University of a technology for integrating optical isolators onto silicon photonics chips.
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland – One of Northern Europe's largest applied research institutions, active in 6G, AI and cybersecurity, and the source of spin-offs such as IQM Quantum Computers.
- Wyze Labs, Inc – A significant player in budget-friendly smart home technology, steadily releasing new cameras, app updates and features through its freemium platform.
Get Ahead in Smart Cities
This market moves every day. On October 2, 2026 alone, 87 companies in this ebook updated their newsrooms. Computer Review puts all 426 companies across 40 countries in one place, with 226 job pages tracked, so you see the moves as they happen.
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