According to Gartner, “By 2030, 60% of the world's population is expected to live in urban areas, which equates to more than 5 billion people."1
We’re seeing a global transformation to a digital world. Cities getting smart is part of that unstoppable global digital transformation. A Smart City is a digital response to massive urbanization and urban migration.
There is growing recognition that not only more cities need to be built, especially in emerging countries, but also existing cities have to become smarter and make more efficient use of limited resources. Mounting pressure on city infrastructure and resources means that governments must rethink how resources are used and how they deliver services to the urban population.
Policymakers and urban planners have long recognized the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in helping to transform city infrastructure to create livable cities. Growing urbanization is reinforcing the need to make cities smarter.
In India, 25-30 people migrate every minute in search of a better livelihood.2 By 2030, urban areas will have 590+ mn people.3 714 cities will have a population in excess of 1 mn by 2030. And we’ll be short of 500,000 doctors5 and 100,000 teachers.6 India has to find smarter ways to manage complexities, reduce expenses, increase efficiencies and improve quality of life, or face the consequences. All of these demand new solutions – digital solutions.
The cities we now build are net contributors to the very problems we seek to solve. The cities are now bigger and so are the campuses, buildings and roads. This has occurred without cogent environmental, healthcare and education interventions. Services are farther away from the people. Our commute times are increasing, our queues are getting longer and there’s overcrowding everywhere. We’re short of housing, employment, transport options and water. Crime, pollution and waste are increasing while our environment is getting worse.
Indian political leaders realize that given the situation on the ground, only a smart government can satisfy the expectations relating to citizen services. The expectations of citizens are transparency, less bureaucracy, no corruption, increased decision-making speed and enhanced services at lower costs. To achieve these, governments reciprocally want highest levels of citizen compliance. Only digitization can achieve all these objectives simultaneously.
At the current rate of urbanization and development, most of our cities would become over-crowded, congested and hence, unlivable. Only a smart city will be able to have enough green quotient to make it sustainable. Digital solutions such as smart parking and smart metering will help in addressing congestion, water wastage and energy management issues. Besides, consumption of digital services will increase due to smart cities. This will not only lead to a better quality of life, safer cities and improvement in the happiness index of its citizens, but also make 'efficient living' a way of life. Predictive maintenance, video analytics, bio-metrics, redesigning of spaces, telemedicine will be some of the key supporting levers. Additionally, technologies such as IoT can help in preserving the heritage of a city by protecting its heritage structures.
The operating elements of a smart city typically cover public services, education, utilities, healthcare and transportation.
According to Gartner, "approaching the development of a Smart City master plan that will guide deployment of technology and solutions depends on a combination of elements, including governance structures, business models and decision-making frameworks."8 Digitization can help in providing G2G, G2C and G2B services to enhance synchronization between government departments, empower citizens via easier access to services and reduce business transaction time. Existing smart city strategies evolve when new priorities impact the CIOs' strategies for developing the communications and information infrastructure and collecting the data necessary to provide real-time citizen services.9 Federal programs in India, China and Japan are building the standards and technology architectures for local governments that are based on common domains around broadband and communications infrastructure, sustainability and resource efficiency, investments for innovation projects, as well as economic development corridors and smart model cities.
Cisco CDA’s investments in Smart Cities in India is through investments in Smart City showcases.
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By 2030, urban areas will have 590+ mn people.
71 cities will have a population in excess of 1 mn by 2030