Uarbana World Jan Feb 2017

Volume # 3

Issue # 1

Jan-Feb 2017

Rs.1/-

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URBANA A Smart City’s

Smart Magazine

Sustainable environment Potable water Sanitation 24x7 clean energy Mobility: EVs/HEVs Connected / Autonomous vehicles Urban mobility Traffic control rooms Smart parking Digital India

e-Governance Green/ Smart buildings Urban planning Safety, security and surveillance Disaster management Smart health Smart education Make in India Smart aerotropolis Geographical information systems (GIS)

SMART EDUCATION Smart Education Past revived for future of India

SMART INFRASTRUCTURE

29 Reimagining India’s Informal Housing Challenge

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SMART IT

Information Technology and Smart City Planning

SMART INFRASTRUCTURE

SMART CiTiES

32

36

Ports and cities: historically a strong link

PRESS RELEASE HONEYWELL EXPANDS INDOOR AIR PURIFIERS PORTFOLIO WITH MODEL FOR APARTMENT HOMES

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Policy + Urban Design + Sustainability

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SMARTCITY NEWS Page 42-73

SMART IT

CHATBOT, CLOUD COMPUTING, EDR & ISC AUTHOR

31 FINANCE

REAL ESTATE AND INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRY

INTERNATIONAL

BHUBANESWAR SMART CITY FLOATS TENDER FOR COMMON PAYMENT CARD SYSTEM

ORANGE SELECTED FOR QATARI SMART CITY PROJECT

CISCO INKS PACT TO DEVELOP IOT INNOVATION HUB, SMART CITY IN GUJARAT

AT&T TO COLLABORATE WITH DUBLIN CITY AND IDA IRELAND TO EXPLORE SMART CITIES DEVELOPMENT

CONVERGENCE OF SMART CITIES MISSION WITH NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION

BRITAIN SEEKS TO HELP PHILIPPINES BUILD ‘SMART CITIES’

NEW TEAM FORMED FOR AJMER SMART CITY PROJECT

FIVE COMPANIES FORM ETSI GROUP ON SMART CITIES

SMART CITIES

FINANCE

SMART CITY INNOVATION CENTRE TO COME UP AT PEC UNIVERSITY

GUJARAT BUDGET: RS 597 CRORE FOR THREE SMART CITIES

PRYSM POWERS VISUAL DASHBOARDS IN DELLEMC SMART CITY INDIA PROJECTS

RS. 2,000-CR. SMART CITY PLAN BEING GIVEN FINAL TOUCHES

PUDUCHERRY SHOWING SPEEDY AND POSITIVE PROGRESS FOR THE SMART CITY TAG

IN SURAT, RS 500 CRORE SMART CITY SCHEMES’ ROLLOUT BEFORE FISCAL-END

5 KEY ELEMENTS OF PM NARENDRA MODI’S 100 SMART CITIES

MP GOVT TO SPEND RS 86,000-CR TO DEVELOP CITIES

HEALTHCARE AND WASTE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS JAIPUR CIVIC BODY TO EMERGE AS WINNERS IN CUT SPEND ON ‘SMART INTEL & CITY’ PROJECT

SMART TECHNOLOGY

MAPP4ALL

16

POLICY

26

VOLUME 3 Issue # 1 Owner :

FirstSource Energy INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED

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Disclaimer,Limitations of Liability While every efforts has been made to ensure the high quality and accuracy of Urbana World and all our authors research articles with the greatest of care and attention ,we make no warranty concerning its content,and the magazine is provided on an>> as is <<basis.Urbana World contains advertising and third â&#x20AC;&#x201C;party contents. Urbana World is not liable for any third- party content or error,omission or inaccuracy in any advertising material ,nor is it responsible for the availability of external web sites or their contents The data and information presented in this magazine is provided for informational purpose only. neither Urbana World ,Its affiliates,Information providers nor content providers shall have any liability for investment decisions based up on or the results obtained from the information provided. Nothing contained in this magazine should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sale any securities.

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SMART EDUCATION

Smart Education

Past revived for future of India India from Ancient past has been leader in education and research, The Takshila and Nalanda universities of ancient India were power centre’s for research and administration.

E Mr. Pramod Tripathi

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ducation and learning is constant process and as it’s well known fact that maintaining top position is not an easy task. The verbal knowledge of Shruti and Smriti of vadas were accessible to limited people or to the upper caste. The cast system which was derived for work distribution with time has become hereditary and lead to decline in knowledge.

Centre of research and innovations started losing its importance. The Scholars who has studied and researched with Indian scholars expanded knowledge in their native territory, this has lead to diversification of knowledge centre’s in other parts of the world.

he well known educationist, philosopher and administrator, Vishnugupta popularly known as Acharya Chanakya and his work Arthasastra is one of the most refined examples and milestone achieved at that period. The time when civilizations at other parts of world were struggling with basic needs, Indus Valley people or INDOI popularly known as Indians were researching on cosmology and cosmography (Space and earth). Scholars were able to find shape and size of earth alone with the rotation and revolution process. Calculation of solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, transit of other planets and space distances was calculated months in advance for annual calendar called Panchang.

The medieval period of Indian education system was more influenced by the western and central Asian countries. During this period the world power were concentrated around Mediterranean sea. This was the phase when facts known to ancient India was redefined and

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rediscovered. The methods of learning were built around teacher directed learning. Teacher was the only source of knowledge and the entire teaching and learning process hovered around one person. In spite of this decline still Indians were ahead of many leading countries of that time.

During colonial rule country has seen another big change in Indian education system. The native language learning system was replaced

by English education system. Unlearning and relearning in new language was not an easy task for students which has lead to decline in education. The literacy leave was at its ever lowest level. The system was twisted, modified and altered in favor of political gains. At this period leading Boarding schools were established for wards of English families and royal families. Doon School, Mayo College, St Georges college are few to name in the series.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 8

SMART EDUCATION India from Ancient past has been leader in education and research, The Takshila and Nalanda universities of ancient India were power centre’s for research and administration. The well known educationist, philosopher and administrator, Vishnugupta popularly known as Acharya Chanakya and his work Arthasastra is one of the most refined examples and milestone achieved at that period. The time when civilizations at other parts of world were struggling with basic needs, Indus Valley people or INDOI popularly known as Indians were researching on cosmology and cosmography (Space and earth). Scholars were able to find shape and size of earth alone with the rotation and revolution process. Calculation of solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, transit of other planets and space distances was calculated months in advance for annual calendar called Panchang.

Education and learning is constant process and as it’s well known fact that maintaining top position is not an easy task. The verbal knowledge of Shruti and Smriti of vadas were accessible to limited people or to the upper caste. The cast system which was derived for work distribution with time has become hereditary and lead to decline in knowledge. Centre of research and innovations started losing its importance. The Scholars who has studied and researched with Indian scholars expanded knowledge in their native territory, this has lead to diversification of knowledge centre’s in other parts of the world. The medieval period of Indian education system was more influenced by the western and central Asian countries. During

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this period the world power were concentrated around Mediterranean sea. This was the phase when facts known to ancient India was redefined and rediscovered. The methods of learning were built around teacher directed learning. Teacher was the only source of knowledge and the entire teaching and learning process hovered around one person. In spite of this decline still Indians were ahead of many leading countries of that time.

During colonial rule country has seen another big change in Indian education system. The native language learning system was replaced by English education system.

Unlearning and relearning in new language was not an easy task for students which has lead to decline in education. The literacy leave was at its ever lowest level. The system was twisted, modified and altered in favor of political gains. At this period leading Boarding schools were established for wards of English families and royal families. Doon School, Mayo College, St Georges college are few to name in the series.

It is well known fact that growth is cyclic in nature, the smart education or class rooms what we are talking about in modern time or for the near future to come is similar to what ancient India has seen thousands of year back. This change what world is talking in school and higher education system is from British education system and not from traditional Indian education system. Hence we should avoid using term from traditional education to modern education, rather we should say it’s from colonial education system to modern and IT driven system. Today, the paradigm is shifting from teacher-centric

to student-centric learning methods as advances in digital technology open new avenues of communication in education. Teacher-led classes and book-oriented teaching are quickly transitioning to student oriented smart education environments using today’s smart devices and solutions, and electronic content such as e-books.

SMART Education is an education system designed to strengthen the capabilities of 21st century’s learners by offering an intelligent and customized learning solution. SMART aims for a driving force that will innovate the education system including education environment, method and evaluation. To bring innovation to the overall school education system, a comprehensive measure should be implemented based on improvement of the system and teachers’ capabilities, which require active support.

The smart education is already implemented in some of the developed countries including Japan Korea, USA, UK and other European countries for various reasons.

The recent hike of Finland education system which has gathered the attention of educationists all over the world is nothing but SMART education in advance stage. The ultimate goal and vision of this Education strategy is to foster ‘creative global human talents through “classroom revolution,” which is expected to innovate education content, teaching and evaluation methods, and educational environments in tune with an educational paradigm shift.

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Jan-Feb 2017 9

SMART EDUCATION This comprehensive policy measure requires various promotional tasks turers and solution providers are realizing significant growth in the academic field. As a result, they are looking for ways to make these tools more accessible, easier and affordable for educators to integrate. Innovative schools are beginning to implement electronic classrooms, teaching features and functions. As they use these new educational tools, they are finding improved results in learning retention and classroom management. With digital teaching tools, students are more engaged in the learning experience and are more excited about learning than with traditional teacher-centric education methods.

Development and application of digital textbooks.

1.

Digitations of books and resources is a long and constant process, with increase in IT technology the publishers’ and printers are ready with soft / digital format of text books. Many publishers provide a DVD along with the hard copy of text books. The Electronic Bookshelves is the next step where open source of free digital libraries will enable an improved learning experience for students. Learner can access these digital libraries as per their convenience from any locations. Schools have already started digital Library sections as part of the school systems which is accessible through website or school mobile app. At the moment its one way process where teacher recommends list of books appropriate for age groups and desired for curriculums need.

2.

3.

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Strengthening teachers’ capabilities & trainings for implementing SMART Education

The most challenging aspect of SMART education is to train existing teachers from public (Govt) and private schools for 21st century teaching. The public school network which occupies eighty percent of the schools are deprived of resources, and thrust to learn.

The accountability and responsibility to work is a questionable fact in this sector. The medium of instructions is another hurdle in the field. In spite of barriers of language, Time and administration, professional development programmes are in process and teachers are trained to prepare for new generation platforms. Pilot projects of international level system management and teaching are already implemented Gujarat and Tamilnadu states where public schools are provided with ICT hardware and software. Teachers are trained in large number to use technology and gadgets for making classes interesting and learning effective.

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Online classes and establishment of real-time online assessment system

Nation has well geared for this online platform, to my surprise this is more for western countries and limited for Indian students. Indian software’s are will in use all over the world, now it’s time to change the segment of these platforms towards Indian students.

As demand for digital education tools increases, device manufac-

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Most education contents even today are servers based as schools and management feel this as safe and secured system to keep confidential data of their working. There is big change in mind set of people and now started working from closed system to sharing open systems. The major content service providers are now using clouds for saving information and data for usage. Big data management is in use to understand trends, interests and inclination of child’s need.

Reinforcement of education on ICT ethics to resolve ICT-related side effects

Reinforcement is major part of learning the content covered in classroom teaching can be rechecked and revised after school hours and a child gets chance to evaluate himself on days learning.

Self assessment is considered as the best way for learning. Ethics is important part of this entire network, where an independent student behaves in mature way and uses technology for learning and sharing knowledge. World wide web (WWW) is open source, we need to train our generation how to select right contents and source of contents. To select resource from source is major step in SMART education implementation.

The SMART education in india is in no way less than worlds advance nations. It’s already in use in most of the Private schools.

Students use electronics gadgets in classrooms and outside campus for learning. Learning management Systems (LMS) and Enterprise resource planning (ERP) are well in use. Majority of board related administrative task are online. ERP is widely used for general administrations related to attendance, transport management, Hospitality, stock and asset management where as LMS helps in planning day to day classroom activities, curriculum planning, assignment and projects. Today students work on collaborative projects online and submit common report. Students receive their assignment and can complete the same online to submit for teacher’s feedback. In conclusion we can say that SMART education can be advancement in digital technology of present time. This may have its own mile stones and origin at western countries, yet long way to go. The problem of Indian education is not lack of any such technology or incentive, but its disparity between private and public education system. The gap between two is so wide that series of steps are required to bridge the distance over period of time. Digitization is hope with which we can achieve the goal of compulsory quality education for all.

Developing high quality educational content and promotion of its availability

India being 7th largest country in world has wide variation in language and culture. Since we have more than twenty-five state boards teaching in local state languages thus the contents are to be improvised in twenty five regional languages to reach to entire population. The process of smart classes and digitations of limited contents has started way back in by private companies as part of their education business more exclusively for Private schools. Most of such schools has used these small steps as part of their promotional activities and used these as model classed in premises. The Smart Education is research-integrated teaching project focuses upon the development and application of information technologies - a key scientific and technological development priority. Students will benefit directly from using technology and participating in its research and development.

Establishment of the foundation for a cloud-based education service

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SMART CITIES

Hartek Group bags PSPCL smart grid order for three upcoming Smart Cities Under this prestigious project, Hartek Group will install and commission Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) relays at 55 substations in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar

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handigarh, February 13, 2017: The Chandigarh-based Hartek Group, one of India’s fastest growing concerns catering to the power sector, has bagged a prestigious smart grid order from the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) for the supply, installation and commissioning of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) relays at 55 substations in the upcoming Smart Cities of Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar. By equipping these substations with SCADA relays, Hartek Group will enable collection and storage of information relating to any indications for troubleshooting and maintenance, thus making the power systems smart and robust. These smart grid-enabled substations, including 29 in Ludhiana, 14 in Amritsar and 12 in Jalandhar, will cater to a population of about 40 lakh by maximising operational efficiency through a more responsive power system network.

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These smart grid-enabled substations will maximise operational efficiency through a more responsive power system network that will facilitate collection and storage of data relating to any indications for troubleshooting, maintenance

“This prestigious order is our stepping stone to establishing our leadership in smart grid power solutions. It is an acknowledgement of our expertise in executing smart grid technologies. Known for world-class quality standards and timely completion of projects, we at Hartek Group are proud to partner with the PSPCL for this important undertaking. A state-of-the-art transmission and distribution (T&D) network based on smart grid applications like SCADA can go a long way in catering to efficient power supply. Smart grids make Smart Cities,” Mr.Hartek Singh , Hartek Group, CMD

the automated and computerised applications used under SCADA to detect faults and identify faulty equipments would not only reduce the need for manpower but would also bring down the costs aided by lower operation and maintenance expenses and ensure reliable and efficient power supply prompted by a faster response.

“Besides, the outages will be fewer and the time taken to rectify faults will be considerably reduced,” said the Hartek Group CMD. As part of the project, Hartek Group will make the power systems compatible with SCADA by arranging SCADA-related equipment to replace and do retrofitting of old relays in existing 11-KV breakers

of 66/11KV substations. From retrofitting and erection to testing and commissioning of all SCADA-related equipment/relays, the company will take care of the entire assignment.Under the Central government’s Smart City initiative, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar, which account for 12.5% of the total population of Punjab, will have an urban eco-system that drives economic growth and enhances the quality of life through technological applications, infrastructure development and improved services. A Smart City is characterised by features like assured electricity driven by smart grid applications, uninterrupted water supply, proper sanitation, solid waste management, efficient public transport, robust IT connectivity and digitalisation, especially e-governance.

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SMART CITIES

INDOOR AIR POLLUTION AN INVISIBLE HAZARD

Mr. Shubham Mishra

MD, BRIO

Smart city is one of the vibrant topics & along with the world,India is steering towards the process of digitization. In the wake of smart cities & rapid urbanization, technologies are playing major role. Transport, Energy, Healthcare, Effective recycling, rain water Harvesting, efficient powermanagement and sustainable initiatives are an integral part of any smart city program.

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When we talk about modernization of urban world it covers almost every aspect affecting the standard of living & health of humans.

Across the globe we are engaged in developing the sustainable technologies helping our overall living standard. Pollution has become a persistent concern & awareness of deteriorating environmental condition has compelled us to embrace solutions contributing to either enrichment of nature or reversing the effects of Pollution in any Smart City program. “ Air is omnipresent. We are exposed to air pollution only when we are on the road or in vicinity of an industrial chimney or burning cigarette is a myth. Various source of contaminations like greenhouse gases, partially burnt fuel, gases generated while burning waste on the road side including plastic, rubber dust from speeding tyres, construction

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dust, invisible dead skin cells and a host of other contributors form a part of pollutants which are responsible for spoiling environment – specifically AIR. A large portion of our time is spent indoors – either in the offices, homes, hotels, restaurant, fitness centres, salons & Spa and last but not the least cars during travelling. It has been proven by various studies that the indoor air quality is more polluted than the out door ” Masking the nose and mouth cannot do enough to prevent air pollution. We, as individuals are not able to do much about the improvement of Indoor Air quality for our beloved family, because we are not aware of the quality of air that we are breathing daily. Indoor air quality could be up to five times worse than outdoor air, which can have a very detrimental impact on your health, as per some studies.

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SMART CITIES The place where we live along with our beloved ones but we are unable to take care of their health.

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ndoor air pollutants are classified into Volatile Organic Carbons (VOCs), Total Volatile Organic Carbons ( TVOCs), which are a group of organic compounds present in ambient air, particulate Matter ( PM 10 & PM 2.5 – depending on the size of the particulate matter or dust – as we commonly know it, suspended in the air), Aldehyde compounds, mercaptans, microbial contamination like fungi, spores and bacteria which adhere to the dust particles, con-

tribute to Indoor Air Pollution. It isn’t surprising to understand that the source of such pollutants are the chemicals, detergents& Air fresheners we use for daily cleaning purposes. Pollutant like formaldehyde are emitted from the varnish of poor quality wooden furniture. Paints emit VOCs & TVOCs. Daily sweeping of the house increases the particulate matter in the air temporarily. Therefore, there is a culture of sweeping and then swabbing in India.

