At NEXTSPAIN, the event on data, AI and technology for cities held in Santander on 10 November, Alberto Puras Trueba, Business Development Director at Celestia TST, took part in the panel on the smart management of urban services. The moderator quickly raised the question that really matters to anyone running a city: how to move from big headlines to data that citizens can verify. These are the ideas Alberto shared on what makes an IoT project for urban services work, from the infrastructure nobody sees to the way its return is measured.
The device is just one link in the chain
The typical image of an IoT project is a sensor installed in the street. But that sensor is the tip of a much longer chain. “The device is just one link in the whole chain of generating and using data. That’s why we describe ourselves as a full-service provider of end-to-end IoT solutions”, Alberto explained. For him, understanding the whole problem is the foundation for adding value.
And that device starts out in demanding conditions. It runs on a battery that has to keep working for ten or twelve years, and it can’t rely on a Wi-Fi network like the one at home. “It has to use proper IoT communication technologies, low-power ones”, he noted. Connectivity and hardware go hand in hand.
One device for each application
One of Alberto’s warnings targets a common temptation: the device that does everything. “You have to steer clear of the multipurpose device, the one that works for any application. It’s a mistake. The value lies in having a specific device for each application, deployed in a specific way, generating data in a specific way and allowing that data to be analysed and validated properly.” A generic sensor, poorly matched to the use case, ends up delivering information that is no use for making decisions.
The software that keeps the fleet alive
Alongside the device sits the platform. At its lowest layer, its job is to keep the fleet alive rather than display charts: checking each sensor’s battery status, knowing whether it has good or poor coverage, detecting and classifying anomalies, and being able to step in remotely to reconfigure it. The aim is for a device to keep operating without anyone having to travel to its location. Across thousands of units, managing the fleet remotely is what makes the service sustainable.
Cybersecurity: the regulation is already here
The third front is cybersecurity, with a European regulation already in force: the Cyber Resilience Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/2847), which sets mandatory requirements for products with digital elements. Its obligations apply in phases, with incident reporting from September 2026 and most of the requirements from December 2027. Alberto’s warning comes at a timely moment: in autumn 2026, a wave of cyberattacks disrupted the refrigeration systems of hundreds of supermarkets in several European countries, exploiting internet-connected controllers that lacked adequate protection. “As IoT device manufacturers, we are obliged to comply with this regulation, and both the public and private sectors must demand that compliance from their suppliers”, Alberto said, precisely to prevent incidents like these.
From pilot to scale-up
The other half of his talk centred on a phrase that sums up years of projects: “It’s always better to fail in a pilot than in a scale-up.” The most common mistake, he warned, is not knowing the real operating conditions in depth. Water networks combine ageing infrastructure, meters from different manufacturers and hard-to-reach points such as meter pits, basements or ports. “You have to throw all of those elements into the mix to define a solution capable of overcoming those difficulties.”
That is the technical secret to keeping thousands of sensors working in harsh environments. As a benchmark, Alberto pointed out that Celestia TST’s data concentrators for remote water meter reading at Canal de Isabel II have achieved a 99.9% communication success rate, a result that is hard to reach with a battery-powered device.
A well-designed pilot, he insisted, focuses on demonstrating the value the solution delivers, and that focus is what later justifies the leap. Scaling up changes the rules: it involves CAPEX and OPEX investment, a different relationship with suppliers and users, and a different way of working. All of that is validated during the pilot, so the next step can be taken with confidence.
How to measure the return on an IoT project
When the question of return came up, Alberto played it down. Measuring impact is simpler than it seems if the solution has been designed with a clear objective, because the tool itself delivers the metrics. The usual method is to set a baseline, the starting point, and measure the improvement against it.
Canal de Isabel II’s remote water meter reading service, launched in February 2023, shows what well-planned digitalisation makes possible. According to the company’s own figures, in its first eighteen months the system alerted customers to more than 23,000 potential leaks and helped save 4.3 cubic hectometres of water, over 4.3 billion litres. It also changed the way of working, moving from one reading every two months to hourly readings at 550,000 supply points. The target for 2026, extending remote reading to around one and a half million points, is already being met. Within that infrastructure, Celestia TST’s concentrators are what make sure the data gets through.
In waste management, Celestia TST has worked for years with MOBA, a multinational with more than two decades in the sector, providing the technology that measures how full containers are. MOBA estimates that its solution can cut up to 30% of collection lorry trips. The savings go beyond cost: fewer lorries on the street means less noise, fewer emissions and less disruption for residents. It is the same approach Celestia TST has put into practice with the smart bins in Madrid.
Technology needs a purpose
Alberto closed with the idea that ties everything together. “Technology on its own is useless. You need a purpose, an objective: what to do with it.” He also stressed that this technology is close at hand and within reach. From Cantabria, working with partners able to supply the necessary components, it is possible to build a solution for almost any problem.
If you’re planning an IoT pilot for urban services, tell us what you want to measure and we’ll help you design it to scale.
Written by Ana Escalante Galán, Head of Marketing and Communications at Celestia TST