Press Releases

Today unveil the Vodafone Smart Cities project, announcing a set of innovative technological solutions at the Cidade do Rock (Rock City), which have never before been implemented at a music and entertainment event. Through this initiative, Vodafone and Rock in Rio-Lisbon will transform the Bela Vista Park into the first “Smart Rock City” in the world.

At a time when Smart Citiesrepresent the new urban paradigm, Vodafone and Rock in Rio-Lisbon have put the emphasis on information and communication technology to bring an enhanced experience to the audience who visit who visit the event every day, as well as boosting the festival’s environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness.

In addition to positively impact the audience, the Vodafone Smart Cities project involves the adoption of a set of IoT solutions based on M2M (Machine-to-Machine) technology, a field where Vodafone is a world leader. The solutions enable the real-time monitoring of following critical areas for the perfect functioning of the festival:

• Smart Energy: Real time measuring of the energy consumption with a high degree of precision in strategic areas of Rock in Rio-Lisbon (World Stage, Vodafone Stage, Electronics Stage and VIP Area),
• Smart Water: To prevent unforeseen problems in the water supply, the sensors facilitate the supervision of the water tanks at the venue.
• Smart Toilets: Designed specifically for Rock in Rio-Lisbon, this solution allows the occupation rate of the WCs to be monitored and transmits this information to the public.
• Smart Waste: Optimization of thecleansing of the space; allows the permanent management of the solid waste (rubbish).
• Smart Air: Sensors monitor the evolution of the environmental conditions.

The various solutions have a common denominator which is Vodafone’s Centralised Technical Management (GTC) system, designed in partnership with the Portuguese company SSA Dynamics, which will be installed in the Rock in Rio-Lisbon Operational Control Centre, the facility from where all the festival operations are managed. The GTC centralises and shows all the information collected by the sensors and shall issue warnings to prevent certain incidents.

Smart Energy 

At the World Stage alone, where star acts like Bruce Springsteen, Queen + Adam Lambert and Hollywood Vampires will perform, there are several electricity generators that can consume over 3Mw (Megawatts), which is the equivalent to the normal expenditure of 1.000 watts in 3.000 apartments during the 8.00pm-10.00pm period.

The Smart Energy solution will allow a more precise definition of the energy consumption in the most strategic zones of Rock in Rio-Lisbon (World Stage, Vodafone Stage, Electronics Stage and VIP Area).

A device has been developed to collect information about the active, reactive, voltage and current energy. To supervise the defined areas, several dozen of these devices have been installed in the Bela Vista Park.

The information gathered is transported by the Vodafone Network to the centralised technical management system in the Operational Control Centre of Rock in Rio-Lisbon.

Smart Water

To guarantee there is no shortage of water at Rock in Rio-Lisbon, the existing infrastructures have been reinforced with a system to monitor the water level of the venue’s three supply tanks.

The solution developed by Vodafone includes the installation of special sensors inside the tanks, which control the water consumption and transmit the readings of the tank levels in Vodafone’s centralised technical management system.

Smart Toilet

Rock City has around hundreds WCs available, but finding the least busy ones is a challenge for the festival goers. In order to give the public indications about which WCs are free at any given time, and simultaneously to all the maintenance teams so they can clean them more efficiently, Vodafone designed a solution specifically for Rock in Rio-Lisbon.

The sensors installed in the toilets allow real-time occupancy status. The red light indicates that the bathroom is occupied, while no light means it is vacant.

This solution will be integrated into the Vodafone Rock in Rio application, allowing the public to check on the occupation rates of the bathrooms at any point in time. The information will also be shown on the information panels spread all around the venue.

Smart Waste

Monitoring solid waste is one of the big challenges of an event the size of Rock in Rio-Lisbon and a priority in building tomorrow’s cities. The Smart Waste solution implemented plans for permanent management of the state of the solid waste compactors. To avoid blockages, such as the locking or overfilling of the machines, a supervision system was implemented using high-definition cameras.

The information is again transmitted in real time by smartphone using the (GTC) system supplied to the Rock in Rio-Lisbon operational technicians, thus preventing constraints in keeping the venue clean.

Smart Air

A priority for any Smart City, and Rock City is no exception, is the quality of the environment. Sensors have been developed and installed in several zones all around the venue to monitor the environment conditions. This is the first time that information of this nature is collected and made available to the visitors using the Vodafone Rock in Rio APP.

Smart Partnership

Vodafone’s heavy emphasis on technology and innovation has led to the development of several intelligent and efficient management solutions, making the Company an active player in the construction of the cities of the future. Proof of this is the world’s best Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications supplier award, recently attributed by the independent Analysys Mason study.

João Mendes Dias, Vodafone director says “our main goal is to continue to develop solutions for Smart Cities, collaborating with Government, Local Authorities, Universities and Industry to take advantage of opportunities to optimise the resources available, thus contributing to improving the citizens’ quality of life.”

More than a music event, Rock in Rio-Lisbon strives to be a responsible and sustainable event, and is committed to raising people’s awareness that small everyday gestures can pave the way to a better world for all of us.

As well as being the Main Sponsor of the event and lending its name to one of the stages, Vodafone is the technological partner of the festival responsible for all the communication services linked to this year’s edition. The operator has accumulated 12 years of experience at Rock in Rio-Lisbon, as it has been at the Bela Vista Park since the event was first held.