For example, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) poor indoor air quality can cause or exacerbate: • • • • •

Asthma, allergies, and other respiratory problems Headaches Eye and skin irritations Sore throat, colds and flu Memory loss, dizziness, fatigue and depression

8 The sultant is always a clean and fresh environment with reathable air.

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Long-term effects from exposure to toxic airborne particles include heart disease, respiratory disease, reproductive disorders, sterility and even cancer.

Internationally, many protocols have been signed, encouraging each country to reduce their contribution of air pollution like the greenhouse gases, transboundary emissions, Convention on Nuclear Safety, Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, Geneva Protocol and Basel Convention being the most important ones.

Industrial gaseous waste is treated through appropriate equipment like Scrubbers, Bag Houses, ESPs etc. Responsible industry houses take care of meeting / exceeding the expectations of APC standards. Pollution Boards being extremely strict and Carbon trading benefit being encashed, Industries keep their pollution levels under check.

Outdoor Air Pollution can be averted by changing our lifestyle like using bicycles instead of cars, proper & responsible waste disposal etc. We do not have any control on the managing & maintaining indoor air quality apart from installing machines like air filters & air purifying systems, which are again energy intensive. Photocatalysis is

a natural process which uses available natural resources like TiO2 as catalyst to reverse the air pollution.

We canreplace the use of chemicals or energy intensive units & start making sunlight work for us through mineral based TiO2 formulation. Organic pollutants from the enclosed environment can be eliminated. This Catalystis known to work on the principal of photo catalytic Oxidation in presence of UV light (UV-PCO). A process where using the sun light hydroxyl radicals and super anions are released by the catalyst i.e. TiO2.

We have seen good outcomes with old people who have breathing problems, reducing 84% OF Cigarette smoke in as low as 20 minutes.

In various countries like Japan & US they have initiated such programs of using products containing TiO2. It was long phase of research & validation to commercialize such product. PURETi is one of the products that works on above principles and is are now available in India. If you love your family then make your home pollution free, Stay well - breathe well.

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SMART CITIES

Smart Managers will manage our Cities !

Mr. Amarjit Singh Bindra National Account Director

Sodexo FM Services India Limited

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mart cities will need smart & qualified services providers.To take this on & be Battle ready the IPCs & Facilities management companies will have to invest in upgrading the skills of their Buildings management Teams & also for providing solutions in new emerging areas like Parking, Waste & Pollution management.

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Facility Management industry has to do the following to level out with the expectations of the customers 8 Training & develop-

ment of FM teams by the Subject matter experts on operations.

8 Invest in providing solutions which are environment friendly & sustainable.

8 Invest in clean & green energy to reduce the Carbon footprints.

8 Partner with clients in customising & optimising solutions provided.

8 Pay market savvy salaries & compensation to Facilities management teams.

8 Increase induction of Military Veterans in key positions as they prove to be quite suitable for this Industry & have much better Leadership skills to take on challenges associated with Facilities management Industry.

8 Operations heads should be as far as possible from Operations background & having exposure to nuisances of site operations.

8 Have incentives for FM teams to go for certifications like CFM etc.

8 Increased focus on increasing E security & reducing Physical security.

8 Enhanced focus on safety.

8 We need more Institutions & colleges

for teaching Facilities management as a course at under grads level. IPCs can start more institutions like School of Built Environment at Amity University,Noida.

8 CAFM & FM management softwares have to be used increasingly to have an accurate assessment of health check of our machines & systems.

8 Incentives have to be given to Corporates by Govt. if they have programmes for Car sharing & encourage travel by Bicycles & Metro.

Similarly Corporates should have incentives for Employees too. Nasscom can do this a green initiative.

Thus we should have a well defined action plan to be ready to manage Smart cities.

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SMART CITIES

Puducherry, fits the frame of a Global Tourism Destination In an attempt to finalize a Smart City project proposal to fit local needs of Puducherry, the Local Administrative Department (LAD), in association with the French Embassy and French Development Agency (AFD), organised a consultative workshop in Puducherry.

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Mr. V Narayanasamy

CM. , Puducherry

his was the third and final consultative workshop; the first consultation meeting was focused to evolve the vision for the city after deliberation of the city’s SWOT. The second meet was more focused and had experts for each sector namely Housing, Employment, Public Health services, Water, Energy, Transport, ICT and financing discussing the current situation of the city and projects that can improve the quality of living of the citizens.

The Final consultative workshop was planned to discuss the financial viability and other financing options for the Smart city proposal. Honourable Chief Minister, Honourable LAD minister, Chief Secretary, Secretary LAD, AFD Director, Counsel General of France, Department Heads, Government Officials were part of the workshop. The smart city consultants JLL, presented the proposal for Puducherry after having analysed the city’s SWOT, citizens’ choice, key stakeholder consultation and close collaboration with AFD.

Apart from Tourism, Development of an administrative and a commercial complex at Swedeshi Mill, a multi-level parking lot at Old Jail, modernisation of new bus stand, remodelling of underground sewerage system, are the highlights of the INR 1,800 crore project proposal to be included in the Centre’s Smart City programme. The French government would partner with the Union Territory in the project by providing financial and technical expertise. Smart Cities Club The Smart Cities Club is formed to provide the city assistance in deriving a feasible model for all the projects identified across all disciplines and backgrounds. The club constituted about 67 companies covering all domains. The club provides city with with unique exposure to frugal innovation that can better the inner-workings of city government and operations, supporting growth and innovation. This would help the proposal preparation and its financial planning follow a realistic approach and minimize its risk in implementation.

“The consultants in the meeting highlighted that AFD involvement in the proposal preparation is a highlight and would be a value add for the proposal interms of financial viability. Tourism being the main attraction, the proposal has given thrust to projects such as restoration of government-owned heritage building, modernization of existing museum, cultural and wellness centre, improvement of Botanical Garden, improvement of streetscapes and extension of the beach promenade, retrofitment of the Old Pier and development of a hotel at Old Distillery, Modernization of Grand Canal as a public open space, Tourist amenities such as app, sinages, audio tour, virtual reality museum, etc,

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SMART IT

Information Technology and Smart City Planning

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Mr. Vijay Kalantri President All India Association of Industries & CMD, Dighi Port Limited

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ore than half of the population of the Earth now live in urban areas . Modern cities face many challenges and opportunities because of this.

The challenges range from providing a good quality of life for citizens to ensuring appropriate socio-economic development year on year, while the opportunities can be seen in businesses becoming more efficient and innovative, to the reduction of crime through the use of ICTs in policing. The concept of making cities â&#x20AC;&#x153;smartâ&#x20AC;? has grown out of the need for cities to meet these challenges and opportunities.

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SMART IT

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rom the perspective of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage, we try to examine what are the essential components for making a city “smart”. We look at five essential ICT elements that cities need to acquire or develop on their path to becoming smarter. Non-material essentials also make up a good ICT strategy for smart cities. Along with the five ICT essentials ,cities must develop sustainable partnerships and cooperation strategies among main stakeholders to ensure the effective sharing of common city resources among citizens and businesses. If this is achieved, urban and regional innovation ecosystems can develop, in turn, speeding up the process of becoming a “smart city”.

The global market for smart cities information and communication technologies (ICT) was valued at $212.3 billion in 2013 and $293.2 billion in 2014.

This market is expected to reach $668.5 billion in 2019, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.9% from 2014 to 2019

North America represents the largest region of the smart cities market with revenue of $103.5 billion in 2014.

This regional market is expected to reach $218.3 billion in 2019, a compound annual growth rate of 16.1% from 2014 to 2019.

The European market for smart city ICTs is expected to increase from $69.9 billion in 2014 to $197.7 billion in 2019, a compound annual growth rate of 23.1% from 2014 to 2019.

“Growing” to “Smart” Cities Information Technology is changing the evolution of cities. The notion of “growing” cities based on implementing correct urban planning is being replaced with the idea of making a city “smart”. The Internet is changing the traditional urban planning model and compelling planners to not only consider the physical planning of a city but also to consider the use of Information Technology to make the economy, environment, mobility and governance of a city more efficient and effective.

Even though the term “smart city” is relatively novel, the development of a smart city can vary dramatically depending on the approach that is taken regarding policymaking for the urban growth of the city. A number of definitions for the term “smart city” exist. One can define smart cities as “cities that utilise information and communication technologies with the aim to increase the life quality of their inhabitants while providing sustainable development”. From this definition we can see that ICT plays a pivotal role in making a city more adapted to the contemporary needs of its citizens.

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Other definitions of smart cities may not place such an emphasis on the central role played by ICT. Nevertheless many definitions include some reference to the use of ICT for making modern cities more suited to the needs of citizens .For example, cities can become smart when “investments in human and social capital and traditional for example transportation and modern ICT-based infrastructure fuel sustainable economic growth and a high quality of life, with a wise management of natural resources, through participatory government”.. In fact , a city is smart when it manages to connect the physical infrastructure, the IT infrastructure, the social infrastructure, and the business infrastructure to leverage the collective intelligence of the city.

Regardless of whether ICT takes centre stage in the development of a smart city or not, it is clear it is a key driver of smart city initiatives and thus needs attention from city planners and the various stakeholders interested in sustaining and improving quality of life in urban areas.

Let us consider the essential building blocks that a city needs to put in place in order to make the best use of ICT for making a city smart. In my view , five essential ICT elements are needed to ensure a solid ICT foundation exists for nurturing the “smart” agenda of a city.

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Jan-Feb 2017 17

SMART IT Deployment of Broadband Networks

Use of Smart Devices and Agents

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he second step for smart city planners to consider when implementing a smart ICT plan for a city is to ensure that the physical space and infrastructures of the city are enriched with embedded systems, smart devices, sensors, and actuators, offering real-time data management, alerts, and information processing for the city administration.

The presence of these devices combined with wireless connectivity throughout a city facilitates a richer and more complex digital space within the city, which in turn can increase the collective embedded intelligence of a city. This collective embedded intelligence allows relevant stakeholders of the city to be informed about the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s physical environment and facilitates, the deployment of advanced services like spatial intelligence. It also paves the way for developing other innovative ecosystems that help to link the city with its people and visitors through technology.

W

hen considering the implementation of a smart ICT plan for a city, the first step for any policymaker is to foster the development of a rich environment of broadband networks that support digital applications, ensuring that these networks are available throughout the city and to all citizens .This plan for easy access to broadband should include a broadband infrastructure that combines cable, optical fibre, and wireless networks. This will offer maximum connectivity and bandwidth to citizens and organisations located in the city.

The latest broadband service is fibre-optic, which is the fastest Internet connection available. However, in many places this type of Internet service is still in its infancy .Expanding this service across the city is an essential part of any smart city agenda. With these fibre-optic cables connectivity increases in critical areas around the city such as universities, business centres, technical and research institutes, government offices and emergency response units. They also ensure access to any electronic public services that the city plans to offer its constituents .The long term goal of setting up such an infrastructure is to facilitate, once broadband access is widespread enough, an open broadband network that the entire city population, i.e. organizations, companies, municipalities and individuals can use.

In addition to the wired broadband networks that are necessary for smart cities, wireless broadband is becoming ever more in demand, especially with the explosive popularity of mobile applications, smartphones, the increased connectivity of smart devices, the Internet of Things (IoT).

Cities can use broadband wireless networks to enable a wide range of smart city applications that enhance safety and security, improve efficiency of municipal services and promote a better quality of life for residents and visitors.

This mobile infrastructure has already become an essential element for smart cities.

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This embedded intelligence, created by the use of embedded systems and other ICT intensive solutions, is becoming the nervous system of modern economies through making cities smarter. ICT is already at the heart of many current models for urban development, such as for revamping a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s critical infrastructure and enabling new ways for city transport management, traffic control or environmental pollution monitoring. Additionally, the extensive and ubiquitous use of ICT is empowering the development of essential services for health, security, police and fire departments, governance and delivery of public services.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 18

SMART IT Developing Smart Urban Spaces

Opening up Government Data

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he third essential step along the way to smarter cities is to develop smart urban spaces, by connecting the embedded systems, sensors and smart devices located across the city together to form a cohesive and integrated ICT infrastructure for the city. Smart urban spaces are areas of a city that leverage ICT to deliver more efficient and sustainable services and infrastructures within that specific area. The spaces can sometimes be as large as entire city districts and these districts can include services like electric car charge points, energy-efficient buildings that use ‘smart’ meters and smart heating and cooling systems. Wifi hotspots and information kiosks that allow people to connect to the Internet on the move through these districts are also common services available in smart urban spaces. Free wifi hotspots are becoming more and more common in most European cities. These smart urban spaces comprise a wide range of innovations that can be of enormous environmental and economic benefit to both the district and the city at large.

However, challenges involved in developing these smart spaces still exist. Particular importance is being placed on building partnerships between the public and private sectors within these districts, as well as between the ICT and energy industries of the city. This is a growing concern with respect to developing region/city-wide infrastructures, that the commercial approach taken by many city planners in developing these smart spaces is leading to too many proprietary systems that do not interoperate with each other.

Developing Web-based Applications and e-Services

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oming to the fourth element, smart cities commonly deploy online services across different sectors of the city, for instance a city airport will require different e-services to a city hospital. Smart city e-services include services for the local economy and its development, tourism, the city environment, its energy and transport services, security services, education and health services and so on. Sensors can be used to manage the mobility needs of citizens with an appropriate Intelligent Transport System (ITS) that takes care of congestion, predicts the arrival of trains, buses or other public transportation options; managing parking space availability, expired meters, reserved lanes, and so on. ICT can be also used for environmental and energy monitoring such as using sensors to detect when waste disposal pick-ups are needed, or to measure energy consumption and emissions.

Other services may include building management services like smart meters and monitoring devices to help monitor and manage water consumption, heating, air-conditioning, lighting and physical security. ICT can also be used in improving the health of citizens through telemedicine, electronic records, health information exchanges and in remote assistance and medical surveillance for disabled or elderly people. When providing public Safety and Security, sensor-activated video surveillance systems can be employed along with location aware enhanced security systems, and estimation and risk prevention systems . ICT services can change the way citizens work by providing remote working and e-commerce services for businesses, entertainment and communications for individuals. Integration of the e-services is a key-factor, enabling the above processes to work together and create environments more efficient in collaborative problem-solving and innovation . Innovative entrepreneurs and start-ups should be encouraged and supported to leverage these original technologies and adapt them to offer novel services to the citizens and businesses of the city.

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T

he fifth element is the Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives, and in particular the development of OGD portals, which have become widespread since the mid-2000s both at central and local government levels in Europe and indeed across the globe. Understanding the preconditions that enable the efficient and effective implementation of these initiatives is essential for growing cities and especially cities looking to become smart. The effective use of government data can precipitate the smart evolution of a country’s cities, creating national competitive advantage for the country in question.A couple of examples may be cited here. Two civil society movements are campaigning for greater openness of information, documents and datasets held by public bodies.

The first is the Right to Information movement, which promotes a public right of access to information from a human rights perspective. The second is the Open Government Data movement, which uses predominantly social and economic arguments to encourage the opening up of government data. The latter claims that putting such information into the public domain can benefit society by creating conditions for more social inclusive service delivery and for more participatory democracy. It can stimulate the economy by allowing the possibility for third parties (e.g. individuals, private enterprises, civil society organisations) to create new products and services using public data.

Both movements aim to increase the transparency of government so that all members of society can enjoy the inherent social and economic value of information that has been generated and collected with public funds. Public agencies are trying to increase the transparency of government processes and performance by publishing relevant data online and sharing it with the public. Benefits to opening government data for a city, region or country can be enumerated thus: First, opening government data Improves government accountability, transparency, responsiveness and democratic control Secondly, it promotes citizens self-empowerment, social participation and engagement Thirdly, it helps build the next generation of empowered civil servants Fourthly, it fosters innovation, efficiency and effectiveness in government services Last but not the least, it creates value for the wider economy Great emphasis is placed upon the need for a city’s governing body to engage with its citizens and listen to their needs when developing the city. Thus, opening up government data to citizens encourages good governance. Good governance, in turn, encourages public trust and participation that enables services to improve. Finally, it is not only engagement between government and citizens that is essential to the success of a city becoming smart. All stakeholders need to engage and work together towards growing the city to meet their own needs .

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Jan-Feb 2017 19

SMART IT

CHATBOT, CLOUD COMPUTING, EDR & ISC AUTHOR

A

By SURYA PANDEY , VP & Sr. ICT Consultant ccording to the new market research “ Endpoint Detection and Response Market by Component (Solution and Service), Enforcement Point (Workstations, Mobile Devices, Servers, POS Terminals), Deployment Mode, Organization Size, Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2021”, the EDR market size is estimated to grow from USD 749.0 million in 2016 to USD 2,285.4 Million by 2021, at an estimated Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25.0%.

The EDR solutions and services help to offer protection on endpoints from advanced threats such as malware, ransomware, and Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs). Moreover, increasing demand from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operating across diverse industry verticals and regions is expected to drive the market growth during the forecast period.

The mobile devices enforcement point segment to play a key role in the EDR market The mobile devices enforcement point segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Due to digital revolution and the rise in usage of mobile devices, the level of threats on mobile endpoints has increased. Rise in BYOD and increased usage of mobile devices in the BFSI sector are triggering the growth of the EDR market.

