“Smart Governments Invest In Smart City Projects!
”
The world today is looking towards Smart Cities,
micro-ecosystems of digitalized infrastructure, for its
inspiration. Current crisis conditions demand that
forward-thinking governments adopt a Smart City
framework. These frameworks not only play undeniable
roles in helping to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19
pandemic; they also promise to speed up economic and
social recoveries. Both of these necessary advantages
should have the ability to draw interest from
stakeholders.
It is important
to note that
there are many
varied ranges of
Smart City
projects. The
Institute of
Electrical and
Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) envisions a Smart City as one that
brings together technology, government and society to
enable a smart economy, mobility, and environment as
well as smart people, living and governance. But a
Smart City is more than just its adjective suggests as
“technological” or “cool”. Smart Cities use technology,
the digitalization framework, 5G, AI, Cloud Computing
and the Internet of Things (IoT) as tools to benefit
residents, the government, businesses, organizations
and other valuable community contributors.
A successful composite of a Smart City begins with the
adoption of a resident-cantered design approach. This
approach focuses on tapping into the collective
intelligence and real-time information of the people in
the community and allows for the ability to understand
the diverse perspectives of the people who live, work
and play in the cities every day. Resident-cantered
thinking revolves around the idea that it is the residents
that create the city, not the other way around. This
approach holds even greater value in today’s COVID-
19 ravaged world when we are seeing an increased
focus on the role of local neighbourhoods in helping the
community deal with mobility issues, accessibility,
social disconnection, and economic downturn.
During the early spread of the deadly virus, many cities
protected themselves by closing their borders. That,
unfortunately, led to different levels of isolation and
disconnection. With their moderate technologies and
normally self-sustainable entertainment, the thrill and
vitality of cities disappeared and were replaced with
deep feelings of loss, communal grief, depression, fear,
and uncertainty for the future. Many countries were
Mehedi Hasan Limon, a senior tech professional who served in several top fortune 500 companies throughout Asia, Middle-East, and Europe. He is currently
working with Huawei Technologies in Dubai, UAE.
By Mehedi Hasan Limon
13-02-2021; Dubai, UAE
pushed to the brink of economic downturn and others
suffered economic stagnancies. Organizations began to
lay off workers and small businesses were forced to
close their doors. It seems no country was spared
damage.
Several city governments adapted technologies to
develop new solutions and make existing solutions
work faster, with better quality and accuracy, at less cost.
Chicago, for example, uses anonymized cell phone data
to analyze travel patterns and identify whether residents
are staying home and self-isolating. Some countries are
using robotics to help residents combat the coronavirus.
Sanitizing robots, temperature monitoring robots, food
and grocery delivering robots and autonomous vehicles
are all becoming common sights in many cities. Drones
are even being used by city managers and governments
to communicate social distancing rules and health
updates. Drones even have the ability to safely deliver
supplies to patients
and healthcare
facilities. In many
cities of the world,
they are even being
used to spray
disinfectant to stop the
spread of COVID-19.
Once the pandemic subsides, this drone technology can
be used to lessen the likelihood of other disease
outbreaks, like malaria, and even help farmers increase
their crops. Improving one area of concern has the
potential to improve the quality of life in another. These
kinds of initiatives have shown us ways in which urban
mobility could change in the future, potentially
reducing congestion and improving air quality. They
also make it clear that in response to the ravages of the
deadly virus, smart cities have presented us with the
chance to improve sustainability and re-enact
connection. Developing communal infrastructure
digitalization, resuscitation, and re-invigoration of
economic stagnancy will lead to smart governments
recovering quickly and that same rapid response could
be used to neutralize any future pandemics.
At this critical moment in time, the best thing we can
do is respond to disruption with innovation. Placing
the human experience first and investing in digital
infrastructures and innovative solutions will enable us
to create a more dynamic and resilient future.
Policymakers with even a minimal capacity for
funding a Smart City must invest in them. They will
not only improve lives now-they will greatly affect
future ones as well.