FEATURE
THE FUTURE OF CITIES HOW COVID-19 CRISIS COULD SPEED UP THE CREATION OF SMART CITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
T
he pandemic has become a catalyst for the development of cities around the world. Many cities are now leveraging their existing digital infrastructure to tackle the spread of the virus in urban areas, and experts argue the pandemic could provide the final push in how technology is used in smart cities. For example, South Korea and Singapore are using the power of smart city technologies to conduct contact tracing, using data from surveillance 16
CXO INSIGHT ME
OCTOBER 2020
cameras and sensors to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Closer home, Abu Dhabi’s flagship smart city, Masdar City, built a high-volume testing facility within weeks as part of the Emirate’s pandemic management programme. Though the global economic slowdown will have an adverse effect, IDC expects global smart cities expenditure to reach $124 billion this year, and KMPG estimates the Middle East and African smart cities market to touch $2.7 billion in another two years.
Large investments are going into technologies that enable smart cities, especially IoT and 5G, which are expected to accelerate the drive towards a smarter, digital world. “About 55 percent of the global population lives in urban areas and this number is expected to increase to 66 percent by 2050 according to a UN report in 2018. Overseeing the assets and operations of numerous large cities can only be economical and efficient only if they are automated and connected – and