Mobile devices connected to the enterprise network can be subject to threats and vulnerabilities, which can cause loss in millions to the enterprises. The workstations enforcement point segment is expected to have the largest market share and dominate the EDR market from 2016 to 2021, due to growing instances of advanced threats on workstations.

The Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) vertical is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the EDR market The BFSI industry vertical is expected to contribute the largest market share in the EDR market, due to increasing digitization in banking operations and rise in the number of government regulations on banking and financial transactions. The BFSI sector is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2021, in the EDR market, due to the technological proliferation of banking and financial processes. Adoption of EDR solutions brings advanced protection from threats without affecting the operational efficiency, thus driving the demand.

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North America is expected to contribute the largest market share, whereas APAC is expected to grow at the highest rate North America is expected to have the largest market share and dominate the EDR market from 2016 to 2021, due to the presence of a large number of EDR solution vendors and early innovative technology adopters across the U.S. and Canada. APAC offers potential growth opportunities in the EDR market, as there is a wide presence of SMEs that are turning towards such EDR solutions to efficiently safeguard their business endpoints, particularly in developing countries such as India, China, and Singapore. According to the new market research report “Information Security Consulting Market by Security Type (Network Security, Application Security, Database Security, and Endpoint Security), Organization Size (SMES and Large Enterprises), Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2021”, the information security consulting market is estimated to grow from USD 16.12 Billion in 2016 to USD 26.15 Billion by 2021, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.2%.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 20

SMART IT North America is expected to dominate the information security consulting market in 2016

Application security to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2021 Cyber security solutions are used to secure the network infrastructure and the devices connected through it.

The emerging IoT, BYOD trends, and connected number of devices & applications are susceptible to Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs). Application security is expected to witness the highest CAGR in the global information security consulting market during the period of 2016?2021. North America is expected to account for the largest market share in 2016, due to the greater awareness of cyber security and early adoption of security consulting services in this region.

Aerospace & defense vertical to have the largest market size in 2016 The information security consulting market is also segmented by various industry verticals, out of which, the adoption of security consulting services is expected to be the highest in the aerospace and defense vertical, as the critical data and applications used by this vertical are prone to advanced threats. Moreover, government & public utilities, Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI), and Information Technology (IT) & telecom verticals are expected to gain traction during the forecast period.

North America is expected to hold the largest share of the information security consulting market in 2016, due to the technological advancements and early adoption of cyber security in this region. The market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2016 and 2021. The primary driving forces for this growth are increasing technological adoption and huge opportunities across industry verticals in APAC countries, especially India and China.

An introduction to cloud solutions and their use cases…

Cloud computing — on-demand, internet-based computing services — has been successfully applied to many computing functions in recent years.

From consumer-facing, web-based productivity apps like Google Docs to enterprise database management suites, the tools businesses rely on are increasingly moving to the cloud.

But developing a cloud strategy is no easy task.

Public cloud solutions will likely come to dominate the market over the next decade, but business constraints, such as security concerns and the limitations of existing infrastructure, make it difficult for companies to fully adopt the public cloud right now. That means that hybrid clouds, in which multiple cloud implementations (including public and private) are connected, will remain popular for the time being, at least until these constraints are addressed. The tech giants that dominate the IaaS market — Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, and Google — are constantly expanding their offerings to address current business constraints as they compete for market share. A new report from BI Intelligence evaluates the current business considerations for the various cloud solutions and provides an outlook on the state of the market. Cloud computing solutions have gained traction because they’re flexible and cost efficient. Sixty-seven percent of companies used an Infrastructure-as-a-Service solution in 2015, like the cloud, for some part of their business, up 19% from the prior year. All cloud solutions provide certain benefits that are becoming increasingly essential to businesses in the digital

age. These include on-demand self-service, rapid elasticity, and broad network access, among others.

Security needs, demand predictability, existing infrastructure, and maintenance capabilities are key business considerations for enterprises choosing between cloud implementations. While hybrid cloud strategies will remain popular in the near term, the market is likely to shift toward the public cloud over time. That’s because costs are falling, providers are developing solutions that address main concerns with the public cloud, and business practices like agile development and data analytics are dependent on advantages the public cloud provides. However, industries that handle sensitive information, like financial services and healthcare, will likely prefer hybrid and private cloud strategies given regulatory restrictions.

Amazon Web Services is the dominant cloud computing provider by market share, followed

by Google, IBM, and Microsoft. Because the latter three companies have had little success taking on Amazon, market-share gains are likely to come at the expense of smaller competitors.

Get a Clear Understanding About Chatbots and How to Monetize Them…

Advancements in artificial intelligence, coupled with the proliferation of messaging apps, are fueling the development of chatbots — software programs that use messaging as the interface through which to carry out any number of tasks, from scheduling a meeting, to reporting weather, to helping users buy a pair of shoes. Foreseeing immense potential, businesses are starting to invest heavily in the burgeoning bot economy. Bots are still nascent and monetization models have yet to be established for the tech, but there are a number of existing strategies — like “as-a-service” or affiliate marketing — that will likely prove successful for bots used as a tool within messaging apps.

Chatbots can also provide brands with value adds — services that don’t directly generate revenue, but help increase the ability of brands and businesses to better target and serve customers, and increase productivity. These include bots used for research, lead generation, and customer service.

Among the big picture insights you’ll get » AI has reached a stage in which chatbots can have increasingly engaging and human conversations, allowing businesses to leverage the inexpensive and wide-reaching technology to engage with more consumers. » Chatbots are particularly well suited for mobile — perhaps more so than apps. Messaging is at the heart of the mobile experience, as the rapid adoption of chat apps demonstrates. » The chatbot ecosystem is already robust, encompassing many different third-party chat bots, native bots, distribution channels, and enabling technology companies. » Chatbots could be lucrative for messaging apps and the developers who build bots for these platforms, similar to how app stores have developed into moneymaking ecosystems. » Chatbot adoption has already taken off in the US with more than half of US users between the ages of 18 and 55 having used them, accord-

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ing to exclusive BI Intelligence survey data. » Chatbots boast a number of distinct features that make them a perfect vehicle for brands to reach consumers. These include a global presence, high retention rates, and an ability to appeal to a younger demographic. » Businesses and brands are looking to capitalize on the potential to monetize the software. BI Intelligence identifies four existing models that can be successfully tailored for chatbots. These models include Bots-asa-Service, native content, affiliate marketing, and retail sales. » Chatbots can also provide brands with value adds, or services that don’t directly generate revenue. Bots used for research, lead generation, and customer service can cut down on companies’ operational costs. » There are several benchmarks chatbots must reach, and barriers they must overcome, before becoming successful revenue generators.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 21

PRESS RELEASE

ABB to deliver digital substation for one of India’s largest IT parks Zurich, Switzerland, Substation to improve reliability, efficiency and safety and support India’s Smart Grid Mission and Smart City vision

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URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 22

PRESS RELEASE

A This will be among the first digital sub stations in India and supports the country’s vision of smarter grids and cities” said Claudio Facchin, president of ABB’s Power Grids division. ”It highlights the increasing digitalization of the grid, a key focus area of our Next Level strategy and reinforces our digital thrust based on our common ABB Ability offering.”

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BB will deliver a 110 kilovolt (kV) digital substation to Technopark, one of the largest Information Technology (IT) parks in India, located in the southern state of Kerala and spanning an area of 930,000 square meters. Due to the nature of the industry, the campus is highly dependent on reliable, round the clock power to serve the 350 companies employing more than 50,000 people.

Technopark is currently in an expansion mode and is envisioned to become a self-contained township with potential to employ a hundred thousand people working in the fields of IT, biotechnology and nanotechnology, increasing the need for reliable power supplies for commercial and residential consumers.

A digital substation is more compact, flexible, reliable, safer, cost effective over the lifecycle and simpler to maintain and extend than a conventional one. It is another example highlighting the integration of information and operational technologies (IT and OT) and will leverage digital communications via fiber optic cables that will replace traditional copper connections using analog signals. This will improve flexibility, availability, reliability and safety, while reducing installation costs and environmental impact.

The digital substation will also enable the drive for power management efficiencies by turning real time data into actionable intelligence and bringing cost efficiencies. It will be IEC 61850 compliant, ensuring an open communication architecture.

Using fiber optic cabling instead of copper enables reduced cost through the direct savings on copper, optimized panel design and less civil work required to lay the cables. Thousands of traditional analog copper signaling wires between the High Voltage equipment and the control room are also substituted with a few fiber optic digital communication buses (process bus). All this reduces installation cost.

Digitizing signals at their source reduces the risk of electrical hazards to operators, creating a safer work environment. The substation equipment is also enabled for digital communication, which allows Technopark to monitor and maintain the equipment in an easier manner through real time data.

A key component of the digital substation is ABB’s Standalone Merging Unit (SAM600), built to withstand the harshest environments.

It fits alongside primary equipment, collecting information close to the source in the field, and converting it into IEC 61850 digital format for control, monitoring and protection applications.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 23

PRESS RELEASE

HONEYWELL EXPANDS INDOOR AIR

PURIFIERS PORTFOLIO WITH MODEL FOR APARTMENT HOMES

Mr. Vinayendra Jain Director - Marketing

“ Most people are unaware of the more harmful air pollutants that flourish indoors in the seemingly safe enclosures of our homes, cars or offices,” said Vinayendra Jain, director of Connected Homes, Honeywell Home and Building Technologies, India. “Furnishings, cleaning agents, cooking, pets and accumulated dust in enclosed spaces contribute to this indoor pollution. As such, it is important to educate people about indoor air pollution.”

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Priced at INR 19,990, the new purifier comes with a beautiful design and offers power packed features.

Honeywell India offers a comprehensive range of indoor air purifiers for homes, cars and institutions.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 24

PRESS RELEASE

H

oneywell offers one of the broadest and most comprehensive lines of indoor air purifiers in India for homes, cars and institutions, and now has expanded the offering to apartment homes.

The Honeywell Lite indoor air purifier is a compact and powerful do-ityourself (DIY) product, featuring an intuitive user experience and beautiful design specifically for apartment homes. It is capable of purifying air in modern, compact apartment homes from 175 to 250 square feet – mainly in rooms such as bedroom, study room, puja room and kitchen.

The Honeywell Lite indoor air purifier offers a range of features that effectively address indoor air pollution. It comes with a powerful clean air delivery rate (CADR1), aesthetic design, increased durability with an anti-UV-coated outer body, and interactive touch panel.

The touch panel offers various controls including child lock, timer and sleep mode. The timer feature offers a unique advantage by enabling longer filter life and reduced running costs. The power consumption of Honeywell Lite indoor air

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purifier is economical, using electricity equivalent to only three compact fluorescent light bulbs. The filtration involves a three-stage advanced process to eliminate more than 99 percent of air pollutants that pass through the filter, including PM2.5, pollen, bacteria, formaldehydes, toxic gases and odor – all of which are common indoor air pollutants in homes. Priced at INR 19,990, the product offers great value for apartment home owners who are looking for a cost-effective solution to the increasing air pollution problem.

Honeywell is one of the leading brands globally in the indoor air purifier space with one of the widest portfolios, cutting edge technology, and a combination of intuitive and user-friendly design principles that provide powerful performance and deliver cleaner indoor air efficiently.

“Space constraints or price tags should not prevent anyone from being able to afford a good clean air solution.

The Honeywell Lite Indoor Air Purifier is an affordable solution for anyone who wants a safer, healthier, and cleaner environment,”

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 25

SMART TECHNOLOGY

MAPP4ALL

Human diversity is not only a huge field in our society related to the gender, the colour of our skin, the culture and the ideology, but also with the accessibility.

The diversity is related to the necessities of people for accessing to a place, a service, a product, among others. This is known as universal accessibility.

Mr. Josep Esteba

Mapp4All

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URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 26

SMART TECHNOLOGY

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n mapp4all we want to create a map about the accessibility, a map that tells us which are the different establishments that fit more to our necessities. But, what can these personal needs be? All of them are. On the one hand, people with motor disability, hearing impairment or visual disability require special needs during their life. On the other hand, however, there are alsoindividuals with other kind of necessities, such as those who have pets; people with a baby and a baby carriage; persons with food allergies who need specific diets; or any other barriers that impedes someone to access the same location as any otherperson.

Creating a positive map is our objective. When we do our resume we usually write our abilities and competences, but not what we do not know how to do.

For this reason, mapp4all talks in positive.

ment that meets the requirements you are looking for. A person in a wheelchair can also be at the same time with a baby or a pet.Thus, in mapp4all you are able to filter your search with the different types of accessibility.

Mapp4all is the first collaborative platform of information about the universal accessibility. It informs and shares where and with whom you can go with, not only during holidays, but also on any day. This mobile application allows us to localize any establish-

It is an interactive application. This means that any user, registered for free, can record an establishment in any city of the world. The user is also able to comment and value its accessibility, and we can all benefit from this information. On the other hand, mapp4all-

will evolve with users, since they will be able to include other accessibility grades depending on the demand of users, of people.

Does a specific location have the same rate of accessibility for a small pet than for a big one? Are a couple with kids looking for the same places than a couple with older children? Or thinking more simply, does a young person in a wheelchair consider equal access an establishment than a grown-up in an electric wheelchair?

Mapp4all benefits the entire population, cities and businesses.

8 It benefits the population because it is a free ap-

plication, in nine languages and available for ANDROID and IOS.

8 It is beneficial for the cities since it has a met-

ropolitan map which will help citizenssee what activities can be implemented, according to the results of the obtained information.

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Finally, companies and organizations will gain clients based on their progress towards excellence in accessibility, besides having greater awareness of businessmen.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 27

INTERVIEW

Interview With

Alicia AsĂ­n CEO and co-founder of Libelium,

Q: Smart city is now not a question of if, but a question of how & when.

What is your Aa: vision of a Smart City? And your

Q: d of IT kin t Wha re infrastructu is required for a smart city? art Cities, Aa: When it comes to Sm city council r ou s one of the first question n prevent ca y customers raise is how the inj from ecting bad unauthorized personnel is is not surprisdata into the network. Th projects, ing: compared to other IoT deal with the Smart Cities potentially Privacy da largest amount of ta. en be and security should tak en into account wh

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role in helping develop a city â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Smart. A Smart City could be defined as a village fully connected through cutting-edge technologies and able to get information from different assets and sources such as waste management, water or electricity supply, traffic congestion or pollution levels. All the data gathered is analyzed by publicauthorities to take smart decision based on real facts. And public data could be also managed by citizens as open data offering the opportunity to create new enterprises based on new business models.

The Internet of Things is playing a vital role to build smart cities and Libelium is powering this revolution by developing a modular and open source sensor platform able to collect data and send it wirelessly to the Cloud. We provide IoT solutions for system integrators, IT companies or any organization which plans to develop any smart project for Cities but also Industry, Agriculture or Logistic sectors. Our idea is having a Smart and Connected World with open information not only for municipalities but also worldwide citizens.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 28

INTERVIEW

Q: What are the relevant government

departments/ ministries involved in the decision making process? And what expectations do you have from the governments in terms of incentives & policy programme?

Aa: One determining factor for a successful Smart City project is that the whole municipality is involved, not only IT or technical departments, but also environment, urban planning or any other area. The relationship should be fluid from the beginning to the end. We have to lose fear in working hand to hand with the public sector. Both, private and public organizations should work on behalf of the citizens within the other players of our city: social and economic agents, university, security forcesâ&#x20AC;Ś Public authorities play a vital role in these projects so political conversations are essential to have everyone aligned. Governments are investing in IoT technology but they also want

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to know how they are going to use it and how data is going to be shared and profitable. So frequently, talking about IoT developments let us realize that the main aspect is not quantity, but quality and accuracy.In most European countries, the public-private alliances promote joint participation in a transparent way for public tenders. Normally, private sector is ahead in innovation and has more investment capacity than cities. Municipalities have to take advantage of this synergy to look for initiatives that give access to co-financed projects. On the other hand, some worldwide organization in countries and other political communities provide funds to develop smart projects that will improve citizens life and contribute to power sustainability.

Q: What is the future of big data & data analytics?

Aa: With the amount of data we are generating, we should be thinking

about information overload. What will it look like when we have 50 billion devices connected to the Internet and contributing to an already large the data set? Will we eventually be able to extract any useful information? If big data is on course to transform business and society, then open data has a role to play to make sure information is accessible and shared. And as we make data open we also need to consider adding context. If weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re data-driven, we will have a more rational society and more rational companies. If we can transform data into information, which is the biggest challenge, then we will be more cost-effective, more productive, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll save the environment. To get that done the soonest barrier to overcome is interoperability. We still see new connectivity standards, new sensor devices, new cloud platforms. Big players are realizing this is not going to be dominated by a single company. So we need to cooperate.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 29

INTERVIEW

Q: What are your target customers/ clients?

Aa: Libelium works in different verticals such as Agriculture, Cities, Environment, Water, Parking, Industry, Water or eHealth, providing sensor platforms to get information from anything. For that reason our main customers are companies that provide technological services for other organizations, private or public, that are looking for the cutting-edge technology to save resources, reduce costs, optimize process or just have a need to get data.

Thousands of Libelium wireless sensors have been deployed throughout the world. They have helped to measure radiation levels after the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant, they are installed in the forest of Spain for early forest fire detection. They have improved cocoa crops in Indonesia and have contributed to prevent plagues in European vineyards. We have even been in the space by incorporating our sensors in

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Ardusat satellite. They even have monitored the behaviour of koalas in Australia and bees in UK to prevent their extinction. We are also controlling water and fish quality in some of the biggest fish farms in Vietnam and our sensors are included in some of the most ambitious Smart Cities projects all around the world

Q: What will be your marketing strategy?

Aa: We want to power the IoT revolution

by impacting the world. Our website for example is an open platform that provides technical information for developers and customers, real case studies for users interested in knowing more about IoT and resources such as articles, images and many more. Everything is open there. We want to give visibility about what we are doing but also offer people the opportunity to learn about IoT. Our sector is very young and people should know the importance of education to guarantee the future growing of it. Libelium tries to cover the educational gap that exists nowadays with The IoT Spartans

Challenge, an educational program that offers specific training to ensure skills for future employees.

Q: How large do you think is the Smart City market?

Aa: I guess it is as large as the number

of existing worldwide cities. There is no need to make a great investment the main point is that you have to know exactly which is the problem you want to face and what you want to measure to deal with it. Most municipalities look for a small proof of concept to test the solution and if it works right deploying in the whole city. This is possible with our platforms, they are completely scalable.

We all have to join forces betting on sustainability and becoming our cities in smart, safe and clean is the best way to guarantee the world survival. With the growing population, the increase in food needs and resources such as water or electricity is essential to optimize and take decisions based on facts. The only way is connecting our world.

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 30

INTERVIEW

Interview With Mr. Shravan Govil

CEO, (RFAPL)

Q: Cities that REPL is Focusing on?

SG: REPL is currently focusing on Indore and

Dehradun projects but simultaneously exploring projects in cities like Faridabad, Chandigarh etc.

Q: How can infrastructure/Real Estate to be combined with technology for better living?

Q: Cities that REPL is Focus ing on?

SG: This year is likely to be critical for infrastructure development as the government is pushing the road, airport and railway projects. India is witnessing significant interest from international investors in the infrastructure space. Many foreign companies are keen on collaborating with India on infrastructure, high speed trains, renewable energy and developing smart cities.

The Government of India is taking every possible initiative to boost the infrastructure sector. With the affordable housing segment finally getting the long-awaited Infrastructure status and the government increasing allocation under the PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) scheme will encourage home buyers and further boost participation from the private players.Steps such as amendment of the Airport Authority of India Act to enable monetization of assets, development of airports under the PPP(Public-Private Partnership) model, a new metro rail policy and the passage of an Act for dispute resolution in PPP infrastructure projects are expected to encourage private sector involvement in urban infrastructure creation. This will further enhance infrastructure availability in urban centers, thereby having direct fallout on real estate development. Smart city Mission will also add fuel to Infrastructure development in coming years.

SG: Technology has impacted every sector and

so is the case with the real estate sector also. The various areas where thetechnology has impacted the Real Estate and Infrastructure are improved functionality using enterprise software like fully automated E- homes and Cloud-based information storage security.Nowadays, we have electronic gadgets like smart phones and tablets through which we can operate all appliances at our own ease with a touch. Real time monitoring of the projects through this technology enabled devices is not only giving monitoring platform, but also improving the quality of the work and helps in timely completion of projects.

Q:

What Support Financial or Advisory is government giving to companies who are working on smart city concept?

SG: The Smart City Mission will be operated

as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and the Central Government proposes to give financial support to the Mission to an extent of Rs. 48,000 crores over five years i.e. on an average Rs. 100 crore per city per year. An equal amount, on a matching basis, will have to be contributed by the State; therefore, nearly rupees one lakh crore of Government will be available for the development of Smart Cities. The selected consulting firms are preparing smart city proposals under the supervision of urban local bodies and state governments based on review of previous plans and interventions undertaken. On other hand, government is also releasing Advisories and Knowledge based workshops are being organized for consulting firms on regular basis to keep them updated.

health from deterioration. As a part of REPL endeavor to achieve ecofriendly community, we are focusing on using ecofriendly building material.

One of our project Arka is IGBC Gold certified ecofriendly project that extensively uses “Green Building concept”. Apart from these we are using energy efficient products in all of our projects and special emphasis is laid on conserving water and electricity through rain water harvesting, Installation of Sewage water treatment plants and provisioning of Solar powered lights in common areas within our projects.

Q: Challenges to achieve the target SG: The main challenge to achieve the target is

the lack of knowledge among the common masses about an ecofriendly environment. The government needs to take the step in this direction to make the masses aware about the same and make it mandatory for all the real estate projects to follow the same.

Q: Smart city is now not a question of if, but a question of how and when? By when can city see/feel the progress?

SG:

Hundred cities have been identified across the country for smart city and 60 cities are already on the move. The allocation of projects has been done and the consulting firms have already started conceptual working on the projects. In coming few months we may see the visible progress.

Q:What’s

an Ideal Financial model for the smart city market?

SG:

PPP(Public-Private partnership) Model which involves participation of Corporate/Private sector/International experts and financerrs is an ideal solution as it not only provides’s faster financing but also have expertise and experience of international standards to build the smart cities which will be future ready.

Q: REPL Focusing on ecofriendly community and Knowledge hub. What are the steps to achieve this?

Q: How large do you think is the smart city market?

Being eco-friendly or environmental friendly is becoming more and more important.

Eco-friendly products promote green living that help to conserve energy and also prevent air, water and noise pollution. They prove to be a boon for the environment and also prevent human

driver and cannot be quantified in value terms.

Improvised Infra and services will help these cities provide a platform for improved economic activity. This will have a long lasting positive impact on City/State and Country’s economy.

SG:

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SG: It has huge potential with a great economy

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SMART INFRASTRUCTURE

Re-imagining India’s Informal Housing Challenge Via convergence of Housing for All and Smart Cities missions

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Mr. A Shankar

National Director, Head of Operations, JLL India

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he traditional factors influencing housing demand keep fluctuating due to policy interventions; yet, consumers keep investing in real estate. This is evidenced by the fact that housing sales velocity has not dropped significantly anywhere in India due the various policy reforms.

Moreover, today’s market primarily consists of buyers (as much as 80%) who depend on loans for financing their housing needs. Of all the policy initiatives, the Housing for All (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) and the Smart Cities Mission are two major flagship policies that have affected the demand and supply trends of residential real estate, and have a huge impact on addressing the issues of informal housing / housing for the urban poor.

The recent Real Estate Regulatory Act does

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he year 2016 turned out to be a year of transition, particularly for real estatea sector that has been directly or indirectly affected or altered by most policy reforms introduced by the state or central governments. Some of these policy changes might seem disadvantageous in the short run; however, they will render the entire system more mature, organized and transparent.

The recently-announced Union Budget 2017-18 has yet again emphasized the importance of housing, and has accorded infrastructure status to this sector. It is important to attract the attention of all stakeholders to this sector, particularly those who influence supply – developers and banks.

Given the benefits offered in the budget, the clearer definition of affordable housing in terms of area, relaxation of construction timelines for affordable housing projects, and tax incentives, it is evident that India is moving towards significantly reducing its share of homeless people.

not concentrate on incentives to promote informal housing, though it increases transparency in the formal residential market. Affordable housing shortage continues to be a major concern in the country today, and can be correlated with the rate of urbanization taking place. According to the Census of India 2011, India’s urban population increased to 377 million, reflecting the rise in urbanization from 27.8% to 31.2% between 2001 and 2011. This rate of urbanization has led to many issues such as land shortage, housing shortfall, severe pressure on available infrastructure, transportation deficits and stress on basic amenities like water, sanitation and healthcare.

The Housing for All mission envisions a multitude of strategies such as tax rebates, monetary

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SMART INFRASTRUCTURE

support, relaxed development regulations, discounted interest rates, etc. to provide Housing for All by 2022.The Housing for All and Smart Cities missions, through convergence, use the benefits given to each other and also compensate for shortcomings by leveraging their advantages. While Housing for All concentrates on funding and incentives for developers and buyers, the Smart Cities mission focuses on leveraging land availability, implementation under single entity SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles), and strengthening basic infrastructure facilities.

As part of the Smart City initiatives, some Indian cities have planned convergence with the Housing for All scheme to address the informal housing sector. Some of these initiatives would include housing for economically weaker sections or affordable

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housing, slum redevelopment, rental housing, working womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hostels, shelters for the homeless, etc. as part of the Smart City plan. All these would be developed through the PPP model with the involvement of private developers. This has been successfully adopted in Bhubaneshwar Smart City, which ranked number 1 in the Smart Cities Challenge competition by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India and JLL India, which was the consultant for preparation of the smart city proposal for Bhubaneshwar.

There is a huge opportunity for private developers to get involved in the development of housing for the informal sector. Aspects which would form the basis for the success of the convergence agenda and will address the housing shortage issue of India in a big way through private participation are:

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SMART IT & Communication 1) Land as a resource :

Land price is the major component of any housing project in urban areas, and currently forms an average of 30-50% of the cost of a project within city limits (depending on the location and applicable FSI). This cost plays a major role in the pricing and affordability of residential units. Smart Cities leverage available Government-owned land parcels within the specified areas for development for housing for the urban poor and the informal sector. Utilizing such land parcels at a subsidized rate will drastically reduce the pricing of the resultant housing units.

5) Multiple financing options :

2) Technology intervention in construction :

Another major component is the cost of construction and escalation of the cost during the construction period. To address this issue and make housing for the informal sector more feasible, it is important to reduce construction costs and construction timelines.

However, a majority of developers use conventional construction methods, which are time-consuming.

Projects often face time and cost over-runs, and increase in the construction period increases the cost of financing. Technology intervention in construction such as prefab technology will definitely address the gap between time, efficiency and funding for mass housing projects which are part of the Smart Cities initiative.

3) Redevelopment within city limits :

Most of the smart cities in India have adopted the redevelopment model for ABD (Area Based Development). These areas are either the CBD or areas which are located well within the city limits. This gives an opportunity to address the housing needs of the informal sector by redeveloping the area with quality housing, since most of the existing urban informal housing is in such locations. Redevelopment of various other areas could also have housing as one of the options, or as one among various products, with the cross-subsidization model to provide more housing units and reduce the existing shortage.

4) Improved Infrastructure :

The Smart Cities mission aims to create and maintain high-quality, 100% efficient civic infrastructure.

The efficiency of the utilities in our cities has been an elusive factor so far, thanks largely to inadequate monitoring and responsiveness. Electricity, sewerage, storm water drainage and water supply will be strengthened in Smart Cities, relieving the stress that large-scale housing projects invariably create on a city’s infrastructure. Service delivery at the level of the Urban Local Bodies is another area where major improvements are sought.

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Smart Cities not only depend on their own funding (i.e. contributions from central and state governments) but also act as the base for lot of other financing options apart from FDIs. Availability of funding is ensured through convergence with other government schemes, funds raised from the state governments, municipal debt, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), infrastructure debt funds, and the PPP vehicle.

A stable cash flow will ensure successful completion of the project, which is a major concern in most other initiatives where projects are stalled due to lack of funding. This will open up lot of avenues for investment from other countries and various financial sources. This would be an essential component to make housing for urban poor a successful model.

6) Increased involvement of private players :

There is a huge opportunity for private players, since the Smart Cities mission encourages participation of private entities under monitored terms and conditions, thereby increasing the productivity and quality of the projects. This will provide an integrated platform for private players such as housing developers and infrastructure service providers. Since the funding and the revenue system are distributed across projects within Smart City initiatives, the mission proves profitable for all involved service providers.

7) Easy implementation through SPV :

Smart Cities are implemented through Special Purpose Vehicles - and if a housing component is included, the implementation becomes smoother and encourages private developers to participate since SPV will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, implement, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate all Smart City development projects. SPVs will ensure a substantial revenue stream for all the projects included within the Smart City proposals, also ensuring effective utilization of funds.

As India’s urban population continues to grow, there will be an increasing number of urban poor and informal housing settlements - addressing their housing needs is going to become critically important in the years to come. India is struggling to implement a ‘right project at right time’ approach, and getting the basics right at this point in time can help the country cope with the pressures of informal housing and rapid urbanization. The convergence of schemes such as the Housing for All and Smart Cities missions will be most appropriate to achieve optimal results with proper implementation. Isolated policies will yield much lower results. Overall, the goals for urban development in India should be to create sustainable, inclusive and smart urban centers with good housing standards and participation of the private sector.

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FINANCE

THIS IS THE MOST PROMISING AND EFFECTIVE BUDGET

REAL ESTATE AND INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRY

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omparison to last few budgets.

Finally, the affordable housing industry has got the much needed industry status which will not only revive but also give a boost to the almost dead sector. Industry status will enable these projects to avail the associated benefits. The surplus liquidity created by demonetization with banks has enabled financial institutions to reduce the landing rates which will give direct benefits to the borrower. Allocation for infrastructure stands at a record Rs 3.96, lakhs crores which is 24% higher than last year budget. The proper and fast imple-

mentation of such initiatives and policies will take this country to the next level. The encouragement of PPP model and establishment of small airports, railway security fund, construction of highways and new connected roads across the country will not only strengthen the economical condition of the country but also create millions of job opportunities through parallel industries. Similarly, Rural and urban housing scheme will support the other parallel industries like consumer durable, electronic, home & textile, Cementing, tiles dĂŠcor etc.

Restructuring of FDI policy will lead to in flow of funds in the country which will provide the much needed financial support to the large scale infrastructure projects. Overall it is fair to say that the budget has been drafted with vision and precision. It is going to provide momentum to the entire infrastructure industry.

Mr. Pradeep Misra CMD, REPL

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SMART INFRASTRUCTURE

Ports and cities: historically a strong link Ports are at the origin of many cities. Many cities started as trading posts, with the port as natural interface of land and maritime connections. They allowed small towns to become cities, and fuelled urban development thanks to the prosperity related to trade.

Mr. Vijay Kalantri President All India Association of Industries & CMD, Dighi Port Limited

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bservation of old city maps shows the strong interlinkages of port and urban development, and economic historians such as Fernand Braudel have stressed the importance of port-cities in the birth and development of the global, capitalist market economy. Ports are often still closely connected to the city. Even if they have disappeared from a city, they can continue to influence the city, because their heritage lives on, e.g. in urban form. This link has been strong in history and continues to be strong in many emerging economies.

A striking example in recent history is the case of Shenzhen, a small fishing village turned into one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest metropolises and ports within a few decades, thanks to export-driven growth triggered by a free trade zone and extensive port development.

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SMART INFRASTRUCTURE Many of the largest cities have the largest ports. This is particularly the case of many Asian cities, such as Shanghai and Osaka-Kobe, which are among the twenty largest metropolitan areas and also home to the twenty largest ports in the world. Other examples of very large Asian metropolises with very large ports are Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. The link between metropolitan size and port size is also visible in North America, with New York and Los Angeles as prime examples, and to a lesser extent in Europe that has a more limited number of very large metropolises, but where some of these including London and Barcelona also have large ports . At the same time, not all of the largest metropolitan areas have large

ports. Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro are examples of very large metropolitan areas with relatively small ports. Some of the world’s largest metro-areas have river ports, such as Chicago and Paris, and there are also examples of large metropolises without port, such as Delhi and Mexico City. The cities with the largest ports are not only the largest cities in the world, but they are also the largest global cities.

Although there are large metropolitan areas without a port, their fate is often strongly dependent on the quality of the connection with ports. The smaller and the closer the port-city in relation to the inland metropolis, the more it can be considered to form part of this metropolis. It could then be considered dependent satellites, shortrange corridors or long-range corridors. Dependent satellites are small and close; these would for example be Civitavecchia in its relation to Rome, and San Antonio in

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relation to Santiago. Short-range corridor relations exist when an inland metropolis is closely located to a relatively large port-city, such as in Santos-Sao Paulo, Port Klang-Kuala Lumpur and IncheonSeoul. Long-range corridors are observed when inland metropolises are further away from a relatively small portcity, e.g.

Le Havre-Paris, Port Said-Cairo and Constantza-Budapest. Finally, there are also constellations in which the inland metropolis is really far away from a port (more than 200 km), in which cases the port-city has the room to develop itself into an independent port metropolis. This is the case for St. Petersburg (with Moscow as the inland metropolis), Durban (Johannesburg) and Odessa (Kiev).

Land-locked countries are dependent on other countries’ ports, which might be problematic when this is a dependence on one port, but is much less challenging when it has links with many different ports. An example of such a country is Austria that exports and imports via at least six ports located in different coastal zones: Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Koper, Trieste and Constantza.There are large ports that are not located in cities, but there are usually very specific reasons for this: because they are close to natural resources, to global shipping routes or because of a deliberate decision to de-congest urban ports. Ports located close to natural resources, such as coal, oil and ores, are Port Hedland (Australia), Richard Bay (South Africa), Corpus Christi (US) and Novorossiysk (Russia). Large transhipment hubs close to intercontinental shipping routes are Salalah (Oman), Freeport (Bahamas), as well as Gioia Tauro (Italy), Algeciras (Spain), Port Said (Egypt) and Marsaxlokk (Malta) all in the Mediterranean Sea. Finally, the non-urban gateway ports that were in many cases deliberately created away from large cities in order to de-congest the urban ports; these include Felixstowe (United Kingdom), Laem Chabang (Thailand) and Lianyungang (China).

Port Cities and economic impact Port cities are core places :

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hey lead the way in terms of economic strength .For example, 14 out of the 20 economically strongest cities in the world are port cities. They are also the most competitive places . 36 of the 50 most competitive cities are port cities.

Port cities are particular points for trade of imports and exports, a space of localization for many industries and services, and attractive areas for tourism and for cultural exchange. Port cities have always been cosmopolitan places, open to many cultures, with different ways of life and of working. They are historical spaces of creativity/innovation in the economy, in culture, in society, and all this is reflected in a specific architectural landscape.

Port areas are the “interface” between the city and the sea.

Here the processes of economic globalization started already early in the history. It is here that most of the flows of the globalized economy arrive at and depart from. In fact, ports are a driving force of economic wealth, because commercial, industrial, logistic, tourist and fishing activities are localized here. They are a “magnet” for induced activities and, in turn, can also be an “incubator” for new services/activities. Ports, because of their central urban position, have a high economic and real estate potential. At the same time, port areas offer a particular landscape,

which is the product of a complex system in which socio-cultural, economic and ecological systems are dynamically intertwined.

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SMART IT & Communication Port and employment Port and related industries

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orts tend to attract firms in a variety of industries. These include in many ports transport and logistics, warehousing and storage. Several ports are also sites for resource intensive industries, such as refineries, chemicals, steel and coal; aerospace and renewable energy production, including off shore wind energy and biomass production.

However, a large variety of practices exist, which seem to be determined by available space, port strategies and also the structure of the economy of a region.

Regional industrial specialisations correlate with and might in fact determine to some extent the types of cargo handled in the port: e.g. regions with strong specialisations in agriculture have ports specialised in handling of agricultural products etc Strong interlinkages can exist between ports and related industries as evident from backward economic linkages of various port clusters. Many of these links are also localised. Large chemical clusters, such as in Antwerp, Rotterdam and Tarragona, have developed in and around their respective ports. The port represents the principal access point to raw materials and competitive feedstock for the manufacturing of chemicals. The impact of the port on the economic success of the chemical clusters is considered fundamental for exports as well .

Port-cities benefit from part of the economic impacts of ports. Most of the direct port-related value added is still created in port-cities. Port-cities also benefit from the effects of clustering industries in a port area, and the possible economies of scale and knowledge transfer related to it. Several resource-intensive industries continue to be attracted by port areas, as location in a port limits their transportation costs. Port traffic is very sensitive to the nature of the local economy in which they are handled: in larger and richer regions with large tertiary sectors the port volumes are often more diversified and include more high value added goods, such as containers and consumer goods, whereas agricultural and industrial regions are usually more specialised in bulk traffic ..

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ort industries require local employment, but this is relatively marginal in comparison with the wider regional economy in which ports operate. Even in the largest ports, port and port required employment rarely exceeds a few thousand jobs. Several trends, including containerisation, automation and economies of scale, have made port operation and cargo handling increasingly capital- and land intensive, and decreasingly labour-intensive. Over the last decades, many ports have shed labour in order to become more productive and competitive. The economic impact of a port is context specific and to some extent determined by its specialisation. Some commodities generate more value added for a port than others, with general cargo generating more value added per tonne of throughput and crude oil and containers the least in North West European ports. The larger the port, the more port-related employment the area has. In general the link between cargo volume and port-related employment holds.

Conflicts in Port Areas/Cities

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any paradoxes characterize nowadays port cities/areas.

Environmental deterioration and pollution processes often affect them. The production of their economic wealth implies high ecological, and also social and cultural costs.

Often the port becomes a driver of environmental deterioration and reduced well-being for urban life. Here, old and new industrial activities have been localized: steelworks, chemical industries, shipyards, oil refineries, assemblage/transformation/construction activities, power plants, degasification plants, waste management equipment, etc. The logistic revolution, with ICT innovations, with automation and robotization and new technologies, has multiplied the quantity of goods and people in transit. Ports produce a lot of waste resulting from harbor industries, maintenance, dredging, navigation, etc. The negative externalities resulting from industrial/trade activities in ports do not just cause environmental damages, but are interconnected with

the economic and social system in a negative way; they are often a source of new economic (and social) damage for the whole city system. The development of the port/city system tends to become less and less sustainable.

Moreover, they do not benefit directly urban inhabitants, but often only a few trade/industry/tourism agents: that is, the benefits are not distributed equally among the various stakeholders. But port areas, as the main spaces where these contradictions/paradoxes come into being, are also the most suitable sites to reduce conflicts and to transform these into synergies, provided that innovative approaches of governance, at a strategic, planning and management level, are implemented.

It is thus not by chance that all over the world port areas have become sites where actual creative actions aimed at promoting sustainability are often implemented. Investments in the urban regeneration of waterfronts—in Rotterdam, Barcelona, Liverpool, Valencia, Vancouver, Tokyo, Hamburg, Malmo, Amsterdam, Genoa, Glasgow, Antwerp, Copenhagen, etc.—are wellknown experiences. They can be interpreted as “transition experiments” They express the creativity and also resilience of cities against the pressures of change, by highlighting the capability of cities to transform themselves and to maintain their identity.

Smart Cities

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he concept of smart cities first emerged in European urban planning more than a decade ago. It is a brilliant idea that carries potential of activating strong direct as well as indirect linkages that can immensely benefit the cities, states as well as the entire economy. Smart city concept envisages not only creation of new cities or new townships on the outskirts of cities but also making existing cities smart. However, this is not easy to accomplish as it involves utmost meticulous precision planning and effective implementation. There is talk about Indian economy moving from $2 trillion to $20 trillion by 2025.

This will be possible only with certain critical moves. One such critical ingredient is the concept of ‘ Smart Cities’ .

Indian government has unveiled a plan to build smart cities across the country.

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PRESS RELEASE Smart city would be built providing affordable housing, cost – efficient physical , social and institutional infrastructure such as adequate and quality water supply, sanitation, 24x7 electricity supply, clean air, quality education, cost efficient healthcare, dependable security, entertainment, sports, robust and high speed interconnectivity, and fast and efficient urban mobility. The core aim is to ensure all – round convenience and comfort of modern living. Authorities will have to come out with smart – city protocols that cities will use as the basis for future development projects.

Though the smartness in a city may mean different things to different people, but for attaining sustainability, a smart city has to offer economic activities and employment opportunities to a wide section of its residents, regardless of their level of education, skills or income levels.

Sensus Invests in the Indian Market First global support center in Hyderabad gives India the advantage of next-generation technology and state of the art infrastructure

Smart Port Cities

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he government is working on an ambitious plan to build one smart city each at the country’s 12 major ports, at an estimated total investment of Rs.50,000 crore, Each port will construct one smart city to be built with an expenditure of about Rs.3,0004,000 crore. These will be green smart cities and will be completed in five years.

The 12 major ports under central government’s control have between them an estimated 2.64 lakh acres of land which is being mapped through satellites and are major resources with shipping ministry. Mumbai Port Trust alone has about 753 hectares of land with it, valued at about Rs.46,000 crore.

These cities will be built as per international standards and have wide roads, green energy, advanced townships and greenery. In addition, these smart cities and ports will have e-governance links, international standard facilities, special economic zones, ship breaking and ship building centres besides allied facilities. Port water will be recycled. Port wastes will be turned into bio gas. Vehicles will run on bio fuel. Solar energy and wind power will be generated at ports. These cities will be pollution-free and very green smart cities.

Besides, electric vehicles will run here and these smart cities would house schools, commercial complexes and other amenities.

The government has plans to encourage setting up of some bio diesel plants at these ports, including Haldia, where bio diesel will be made from palm oil residue. As part of its plan to revamp the country’s top 12 ports, the Centre has already asked the ports to prepare land data base and development plans to achieve international operating standards.

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Mr. Amit Vaidya

Director, Strategic Customer Team Sensus India

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“The Hyderabad support center re-affirms our commitment for a long lasting partnership with India. For emerging markets like India, smart grid technologies are essential to avoid lock-in of outdated energy infrastructure, attract new investment streams and create efficient and flexible grid systems that will be able to accommodate both rising electricity demand and power from a variety of power sources.

“Sensus solutions, all driven from a single communications platform, increase efficiency on a large scale. With initiatives like the National Smart Grid Mission, we can play a significant role in bringing India the right solutions and technology that will be easily adaptable, helping to making data-driven decisions that reduce water leaks, limit power outages, ensure the safe delivery of natural gas and turn a streetlight into a beacon of technology.”

ensus, a Xylem brand and global supplier of utility-grade communications systems and smart meters, announces its increasing focus in the Indian market with the opening of its first global support center in Hyderabad.India is at the leading edge of smart city rollouts and Hyderabad is the next emerging hub in terms of adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to build smart cities. The new center represents a strategic investment for Sensus and will support business operations in India and across the globe.

With this global center, Sensus will bring forth its best practices and cutting edge technology, better governance, quality infrastructure and uninterrupted utility services. Utilities must demand smart communication technology that is dedicated, secure and reliable, and isgoverned by strict service level agreements and performance targets. The SensusFlexNetTMAdvanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) communication system delivers high speed, scalable and reliable two-way communications via longrange radio. The FlexNet AMIsystem works with smart meters and sensors to securely transmit and receive customer usage and other critical data.

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SMART IT & Communication

Policy + Urban Design + Sustainability H uman behavior responds to the built environment. Urban Planners and Architects shape and influence societal aspirations through the design of spaces. Rome was not built in a day, so it grew organically and sedately over centuries. The infrastructures in all such cities have become obsolete and inadequate.

Retrofitting and revamping existing cities is more difficult and expensive. Green field cities like Amravati or those planned along the new Delhi-Mumbai corridor are easier and comparatively cheaper to be smart.

Sheila Sri Prakash

Founder and Chief Architect Shilpa Architects Planners Designers

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here is no definition for a â&#x20AC;&#x153;smart city.â&#x20AC;?

There are no metrics or standards to objectively conclude the extent to which a city meets expectations. There is agreement that it is simply about stress free living in a city that showcases its cultural identity. This requires the coordinated efforts of multiple stakeholders and layers of unobtrusive technology provided by many institutions that serves people dependably, safely and efficiently. On the other hand, the mind set and participation of the people in the envisioning, implementation and maintenance of systems and infrastructure can alone make the achievement of smart living a reality.

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SMART IT & Communication Central to the smart initiatives are the roles of Urban Planners and Architects. They are basic to the process of establishing good practices for creating environments that supports wholesome living conditions to citizens. Just as design and engineering a beautiful and efficient building is to the wellbeing of its residents.

There is no choice but to rely on technology for rapidly raising living standards. Recognizing technology as an enabler to achieve happy living conditions is fundamental. However smart cities cannot be about expensive technologies in electronics and communication alone.

The dangers of relying on proprietary technologies will make investments prone to rapid obsolescence and costlier upgrades.

Successful strategies of international cities cannot be adopted without moderation as India is a land of diversities and each region is rich in heritage and cultural uniqueness. Our federal democracy challenges continuity in political ownership of development ideas, consistency in focus of bureaucracy to plans and non partisan commitment of institutions; all of which need to be aligned with peoples’ aspirations to achieve smart living.

Every city has needs that are unique to make it “smart”. These can be termed as the primary objectives, but holistic sustainability is about overall balance in an edifice that is constantly tugged by forces of varying intensities and directions. Primary objectives are inevitably interlinked with other requirements that need to be aligned to improve livability. For instance, if connectivity is the primary objective, then other parameters like infrastructure, safety and cultural uniqueness become concomitant.

They need to be balanced and augmented to achieve holistic connectivity.

The absence of clear definitions for smart cities may not be a bad thing either. This fuzziness could actually help the ground up strategies to evolve and crystallize. Large investments are required for achieving over-arching objectives. So are transparent frameworks with professionals to handhold the objective evaluation and implementation of strategies. It is about building accountability among all stakeholders to each other, to achieve smart environments economically and inclusively as a team.

Reciprocal Design Index (RDI) seeks to address these challenges through a scientific process of establishing indices, benchmarking performance and institutionalizing a process of comparing and ranking cities.

The concept of the Reciprocal Design Index was initiated at the Global Agenda Council on Design Innovation in 2012 at the WEF Summit in Dubai. RDI is a synthesis of Urban Design Indicators to measure the performance of cities in achieving holistic sustainability. RDI enables policy makers, authorities, professionals, academics and financial institutions to evaluate and monitor development plans, to compare and rank the livability of cities.

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RDI would be a synthesis of social indicators and urban design indicators.

Cities of the world, as categorized according to the World Bank’s measure of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, become comparable. Moreover, the social and urban design indicators of a given city can be compared with the country’s indicators and/or to that of the segment of countries to which a particular city belongs. Holistic Sustainability will emerge as the new paradigm for Urban Design and Architecture. This topic builds on years of research and the evolution of insights from the authors’ practice of designing townships that thrive as vibrant communities.

Society is riven by disparities that divides people by caste, colour and creed. Education, earnings and opportunities are more factors that separate citizens into classes and segments.

For cities to be inclusive and address its socio-economic and generational disparities, a community should utilize local arts, culture, heritage and materials to meld locally driven economic engines so as to sustain urban centers for the long term. Arts, culture and heritage are powerful tools for homogenizing and bringing together people.

This perhaps is the bind that defines indo centric values of unity in diversity. These parameters are in addition to environmental sensitivities. As an active proponent of these sensibilities, urban societies around the world are in dire need of design thinking to address socio-economic issues, which are a fallout of short-sighted urban design and architecture principles.

In the last decade of the previous millennium, the world woke up to the grim realities of global warming, GHGs and climate change. Europe led the world to understand the pandemic threat and the danger to planet earth and all humanity. USA ignored these warnings for long, and China rose to become the highest polluter among nations. Sustainability was narrowly defined as protecting the environment, and the green movement was launched. Developing countries saw

this as a sinister move to curb their aspirations, and that the cause for the problems were the developed nations for over two centuries.

The world is now aware of the balance that is sought by developing countries striving for economic development as against the developed countries that are striving to reduce carbon emissions. The impact of climate change affects everyone, and natural calamities do not play favorites.

However the poorer nations are impacted more.

Cities of the developing world will face staggering problems of destruction, and they are going to spend trillions of dollars to combat the problems of their exploding populations. The Reciprocal Design Index is a tool to measure and rank cities for their Holistically Sustainable attributes. The time has come for this approach to help political leaders, administrators, fund managers and planners to find the right solutions in a harmonious bottom-up and inclusive manner that will address the needs of stakeholders in a transparent and efficient way as they fight poverty, education, hygiene, aspirations and growth. Ultimately, the RDI would facilitate a common language of comparability across policy domains, cities and countries.

The developed world is more sensitive to preservation and the higher needs of life. The less developed countries riddled with poverty, hunger and subsistence are challenged by basic needs of humanity. Problems of unsustainability are of a greater magnitude and dignified living is acutely stressed.

Indicators for sustainable living therefore are different across clusters of nations. As nations raise standards of living, their populations’ sensitivities also rises. Countries migrate from one cluster or grouping to another as they improve or get demoted if they regress.

Within a cluster, nations are ranked for holistic sustainability and the cities in them can be placed on different points of the spectrum.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS BHUBANESWAR SMART CITY FLOATS TENDER FOR COMMON PAYMENT CARD SYSTEM The Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) on Tuesday floated tender for implementation of Common Payment Card System (CPCS), which will enable citizens with payment options for services offered by multiple agencies

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ublic Health Engineering Organsation (PHEO), Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU) and parking charges besides public transport. The proposed CPCS can be used to travel by the city-based transport system, pay bills to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), purchase goods from retail stores, pay for movie tickets, dine and shop within the City. The last date for submission of bid is March 21. The project will be completed within six months from the commencement of work, said sources.

With about 2.5 lakh households, Bhubaneswar is expected to witness around 30 million payment transactions for municipal services every year by 2018. General manager (Operations) BSCL, Binay Dash said with the CPCS in place, emphasis will be laid on cash-less and digital transactions. “The design will be cost-effective, sustainable and technology-based solution, accessible to citizens across varied economic segments,” he said. BSCL will implement an inter-operable payment ecosystem through cards and mobile phones.

The concessionaire will have to manage

supply of smart cards, issuance and personalisation infrastructure for distribution of smart card in coordination with utility companies like Bhubaneswar Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL), CESU and PHEO and retail units, Dash added.

The private partner (bank or financial institution) will also work on creation of infrastructure which involves integration of the smart cards with access terminals including seamless adoption of card on retail payment gateways Europay, MasterCard, Visa and Rupay enabled terminals at specific locations. The work will be carried out in public-private partnership mode where the concessionaire will be entrusted with establishing a smart card host management system and operating a central clearance house. It will also design, market and deploy customized citizen loyalty programmes, with an objective to maximise the penetration and use of the Common Payment card.

Earlier, on December 16, the BSCL had organised a pre-tender workshop on developing a CPCS in which 17 banking organisations, including six public sector banks and three mobile banking organisations had participated.

SMART CITY PROJECT: LUDHIANA OFFICIALS TO ENSURE WORK STARTS BY JUNE 25 As no project under the smart city mission has been started till date, Saurabh Jain, director, special purpose vehicle (SPV), for the smart city,

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n Tuesday has directed the officials concerned to ensure the work to be started on the project before June 25. Saurabh Jain conducted meeting with officials of Ludhiana Smart City Limited (LSCL), Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (LMC) and consultants at MC’s Zone D office on Tuesday. Sources said Jain expressed dissatisfaction as no project has been started till date. Smart City Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25, 2015, while the Ludhiana was selected in the list of first 20 cities to be developed as smart cities in January 2016. However, Ludhiana’s smart city project is still hanging fire.

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Even the tender process of different projects under the smart city is hanging fire as the officials concerned were not taking the projects seriously, sources said. Though the central government had released the funds of 190 crore, the state government had been delaying in release of these funds to LSCL. However, some amount of funds have been released by the state government recently, they added. In June 2017, the smart city mission will complete its two years but no project has been started on the ground level in Ludhiana, said Jain. While talking to mediapersons, Jain said that in some other cities, the

work of projects under smart city has been started on the ground level. But, the tender process of different projects is still pending here, he claimed. He has given instructions to the officials to ensure implementation of the project under smart city by June 25. Meanwhile, he also visited to see the MC’s static compactor system near Dugri Road Canal Bridge and solid waste management plant at main garbage dumping point on Tajpur Road. STRAP Smart city project: Ludhiana was selected to be developed as smart city in January 2016, but work is still hanging fire

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS CISCO INKS PACT TO DEVELOP IOT INNOVATION HUB, SMART CITY IN GUJARAT To help accelerate the digital transformation of Gujarat, global networking giant Cisco announced to explore setting up an Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation Hub and deliver a smart city in the state.

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isco signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the state government which aim to establish an IoT Innovation hub with the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate) at iCreate’s campus near Bavla, Ahmedabad, and deliver a smart city project in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT).

“The announcement underlines Cisco’s commitment to enable Gujarat to capitalise on digital opportunities, strengthen the vibrant innovation ecosystem in the state, enhance quality of life of citizens and accelerate the digital transformation of the state,” at the event. The MoUs were signed in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat Nitin Bhai Patel and Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India and Saarc, among others.

Mr. Dinesh Malkani President, Cisco India ,Saarc “My vision is to digitally empower every citizen, enhance the quality of life, enable ease of doing business and become an innovation and knowledge hub for the country. We are happy to have Cisco partner with us to help build Gujarat’s economy of the future,” Rupani said.

Mr. Vijay Rupani Gujarat Chief Minister

“The IoT Innovation Hub at iCreate’s campus will enable startups and entrepreneurs build smart city and IoT-based solutions.”We are excited to partner with Cisco for the IoT innovation hub, which will be a tremendous accelerator for startups to develop digital solutions that reach global markets,” added Anupam Jalote, CEO, iCreate Mr. Anupam Jalote CEO, icreate

“GIFT City, being developed as India’s first greenfield smart city, has many unique features like District Cooling solution – a first-of-its-kind utility tunnel and ready availability of a nextgen data centre.Cisco and GIFT are exploring deployment of smart city applications including public Wi-Fi, smart parking, smart transport, traffic analytics, Remote Expert Government Services (REGS), smart kiosk, smart environmental sensors along with the City Digital Platform (CDP). “GIFT is using ICT as a strategic differentiator – putting technology at the foundation of its expansive community. As India’s first operational smart city, GIFT has helped transform how

cities are built, managed and experienced,” noted

Mr. Ajay Pandey MD ,Group CEO of GIFT

CONVERGENCE OF SMART CITIES MISSION WITH NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION

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he undersigned is directed to refer to this Ministry’s O.M. of even no. dated 12.05.2016 (copy enclosed) forwarding there with details of the National Solar Mission Scheme being implemented by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for developing Rooftop Solar Projects in residential, social and institutional sectors and to convey that the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has now launched a scheme for implementation of 500 MW Grid Connected Rooftop Solar PV System Scheme. As

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per the scheme, the target buildings on which rooftop solar systems are to be installed are: residential buildings, private educational institutions, hospitals (including those registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and the Indian Trust Act 1882), organizations covered under social sector such as community centres, old age homes, orphanages, NGOS (including those registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and the Indian Trust Act, 1882) and establishments for common public such

as temples, meditation centres etc. Under this scheme, the subsidy amount of 30olo (General Category States)/ 70olo (Special Category States) of project cost shall be routed through SECI. The list having following three categories of Vendors including their quoted price are enclosed at Annexure-I/Il & III for information.

1. Capex (Above 25 KW Grid tied Solar Power Plants), 2. RESCO (PPA at quoted tariff) , 3. Capex (Upto 25 KW Grid Tied Solar Power Plants)

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS SMART CITY INNOVATION NEW TEAM FORMED FOR CENTRE TO COME UP AT AJMER SMART CITY PROJECT PEC UNIVERSITY A Smart City Innovation Centre will come up at Punjab Engineering College in the first week of April. This was stated at a Smart City workshop, organized by PEC University of Technology.

Ajmer Smart City Company Ltd (ASCL) formed Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and selected different officials for implementation of different projects.

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nterviews were held for various positions and result was declared in the meeting in late afternoon. The company will send recommendation of these officials for ASCL to state government for its final nod. ASCL on Wednesday took one more step towards implementing smart city project.

“We were asked to speed up the development programmes which have already kicked off in the city,” said a source. He added that focus will preferably on sewerage system and drinking water facility. Sources said that officials, in the meeting, were asked to form different committees and sub-committees for different works.

ASCL will initiate the upliftment of entrance to Ajmer from Jaipur as an opening of smart city project.

Ajmer is having a project budget of about Rs 1,900 crore for providing facility of smart city in 13 out of 60 wards. In first phase, constructing roads was kept on priority and decision was also taken to include some development programmes already in place to ASCL. There were also some proposals on beautification of island on Anasager Lake and to develop the lake as tourists spot. Modernisation of central bus stand and setting up of Wi-Fi zones in various places of the city were also taken up.

Estimate of total project capital cost is Rs 1,947crore in which Rs 1,547 is area based proposal, Rs 197 crore on pan city, Rs 1,77 crore towards project preparation, management and contingency. In this budget, Rs 973 crore has been disbursed for smart city in which Rs 755 crore will be spent for area based proposal and Rs 145 crore for pan city and Rs 72 crore for project preparation. Now, Rs 145 crore has come from convergence from other schemes in smart city, Rs 737 crore from PPP models or CSR and Rs 91.70 crore from loans.

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ompanies like Larsen and Toubro, CISCO, Nokia, IBM, Intel, Sterlite, Videocon, Dell-EMC, SAP, Ericsson, Wipro and Infosys on Wednesday associated themselves with the project. The participants discussed how the objective is to provide core infrastructure and give a good quality of life to citizens, a clean and sustainable environment through the application of ‘smart’ solutions. Infrastructure services will include transport, public safety, traffic management, water, power, waste disposal, lighting, telecom, and e-governance where these companies would lend their suggestions.Anurag Agarwal, UT home secretary, who was the chief guest on the occasion, stated that Chandigarh is on the way to becoming not just a Smart City but a city with a difference, as it qualifies the criterion by just the way it was planned and stands the test of smartness even today.

Surbhi Malik, additional commissioner, Ludhiana, talked about the Smart City planning in Ludhiana as a good example. She pointed out that the definition of a Smart City is variable depending upon the interpretation of its citizens. Purushottam Kaushik (Senior Adviser, McKinsey) expounded upon the practical side of the project and explained that SCIC is a partnership with industry, with the government support and industry acumen to deliver smart solutions to the city making it technologically advanced and independent. “ emphasised Chandigarh’s key parameters that give it an edge over other cities and that will make urban planning an exciting but attainable challenge. Some suggestions he put forth included watershed management and power distribution. Smart power meters, energy efficient systems, low pollution systems, solid waste management and smart infrastructure were some other areas that were focused on. “Four sectors —17, 22, 35 and 43 — will be developed first under the project as per our blueprint, and will be taken up as special cases under the Area-Based Development (ABD) plan,” said Purushartha.

Mr. Baldeo Purushartha MC Commissioner & CEO of Smart City

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS PRYSM POWERS VISUAL SIX SMART CITIES WILL GET RS. DASHBOARDS IN DELL-EMC 1,188 CR. IN 2017-18, SAYS SMART CITY INDIA PROJECTS GOVERNOR Prysm Inc., a collaboration solutions company that powers 20% of the Fortune 500 companies with its visual collaboration solutions worldwide

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“ has entered into a strategic partnership with DellEMC, to provide command and control dashboards solutions in the India smart city projects. Director of Mega Projects for Public Sector Vertical at DellEMC, Ravinder Pal Singh shares how this partnership adds value in the company’s solutions layer that right now has 19 partners driving the use case continuum integrated primarily by the Internet of Things.

n the initial smart city execution phase Indian states are largely focused on smart transportation, lighting and garbage management among other critical services, informed Singh stating that the implemented modules in smart city projects are beginning to make its impact felt in improved services and decision making in bits and parts. “However, the real smart applications are yet to be unlocked and will happen in near future as various government departments come together getting connected in a smart manner improving cross-information flow,” he explained. “ GB Kumar, Asia Pacific VP at Prysm couldn’t agree more. The subscription-based Prysm visual workspace & collaboration solutions are widely deployed in many of the US government departments including Defence and is driving collaboration in the government sector there. He agrees that India market in the next two years is poised to actually reap efficiencies of knowledge economy and his company is focused on driving this. “Partnering with Dell–EMC for smart cities is a step in the right direction,” he said adding that Prysm’s multi-screen, real time, visual dashboards and collaboration tools are easily configurable at the user end and make up a key differentiator in driving use cases integrated by Singh’s team.

Singh who has worked in the government sector with an oversight of smart city solutions in a number Asia Pacific markets expects high action in the space in India leading up to 2019 when 5G and Internet of Things will start proliferating at increased pace further unlocking the value of these implementations.

In Republic Day speech, he lauds Karnataka’s leading role in IT/BT sector

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overnor Vajubhai Vala on Thursday said that a sum of Rs. 1,188 crore will be provided during 2017-18 for six cities under the Smart City Mission project of the Centre. In his Republic Day address at the Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground here, he said that the Smart City Mission project has been envisioned to provide hassle-free smart solutions at reasonable cost in respect of delivery of services and building infrastructure in six cities – Mangaluru, Belagavi, Tumakuru, Shivamogaa, Hubballi-Dharwad and Davanagere.

After unfurling the national flag, Mr. Vala inspected the guard of honour from an open jeep. He received salute from the armed forces, police, National Cadet Corps, Scouts and Guides, and hundreds of schoolchildren.In an eight-page address to the people of the State,

“ The Governor said Karnataka has achieved commendable milestones in making “Swacha Karnataka”. “Mysuru City has been awarded as the best and the first cleanest city in the country and we must feel proud of this feat”. He said a sum of Rs. 776 crore had been released for Smart City Mission project during 2016-17. Shri Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, Governor of Karnataka Noting several achievements of the State, the Governor said Karnataka continued to lead the country in the IT/BT sectors which are growing at a rate of 10-12 per cent, providing new 70,000 jobs every year. Karnataka Global Information System (GIS), first-of-its-kind mission in the country, provided a common platform networking the departments and citizens.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, BBMP Commission N. Manjunath Prasad, Bengaluru Urban district Deputy Commissioner V. Shankar and other dignitaries were present.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS 5 KEY ELEMENTS OF PM NARENDRA MODI’S 100 SMART CITIES

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Mr. Narendra Modi Prime Minister, India

he Centre has prepared a blueprint to define the key elements of the 100 smart cities it plans to establish across the nation. The cities were one of the main promises made

by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. The government has allocated Rs 1000 crore for each city which will be selected according to its population. Eight cities with more than four million people have been identified and they will have a satellite smart city.

45 cities with one to four million people will be upgraded to a smart city. 17 capital cities also qualify, irrespective of their population. There will be at least 10 other smart cities with tourist and religious significance.

The Centre is currently working out the details of the ambitious plan by organising workshops with state secretaries. A national workshop with state CMs is planned in October followed by the approval from the Union Cabinet in November.

The programme is likely to be launched on December 25, the birthday of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Here are the five main elements of the proposed smart cities identified by the Urban Development Ministry: 8 In terms of infrastructure, the smart cities should have 24×7 availability of high quality utility services like water and power.

8 A robust transport system that emphasises on public transport is also a key element.

8 In social infrastructure, the cities should provide opportunities for jobs and livelihoods for its inhabitants.

8 The smart cities should also have proper facilities for entertainment and the safety and security of the people. State-of-the-art health and education facilities are also a must.

8 The smart cities should minimize waste by increasing energy efficiency and reducing water conservation. Proper recycling of waste materials must be done in such cities.

HEALTHCARE AND WASTE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS EMERGE AS WINNERS IN INTEL & DST – INNOVATE FOR DIGITAL INDIA CHALLENGE 2.0 Startups Allizhealth, iNICU & iCHR, and Banyan Nation have been announced as the top three teams of the Intel & DST – Innovate for Digital India Challenge 2.0 (Challenge 2.0). These startups were assessed to be in a position to disrupt the spaces of preventive healthcare

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ntel India and Department of Science & Technology (“DST”) collaborated with T-Hub to identify ideas that could solve complex issues at the country’s grassroots level through technology and automation, accelerating the transition to a Digital India. Each solution is designed for scale, and to improve the quality of people’s lives in the remotest corners of India.

From developing the Minimum Viable Product that allowed teams to collect maximum validated learning about their customers with the minimum effort, to go-to-market strategy, Challenge 2.0 intended to help participants take their prototypes from mind-to-market. The Smart City category introduced this year garnered almost a quarter of all entries, as did the IoT category, indicating a trend of citizen participation in India’s smart and connected urban infrastructure. Here is the list of the top three teams, in no particular order: AllizHealth is an assistive device based on the Intel Curie module in the preventive healthcare technology space. It connects the user with a health management platform that assesses and anticipates health risks particularly related to geriatrics support. Providing an integrated, predictive algorithm, the wearable digitally connects users with various ecosystem partners

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/ caregivers for alerts on falls and resulting support and condition management. Banyan Nation is a mobile technology platform that integrates the supply chain of India’s waste management and plastic recycling sector. Based on the Intel® Edison, and using the Intel® based Jan Unnati tablet, the smart waste platform automates end-to-end urban recycling operations through on-field bin sensors, GPS truck routers, landfill management toolkits and back-end analytic engines. The solution follows a modular design which is customizable to suit the needs of different municipalities and third-party system integrators developing smart city solutions. iNICU & iCHR is helping reduce the neonatal infant mortality rate with a system that integrates real-time clinical data from connected devices within the laboratory with bedside observational data. Based on the Intel Cybertan Gateway and Intel Edison, the solution presents the information in medically comprehensive formats to reduce mortality in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). It enables complex clinical decisions to be made in real-time by automatically collecting clinical data, providing critical care for preterm babies.

“Developing local solutions to address India’s widespread social challenges, is one of the prerequisites to make Digital India a reality.

We urgently need technologies that are relevant for addressing some of the most basic needs of our country, and the Intel & DST – Innovate for Digital India Challenge is a platform to make that happen. I’ve spent time with the top ten teams, and while many of us dream of changing India, these individuals are actually leading that change. Congratulations to the top three, and I am certain that like last year’s teams, this year’s top teams will also go from mind-to-market, not just in India, but in other countries as well.”

Debjani Ghosh MD and VP, sales & marketing, Intel South Asia

Source:TOI

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS TAIWAN & INDIA – THE SMART CITY MISSION COULD BE The Indian government has been endeavouring to become more flexible to foreign investments and collaborations over the last two years. The likes of Digital India and Smart City initiatives have opened up doors for foreign collaborations and

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aiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the Taiwanese Government Body promoting trade between Taiwan and other countries today, invited Indian ICT companies to participate at COMPUTEX 2017, slated for May 30th to June 3rd, 2017 at Taipei, Taiwan. In an interview with Entrepreneur, Thomas Huang, deputy director of TAITRA’s exhibition department, spoke about how his country’s new foreign policy can help unlock new business opportunities with India. Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, introduced

by President Tsai Ing-wen seeks to promote the country’s ties with the 10 ASEAN nations, which includes India.

“I think the new policy stands important especially when India has huge populations with immense market potential. The global competitiveness of the country in the software space is also very wellknown. Taiwan has expertise in hardware production and I guess we have a very good opportunity for Taiwan to work with India,” Thomas said. Talking about policies that draw their interest, Thomas mentioned that the Smart City Mission has the potential of the integrating software and hardware technology. Taiwanese hardware companies could collaborate with India on healthcare and Smart City hardware requirements like autonomous vehicles, IoT devices in cars and smart security requirements, he adds.

Mr. Thomas Huang

Deputy Director of TAITRA’s Exhibition

Dealing with Regulations Thomas spoke in length about organizing a summit wherein Taiwanese companies, who have previously worked in India, could share their experience about working and dealing with Indian regulations and working system. This he believes could help bring more collaboration between the two countries. COMPUTEX 2017 will see leading exhibitors such as Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Supermicro, Nvidia from the USA, ARM from UK, Socionext from Japan, Micronics from Korea, Hisense from China.

RESIDENTS GIVE SMART CITY ASPIRATIONS A THUMBS DOWN The city residents gave the civic body a tough time on Saturday as they turned their backs on the poll to select the zone for area-based development (ABD) as part of Smart City

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roject. By evening, the poll percentage recorded a disheartening 5.4% in all 100 wards with only 54,462 people out of an estimated 10 lakh population caring to cast their votes. This forced the corporation to go for plan B as real time polling was conducted at wherever public turned out in good numbers.

Night polls were conducted at venues like Shanghumugham beach, Kanakakunnu, where visitors turn up for flower show and Manaveeyam book fest. Details of additional votes polled there will be out only on Monday. As per the norms, the civic body can lay claim for good scores only if at least 10% of total population is covered in public polls. By 4pm, when the polling concluded in 100 wards, the aggregate percentage was way below 10%, triggering frantic action in Smart City team to extend the time and places for public polls.

The officials attributed the poor response to characteristic indifference and lack of communication from ward councillors. “Even during real-time polls, we had to counter the question as to why we should care. This signifies the attitude of residents towards a project that ensures Rs1,000-crore worth development for the city.

There was also some lapse from a few councillors who failed to mobilise residents associations and disseminate information among the residents. Much to our surprise, we were even asked whether we had changed the date for polls,” an official said.

The online voting which had actually begun on Thursday was not hopeful either, however, by evening voting by Facebook gained some pace, much to the comfort of officials. The civic body will continue online voting and collection of votes at public places till Monday. The final result on three zones which would compete for the eventual choice will be published next week.

Source:TOI

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS SEOUL, JAKARTA DEVELOP IDEAS FOR ‘SMART CITY’ Korea and Indonesia discussed ways to develop a “smart” city during a three-day workshop in Jakarta organized by the ASEAN-Korea Centre. The “Seminar for Investment Promotion on Smart City,” co-hosted by the Indonesia Investment Promotion Center (BKPM), invited Korean experts to Indonesia to explore investment opportunities in smart city-related projects and share their expertise, on Jan. 16-18.

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“The fastest-growing cities in Indonesia are feeling the strain of rapid population growth, which had led to traffic congestion, pollution and other urban issues,” ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary General Kim Young-sun said. “In particular, there is a growing need in the fastest-growing ‘middleweight’ cities of the nation for urban development in a more effective and sustainable way.”

KPM Deputy Chairperson for Investment Climate Development Farah Ratnadewi Indriani and Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Cho Tai-young attended the meeting.

Officials from the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement and the provincial governments of East Java, Surabaya, and Malang discussed smart city-related projects, followed by one-on-one business meetings with government officials and private partners from the infrastructure and ICT sectors. During the trip, the Korean delegation had a change to look around Bandung, Indonesia’s third-largest city with a population of 2.5 million.

“The city government has put special emphasis on smart-city development, and the government delegation of the city visited Sejong City of Korea for a benchmark of U-CITY, or Ubiquitous City, in 2015,” an organization spokesperson said. “I hope this mission program will offer a platform for Korean private sectors not only to take part in the smart city-related projects in Indonesia, but also to contribute towards sustainable development of Indonesia by sharing good practices and experience on smart-city development.” According to the organization, the ASEAN region’s population is expected to increase by at least 16 percent by 2025.

“As the population trend demonstrates the need for smart-city development to address urban issues and accelerate growth in a sustainable way, the ASEAN-Korea Centre carries out programs aiming to share expertise and experience of Korea, thus to contribute towards sustainable development of the region,” the spokesperson said.

The ASEAN-Korea Centre is an intergovernmental organization established in 2009 to promote exchanges between Korea and the 10 ASEAN member states.

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SPV FOR ‘SMART CITY’ GETS STATE GOVT NOD

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he state government has given nod for the formation of the special purpose vehicle (SPV) to handle the Smart City Mission projects in the city. The formation of the SPV is mandatory under the mission.The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) had sent a proposal to the state government seeking its approval for the SPV that will be headed by the municipal commissioner. The state government recently gave a go ahead for the formation of the SPV.Besides the commissioner, the SPV will have the VMC standing committee chairperson, a deputy municipal commissioner, a nominee of the central government, a nominee of the state government, the VMC city engineer, the district collector and the Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA) chairperson or VUDA chief executive authority as directors.

The SPV will also appoint a chief executive officer.The SPV has tentatively been named as Vadodara Smart City Development Ltd. VMC commissioner Dr Vinod Rao said that the process of registering the company has been initiated. The final name of the company would also be decided and finalised soon.The implementation of the Smart City Mission at the city level will be done by the SPV.

HOUSES TO GET DIGITAL ID IF BENGALURU BECOMES SMART CITY Do you want Bengaluru to be listed under Smart Cities?

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ouse owners get ready to pay your tax on time because all houses will get a digital ID soon and those who do not pay taxes can be traced easily. arnataka state government is contemplating on giving unique digital ID to all houses similar to Aadhaar card. This will be a reality only if Bengaluru is listed under the smart city projects by the Centre as the state plans to carry out its digital ID scheme under Smart City Mission Project initiated by the Union government. The final list of smart cities will be out in March. Accordingly, each house (each address) will be given an 8-digit alphanumeric code. This will be named as standardise digital address number. If this scheme is implemented, then every address will come under the tracking of Global Positioning System (GPS) and can be easily traced under Google Maps.The BBMP is planning to use the cloud based system to facilitate the digital ID process. Once the project is ready, there will be a base map for the entire urban area which will have details of all roads within BBMP jurisdiction. Latest satellite images will be used to mark the houses, said sources.

As it will be easy for the BBMP to trace the houses, the owners cannot get away from paying the tax. Thus, the status of the smart city might result in the rise of market rates for the real estate, but the owners will be compelled to pay the taxes and encourage legal transaction.

Whether this plan will be a reality or just be on the paper will be determined by the fact if Bengaluru will qualify under the final list of smart cities.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS GREEN GROWTH APPROACH SMART CITY PROPOSAL RECEI VES OVER 3 LAKH SUGGESTIONS MUST FOR SMART CITY: WORLD BANK TEAM LEADER Twin-capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu have World Bank Task Team Leader Shashank Ojha said a green growth approach is essential for the implementation of Smart City Mission.

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e was making a presentation on ‘Karnataka – Smart Cities PAN City ICT Solutions’ at the opening of twoday workshop on ‘Smart Cities Mission – Karnataka: Planning and Initiation Meet for ICT Solutions’ held under the aegis of Government of Karnataka and Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) .

the Smart City concept is to develop a sustainable urban environment through state of the art technology.

In five years, starting from 2015-16, the city will receive Rs 100 each per year from the state and central governments to take up development works to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore, he said. “There is a need for behavioral change among officials and people’s representatives for the successful implementation of Smart City programme. Elected representatives should identify the needs of the city and work to make it reality. Officials and elected representatives should study in detail what the city and citizens need,” he advised.

Mr.Roshan Baig Minister for urban development and Haj Ojha said that the nation is witnessing a reverse trend in agricultural development with more people from rural areas prefer migrating to urban areas in search of green pastures. “There are several environmental challenges including the Green House Gas Effect in addition to air pollution and increase in the global temperature that have direct impact on human health. While development at the cost of human health is a major concern, moving towards a sustainable smart city is a solution,” he suggested.

He said that the Indian Economy is moving very fast with World Bank supporting several projects and the government of India introducing various schemes.”Each city has its own challenges and set of strengths. We have to develop strategy for Smart City based on the strengths weaknesses of that particular city. If a city’s strength is education, build that city based on that strength.

Find strengths and weaknesses of a city with the participation of stakeholders,” Ojha said and pointed out that an effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism is necessary during the implementation of Smart City project. “Monitoring is necessary in each stage and evaluation should be made how effective the system is. We need to monitor very carefully how drinking water is being distributed, whether all people have access to it and are there complaints about it. To develop and manage an effective Smart City programme, we need structured strategy approach coupled with tech solutions, financial modules, capacity building and organization,” he added.

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been proposed to be enlisted under the Smart Cities Mission, a flagship initiative

he Government of India.The draft for Smart City proposal for Srinagar has received tremendous response as more than three lakh citizens have given their suggestions for it. The proposal for Smart City has been uploaded by authorities on www.smcsite.org to invite fresh suggestions.

Twin-capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu have been proposed to be enlisted under the Smart Cities Mission, a flagship initiative of the Government of India.

“Construct road on both sides of river Jhelum from Zero bridge to Cement bridge to stop encroachment and prevent house hold waste to go in river,” wrote Imtiyaz Ahmad on official page of SMC while putting forth his suggestion. “Put all electricity cables and other over head cables in underground. Remove all temporary (tin sheds) constructions on all main roadsides. Give permission for reconstruction of damaged old buildings on main road sides for beautification,” wrote another citizen.

“The objective of the Smart Cities Mission is Urban Transformation through smart solutions resulting in better quality of life for the citizens. The process is designed in a manner that lays emphasis on citizen participation,” said an official.

Presently, the citizen participation for this proposal is more than three lakhs while the number is growing with each passing day. Authorities are using social networking and other means to make it convenient for general public to participate and put forth their suggestions. Lone who is presMr.Farooq Ahmad ently holds additional charge as SMC Deputy Commisioner, Commissioner said that “the vision is to transform Srinagar into an eco-friendly.”

Srinagar “Our endeavor is transforming Srinagar into an eco-friendly and resilient city that celebrates its natural and cultural heritage creating opportunities for all,” he added.

“We are still receiving lot of valuable suggestions and feedback from them to formulate the final proposal for submission to the MoUD, Government of India, for the selection of Srinagar City as Smart City,” he said.

Source:TOI

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS BENGALURU NEEDS TO TACKLE THREE KEY ISSUES TO BECOME A SMART CITY

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engaluru, which failed twice to make it to the list of the Centre’s smart cities mission, is making a final bid this time with lots of competition and less funds left. The city is pitching for the development of its CBD, rather than its entirety, to be eligible for the Rs 500 cr fund

Regardless of whether Bengaluru makes it to the list of smart cities under the central mission, it can become a smart city by making a few changes, said Dr HS Sudhira, Urban planning and governance expert, adding that people play an important role, too.

‘Fix Roads, Break Garbage Mafia’ According to RK Misra, founder of centre for smart cities, ‘smart’ means liveable and Bengaluru has to tackle three key issues to become a smart city -traffic, garbage, water and sanitation.

Steps :

Bengaluru needs to tackle three key issues to become a smart city- Bengaluru had a bad voter turn out rate compared to smaller districts. There is a need for focussed engagement where all people work in a collective activity -starting from something as simple as the Neralu tree festival.

n

We need smart organisational structures. Agencies such as BBMP, BDA and Bescom were set up decades ago and need re vamping to function effectively.

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Our financing mechanisms need to be revisited. If we build on Brand Bengaluru, and present it as a holistic lot, rather than as individual entities, such as Bescom and BMTC, anybody -even private entities -will be willing to fund its projects.

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Take the Karnataka Country Planning Act from 1961. To be dynamic, we need smarter laws.

“This is an opportunity to make significant investment in transformational changes.“

Steps :

Bengaluru needs to tackle three key issues to become a smart city- Invest in automated traffic management. Signals should be automated and synchronised and cameras at every signal to capture violations.

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Fix broken roads, close medians and disallow u-turns and right turns other than at a traffic signal.

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Design systems that will break the waste mafia. Incentivise reduction of waste and smart management. Payment must be made not based on the number of truck rides and the distance but how clean the area is.

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It can be monitored through cameras or crowdsourcing of geo-tagged, time-stamped photographs from citizens.

Similarly, for debris management.

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Storm water drains should not take sewage into the lakes.

They should go around the lake. Let in only a minimum amount of treated water into the lake every day.

‘Engage Citizens in Civic Work’

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TS Muralidhar, nodal officer, Smart City Project, said that Bengaluru’s proposal to be included in the the list of smart cities needs only fine-tuning two months ahead of the deadline. “We are focussing on core areas under the central business district and showcasing all the development and smart solutions we have planned on key roads and locations,“ he said, adding that public transport and scientific way of water distribution were also included.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS URBAN MUSEUM TO COME UP IN SMART CITY

SMART CITY: GOVERNMENT TO CHOOSE SPOT FROM NARROWED DOWN LIST The city corporation is set for frenetic activity ahead as i-Deck, the consultant for preparation of Smart City proposal, has enlisted 12 areas in the city for area-based development

A The city will soon have a state-of-the-art Urban Museum to showcase its past, development over

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the years, culture, heritage and Smart City project. hubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has identified a land in Unit-VI for the purpose. BDA sources said the museum will spread over 2.5 acre out of which the BDA has taken possession of 1.26 acre. The remaining land has been encroached upon and BDA has started the process to reclaim it. It will be a multi-storey building and expected to provide an insight into the city’s journey from ancient time to getting the Smart City tag.

The museum will have pictorial presentation, audio-visual shows, information boards, artefacts and antiques. “It will have the rare pictures of the city’s Old Town, which is now called Ekamra Kshetra. “It will make international tourist get a feel of how the city has grown over the past 100 years. Starting from the pictures of modern day rulers to the architects, the museum will also have rare pictures of how the city struggled to retain its culture,” Chayani said.

Mr.Bhabani Shankar Chayani BDA, additional commissioner BDA sources said the museum will have many displays. There will also be compilation and timeline of major events that the city has witnessed. The Smart City events, Patha Utsav, Raahgiri, the opinion poll conducted in the run up to getting the Smart City tag, said a BDA officer, adding, that there will be pictures of old buildings and structures.

The BDA is yet to draw a layout of the museum. However, the entire project cost will be borne by the BDA. “We might engage architects to get the best designs. There will be enough visitors’ amenities and parking space,” the officer added. The BDA also plans to set up a state-of-the-art handicraft museum opposite Madhusudan Park in Pokhariput and Netaji Subhas Park at Gandamunda.

Source:TOI

as part of Smart City contest. In a draft proposal submitted to the corporation as a concept plan, i-Deck has zeroed in on 12 areas after scrutinising close to 1,000 proposals and suggestions gathered from ward-level meetings, idea boxes and other consultations. The civic body now needs to pick six out of twelve areas and once this selection is done, online voting and citizen consultation will be conducted to choose three from six areas.

These three areas will be considered for final selection and the state government-appointed high-powered steering committee will choose one area for which the final smart city proposal will be prepared.As per the draft proposal submitted by i-Deck, 12 potential areas being considered for area-based development which include Akkulam-Veli lake and Kochuveli area, Kazhakootam, core business areas (Thampanoor, Chalai and East Fort), Attukal, corridor along NH bypass, outer area growth corridor, Vizhinjam area, Akkulam-Veli lake-Parvathy Puthanar canal-Edayar Island, Thiruvallom area, Medical College, Sreekaryam and Nemom.

AKKULAM-VELI LAKE

The Smart City proposal includes either a retrofitting or redevelopment or greenfield development model and a pan-city feature with smart solutions. Of the 12 short-listed areas, retrofitting has been proposed for eight areas, redevelopment for eight areas and green field development for five areas. Both retrofitting and redevelopment have been suggested for seven areas. The consultant has also proposed various theme-based development for each area based on topography and density of population. These themes include heritage, traffic, transport and so on. An area will be a combination of three-four wards.The consultancy team spent about a month working on the data collected from ward-level consultations. The data were digitized and ideas suggested from a ward were used to identify problems in a ward. Eight-ten such issues were identified for a ward and frequency of issues was also rated. The final enlisting of 12 areas were done after discussion with experts and members of the technical committee constituted by the city corporation for Smart City project. With the choice of the final area to be made by February, the corporation will have to make the choice and revert to the consultant, a task which is likely to pose challenges for the ruling council given the current composition of the council. The council on Tuesday is likely to choose the six areas. The corporation is supposed to submit the Smart City proposal in March.

Source:TOI

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS PM’S DIGITAL DREAM : WHY AMRAVATI SHOULD BE THE PILOT SMART CITY The city corporation is set for frenetic activity ahead as i-Deck, the consultant for preparation of Smart City proposal, has enlisted 12 areas in the city for area-based development Both Prime Minister Modi and Finance Minister Jaitley are possessed by missionary zeal to catapult India into the digital world. Their enthusiasm for digital payments and smart cities is palpable.

P Mr. Arun Jaitley Finance Minister of India

hile demonetisation has fortuitously provided the impetus for digital payments, Amravati – the new capital city in the making of the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh could be the inspiration for other states to follow and emulate.

Barcelona, Washington DC, San Francisco, etc., have been the front runners in the race for smart city status. These cities have had a head start thanks to their relatively small population, modernity, good infrastructure and high-speed internet.

In contrast Indian cities are bursting at their seams and characterized by poor infrastructure. 4G internet technology, crucial to the success of the idea of smart city especially for the monitoring and guidance providing apps to work, is not available on a scale that can cater to the entire country. In the event, it would be better if we identify a few cities as pilot cities for the hallowed status of smart cities instead of spreading ourselves thin.We must start with a clean state, so to say. In other words cities that are either in the anvil or being created should be focused on.

Amravati could be the ideal choice not the least because the Andhra Chief Minister is a high-tech enthusiast. A new city comes without a historical baggage and is uncluttered.

A city like Delhi has a baggage and its infrastructure development has been in fits and starts. It has multi-power centers with the Delhi government and its municipalities is often not on the best of terms. So much so, they do not cooperate with each other. Its streets stink periodically with sweepers not being paid regularly and the two power centers blaming each other for the financial crunch that purportedly is at the back of them not being paid.

It is not as if Amravati would be immune from such politicisation of civic issues but being new it can learn its lessons from the trials, travails and tribulations of

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Mr.Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India

mega cities like Delhi. Its buildings can be green and its electricity, water and sewage connections digitized so as to keep a constant track of bottlenecks and fault lines.

Constant monitoring of infrastructure is crucial to a city remaining smart. Amravati and may be Jhansi the possible capital of the putative Bundelkhand state that might be carved out of UP if the BJP comes to power in UP can plan for smartness right from the beginning.

Smartness superimposed on a somnolent and congested city would be a herculean task if not a disaster in the making. Incidentally, the accent on smaller states by the BJP has a spinoff—decongestion of big cities. The states in the US set the lead in this regard by having two capitals so to say—economic and political. San Francisco is the business capital of California but its state or political capital is the relatively obscure Sacramento. Decongested cities indeed make for smart cities.Though the government’s heart is at the right place insofar as smart cities are concerned, its actions have been incremental, small and unfocused.

Budget 2016-17 allocated Rs 3,205 crore for 100 smart cities across the country and Rs 4,091 crore for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) — a supplemental thrust to the idea of smart cities. This is the typical please-all approach that ultimately ends up pleasing none. We should not dissipate our resources in smallness and unfocused efforts just to keep every party and every part of the country pleased. We must instead think big and be focused. An Amravati could be the pilot smart city. It is not this writer’s case that Delhi or Mumbai should not aspire for the hallowed smart city status but given our resource constraints, we must prioritise. Starting with a clean state always has advantages and focus.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS GHAZIABAD IN SMART CITY RACE: ELECTION PROCESS HINDERS REVAMP, OLD CITY RENOVATION DROPPED The city will soon have a state-of-the-art Urban Museum to showcase its past, development over the years, culture, heritage and Smart City project.

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ecently, the officials had planned to revamp the old city area, from where the city spreads out. The area has a heritage value but officials have decided not to renovate it. The Smart City proposal is to be submitted to the Centre by March 31. Cities from across the country compete for the Smart City status. Selected ones will get funds from the Central government under the scheme for development works.

“Since the election process is on and the model code of conduct in place, holding public meetings and getting online suggestions will not be possible.

Also, the activity is time-consuming. In a meeting held in Lucknow on Saturday, it was decided that the area development as per the previous plan should be fine tuned and submitted in the latest proposal,” Sanjay Chauhan, executive engineer of the municipal corporation, said.

Elections are scheduled in the state from February 11 to March 8, in seven phases,

8 Kaushambi metro stations for which deployment of the majority of the official machinery is required.

In the previous plan, areas around both Kaushambi and Vaishali metro stations were proposed for development.

This time, barring Kaushambi, officials have decided to include other areas near Vasundhara as well. Vasundhara is also on the proposed metro extension route, from Sector 62 in Noida to Indirapuram, which is further to be extended up to

Mohan Nagar. “The areas around the Vaishali Metro station and the proposed metro extensions near Vasundhara will be included in the proposal. The areas near Kaushambi Metro station will not be included. In all, we are planning to include nearly 1,500 acres and a plan will be prepared, including the proposed metro stations,” he said. In the first round of the Smart City race in January 2016, the city failed to make it to the list of 20 cities. In the last round in September 2016, Ghaziabad was ranked 53 of the total 63 cities to compete. From Uttar Pradesh, Agra, Kanpur and Varanasi made it to the list of 27 cities selected for funding under the plan in September. The list was released by the ministry of urban development. In the meeting at Lucknow, it was also decided that the consultant, used last time, will be retained to prepare the proposal. In September 2016, the officials had roped in a new consultant and a Smart City plan of nearly 1,897.7 crore was prepared.

Source:HT

TIRUPATI CIVIC BODY STAMP ON SMART CITY PLAN The city will soon have a state-of-the-art Urban Museum to showcase its past, development over the years, culture, heritage and Smart City project.

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he Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) has finalised the smart city plan for the temple town.

It will come up for discussion at a meeting on Saturday.

Officials of the newly formed Tirupati Smart City Corporation will hold a series of meetings beginning Saturday to finalize the development plans.

Tirupati will be developed into a smart city at a cost of 1,610 crore. About 1,300 crore will be spent on ‘retrofitting’ of 746 acres covering the railway station and other areas. According to the detailed plan prepared by TUDA, the temple town will get 24-hour power supply, underground cables and water taps for all housholds and commercial establishments.

To begin with, areas like railways station road to MS Subbulakshmi circle, Srinivasam, Ruia and Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences and four Mada streets will be covered. Officials will use the latest technology and equipment to provide pure drinking water.Sensor system will be used to

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monitor the quality. To make the city more beautiful and clean, officials will set up ‘intelligent manholes’ to prevent overflow of drain water onto the roads. The system will alert possible blockage of drains two or three hours before to enable the staff to declog the drains. One of the main features of the smart city plans will be development of RTC bus stand at a cost of 250 crore. Parking facilities will be created in 13 acre. There will also be Wi-Fi facility.

“In short, the RTC bus stand will be like a multi-model hub with e-toilets facility as well,” officials said. The railway station road will also get a facelift as Vishnumargam road. The 1.25 km stretch will be given a spiritual touch with idols of different gods. A skywalk will be arranged. Along with the greenery, this particular component will be developed at a cost of 13 crore. Tirupati will get 24-hour power supply, underground cables and water taps for all housholds and commercial establishments. Latest technology and equipment will be used for water purification. Sensor system will be used to monitor the quality.

Source:TOI

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS TATA TRUSTS STARTS DATA HP CM LAUNCHES SMART CITY GOVERNANCE PROJECT TO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PHASE COMPLEMENT SMART CITIES The task to convert Shimla into a Smart City has begun with the launch of public engagement phase by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh by filling the prescribed form with suggestions for all-round growth of the city.

Tata Trusts, the charitable organisation that owns or controls two-thirds equity of Tata Sons, has started a programme to build data capabilities of Indian cities to help arrive at evidencebased decision making by accurately measuring a city’s social,

Mr. Virbhadra Singh Chief Minister of

Himachal Pradesh Mr. Ratan Tata

Tata Trusts chairman

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conomic and environmental performance. Tata Trusts has tied up with World Council on city data to support and enhance the effectiveness of Indian government’s flagship urban development programmes, it said in a statement. The government programmes that will benefit from Tata Trusts’ new initiative are Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation.

“It has become clear that we are now giving the cities true strength by working on data and recognising the importance of data,” Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata said. “The impact of this profound usage is huge. It will enable both the government and private sectors to set civic codes, evaluate outreach and finally assess the impact of policy and initiatives.” “Realising the value of data, Tata Trysts have actively taken up the agenda of striving towards ‘Data-Driven Governance’ to inform, impact and improve policy formation with a view to facilitate holistic development of the nation,” Tata Trusts stated.

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his suggestions Virbhadra Singh said that entire roof tops should be regularly painted in Shimla city to give it beautiful look of hill station. He said that system should be evolved to curb social evils like drug menace so that energy of youth could be channelised for creative works.Virbhadra Singh has appealed to the general public to give their valuable suggestions towards making Shimla Smart City so that the capital could become model city not only in the State but also in the entire country. He said that suggestions of common man were important for building of any society and their views should be incorporated for future development of any area.

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e asked planners, doctors, engineers and experts to express their opinion with freedom so that wider opinion could be converged for best development of Shimla. He said green patches in and around Shimla should be developed into beautiful parks so that green cover could expand around the city.Virbhadra Singh has appealed to the general public to give their valuable suggestions towards making Shimla Smart City so that the capital could become model city not only in the State but also in the entire country.

He said that suggestions of common man were important for building of any society and their views should be incorporated for future development of any area. He asked planners, doctors, engineers and experts to express their opinion with freedom so that wider opinion could be converged for best development of Shimla. He said green patches in and around Shimla should be developed into beautiful parks so that green cover could expand around the city.

Source:TOI

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS SMART CITY: INDORE MUNICIPAL FOR PLACE IN SMART CITY CORPORATION STARTS WORK LIST, ALLAHABAD MUNICIPAL OF UNDERGROUND CABLES CORPORATION TURNS TO INTELLECTUALS The much awaited work of constructing underground ducts for cables and other lines in the city has begun long the stretch from Subhash Marg to Tori Corner via Mhow naka.

This would be first of a kind initiative in which roads would be made free from all overhead cables and electricity lines.

“This is a pilot project. We have started the project in the areas, where most civic supply lines are in a dilapidated condition. It is a new technology. If we succeed, the project would be extended to rest of the Smart City,” said

With the city failing to make it to the second list of smart cities, now the intelligentsia would be roped in to iron out the chinks and ensure a place in the third list.

A

llahabad Municipal Corporation has sought suggestions from academicians, retired judges and scholars to rework the earlier proposals. This would be in addition to the core committee the AMC would be constituting to discuss and chalk out a smart plan for the city.When the scheme was announced, Allahabad was touted as among the top three of the 98 smart cities to be developed. However, it failed to make the cut even in the second list announced by the ministry of urban development.

Smt . Malini Gaud.

Mayor & MLA

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fficials of IMC said that widening of the road is almost complete and the work of construction of underground ducts is in full swing. The ducts would each be of 3 by 3 feet. Storm water drainage lines and drinking water pipelines would also run through them. They would be constructed at an interval of 20 to 30 feet on both sides of the road. The IMC had received suggestions to create an underground passage for all cables and electric wires.

However, officials said that they found the suggestions were not feasible for a city like Indore. “We were not setting up a new city. In renovating an old city like Indore, there are certain restrictions. So we thought of creating ducts at regular intervals,” an official of IMC said on the condition of anonymity. He said that the ducts would be like manholes that can be easily used for all sorts of maintenance.

However, replicating the model across the Smart City will be a real challenge since the 742-acre area comprises Rajwada, Satha Bazaar, Bada Sarafa and Chhota Sarafa.

These are very congested places. Overhead cables and electric lines are often blamed for defacing the city’s appearance. When the ducts become functional, the electric poles and transformers would be removed from roadsides. In the current system, the corporation has to dig up roads and identify the fault each time there’s a problem with an underground line. It also costs a huge amount of money. While preparing ducts is also a costly affair, officials claimed that in long run it would be cost effective.

Source:TOI

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Mr. Sheshmani Pande Municipal corporator

“AMC’s first two proposals were rejected by ministry, raising serious doubts about the capability of the AMC and other stakeholders. This time, the AMC wants to present a plan that speaks for itself so intelligentsia has been incorporated as another stakeholder.” Lack of self-sustainability was a shortcoming in the first two proposals, said sources, so the agency that prepared the earlier plan has been removed since. Now, academicians would be asked to work on ways to generate employment as well as make projects productive so that they generate revenue and need no additional funds. Department heads of the AMC and ADA would comprise the core committe for the Smart City project.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS US EXPLORING NEW PARTNERSHIP IN SMART CITIES IN INDIA

The US is exploring new partnership opportunities for developing more smart cities across India, a top US Commerce Department official said, emphasising that states will play a major role in defining the trajectory of India’s economic development.

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“While we continue to promote smart city development efforts in the three US partner cities of Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam, the Department of Commerce is also exploring new partnership opportunities in other smart cities across India,” the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets, Arun Kumar, told PTI. Kumar, who is also Director General of US and Foreign Commercial Service, said smart cities is one area where the two countries have made a lot of progress over the past several years.

India and the US have signed memorandums of understanding to develop three smart cities in Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam. The US agreed to assist the cities in project planning, infrastructure development, feasibility studies and capacity building.

In nearly three years of being in this position in the Department of Commerce, Kumar said he had the opportunity to see several promising new initiatives taking shape between the US and India during the Obama Administration.

“I am pleased that we have succeeded in standing up the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD) as a valuable platform for government-to-government dialogue on trade and investment matters, and that we have effectively linked it to our private sectors through the US-India CEO Forum,” he said. “I am also excited about our work with the Indian government in innovation and entrepreneurship, including the launch of the first US-India Innovation Forum in 2016,” he said, adding that this will be a constructive mechanism for facilitating new innovation partnerships between the US and India and discussing overall policy issues that impact entrepreneurship.

Kumar said he is also excited that the US Department of Treasury has signed a terms of reference agreement with the Pune Municipal Corporation to launch a municipal bond for civic projects on pilot basis in Pune. This will help lay the groundwork for opening up new avenues of infrastructure financing for the city, he said. “It is evident that India’s states will play a major role in defining the trajectory of India’s economic development,” he said, adding that a number of them have already embarked on land, labour, tax, and other pilot reform programmes. “Given the Modi administration’s focus on competitive federalism, I see promise in facilitating greater engagement between US and Indian businesses, investors, and public officials at the subnational level,” he said.

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Kumar said the US-India travel and tourism market represents a significant opportunity for both the countries’ business communities. “As we advance our S&CD travel and tourism dialogue, the US and Indian governments will work together and with the private sectors to identify challenges and maximise opportunities to increase travel and tourism between the two countries,” he added. Kumar said he is thrilled that India is hosting this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit, a global forum which promotes entrepreneurship as a driver for economic growth, social inclusion and secure communities.

“As the host, I believe that India has a unique opportunity to highlight its innovative start-ups and entrepreneurs while engaging with the US on ways it can create a stronger innovation climate,” he said.

Struck by the enormous success of SelectUSA programme, which promotes the US as an investment destination for foreign investors, he said last year, the US established new relationships with organisations such as the Export-Import Bank of India and The Indus Entrepreneurs to enhance its outreach efforts to Indian investors. “We also hosted large groups of Indian companies at our SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington DC and our Indian Investment Road Show in India,” he said, adding that these efforts resulted in new Indian investments in the US including United Phosphorous in South Carolina and Lacgene in Missouri, which President Obama referenced at last year’s Investment Summit.

As one of the few Indian Americans to serve in top positions in the Obama Administration, Kumar described this as one of the highlights of his professional life. “As an Indian American with a deep knowledge of both countries, I found myself in a position to be a bridge in advancing our relationship. I would encourage more Indian Americans to step up to public service,” Kumar said.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS GOVERNMENT TO ADD CISCO EXPANDS SMART 40 MORE TOWNS TO CITY INITIATIVE IN INDIA SMART CITIES LIST Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and global business process management and services Union minister, M Venkaiah Naidu, on January 11, 2017, announced that the government is planning to add 40 new cities to its list of Smart Cities, taking the total to 100. Since January 2016, the government has announced three lists of smart cities

Mr. Venkaiah Naidu Minister of Urban Development of India

which will get Rs 200 crores for improving their infrastructure. “There is an urban renaissance taking place. We have problems but our cities and towns are galvanised to meet new challenges, new ideas and new orientation,” said the urban development minister at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. The approach, he said, is to make cities more livable.

“We have identified 100 cities across the country. 60 cities are already on the move. This month or next month, we will be adding another 40 cities to take it to 100 smart cities across the country.

However, even 100 is not sufficient for a country of India’s size,” he said.

Naidu said the housing sector offers ample opportunities, following various schemes announced by the government.

“By 2022, everyone must have a house of his own. That is the ambitious programme set by the prime minister. There have been announcements recently, on lowering interest rates for affordable housing and this, coupled with the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act, will be a boon for the housing sector,” he said.

See also: How realistic is India’s Smart Cities Mission? India is the only bright spot in a world where economic growth rates are slowing down, he said. The country is undergoing a massive transformation, Naidu said. “States are competing and there is a healthy competition amongst states, vis-à-vis development,” he added. On making Delhi’s landmark Connaught Place vehicle-free, Naidu said the response to the proposal had been positive. “It should be a place for people to eat, meet and greet. I want such places all across the country,” he said.

Source:Moneycontrolz

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corporation, Genpact Ltd. (G) today announced the launch of a Global Center of Excellence in Jaipur, India.

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he new partnership serves as part of Cisco’s larger Lighthouse City project, a global initiative designed to deploy next-generation cloud-based technology in cities, set to directly impact citizens and society.

Smart City Technology

The city of Jaipur will gain access to Cisco’s global network and channel program capabilities, which Genpact says will help the city benefit from economic and social transformation as the country embarks on the next phase of the Digital India program. Cisco’s Center of Excellence will be hosted and operated in Genpact’s state-of-the-art facility in Jaipur, serving as an innovation lab for Genpact and its partnering technology firms to rapidly test and deploy the latest smart technology advances from Cisco. The two firms foresee the Center as a launch pad for new technologies aimed to push Jaipur toward becoming a more responsive, smart and connected city. Cisco’s recently announced a payas-you-go Smart+Connected Digital Platform (CDP) that utilizes Internet of Things (IoT) technology, facilitating the communication

between billions of connected devices. Cisco’s smart city solutions collect and analyze data from sensors, cameras and other devices, to help cities take action more effectively.

Other Lighthouse Cities

Genpact will use data gathered from Cisco’s CDP, Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences and Cisco Video Surveillance Manager Solutions to develop analytics-driven technology applications in the Center. The applications, which will utilize machine learning, IoT, robotic process automation and other disruptive tech, aim to enhance quality and performance of urban services, along with providing real-time responses to operational challenges.

Jaipur will service as the first smart and connected lighthouse city in South Asia, joining cities in other regions including Hamburg, Germany; Barcelona, Spain, and Adelaide, Australia. Cisco’s investment in smart cities demonstrates the San Jose, Calif.-based tech giant’s larger shift away from legacy hardware sales to become a leader in emerging markets such as the IoT, the cloud and cybersecurity. (See also: Cisco Releases Smart-Cities Cloud Solutions (CSCO).

SOURCE:INVESTOPEDIA

US EXPLORING NEW PARTNERSHIP IN

SMART CITIES IN INDIA

The State Government, which has not given up on its smart city dream, is once again working on its plans to make an updated bid for the project.

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fficials said the Government is updating its plans with new components and the process of consultation and necessary review are on. According to the officials, the Government will resubmit its proposal to the Centre in March. “The updated plan will also be put up in the public domain for suggestions and views,” the officials said. Shillong could not qualify for the smart city project on three occasions. The upcoming shortlist, the announcement date for which is not known, will be the final one and

if Shillong cannot qualify, its dream to have a smart city will be over. The State is sceptical about the funding of the project and had earlier made it clear that it would not be possible for it to take up the smart city project unless it is made 90:10.

The matter was also taken up with the Centre. Shillong was among the 23 cities and towns from among various States and Union Territories which were given the opportunity to participate in the ‘Fast Track Competition’ under the Smart City Mission.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS SIX CITIES TO BENEFIT FROM ANDHRA PRADESH’S OWN SMART MOVE Taking a leaf out of the Centre’s book on the Smart Cities Mission, the Chandrababu Naidu government went a step further and decided to turn six municipal towns into smart cities. The state cabinet,

Which met under the chairmanship of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu here on Thursday, waved the green flag to trans form Srikakulam, Eluru, Ongole, Nellore, Kurnool and Anantapur into smart cities.While municipal elections are due in Ongole and Srikakulam, the other four towns have elected municipal councils.

After the cabinet meeting, municipal administration minister P Narayana said that the government had decided to changed the face of six towns. “There is a dire need for acceleration of urban development in a phased manner and developing six smart cities will serve this purpose,” he said.

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ources said the move to upgrade the six urban civic bodies into smart cities was well thought-out to garner central funds. “There is no clarity if the Centre will help the state develop these six smart cities. The central government has its own worries as far as granting funds for the smart cities it has declared across the country,” a senior official said.Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Tirupati have already been selected for the Smart City project of the Union government and funds for development of these cities would be entirely borne by the Centre.

Sources said the government will set up special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to channelise funds for these new smart cities. “Separate SPVs would be set up for each of the smart cities and funds will be generated for developing them in a systematic manner,” the minister said. With the state government stepping up developmental activities in both Vijayawada and Guntur as part of the capital city development project, almost all the cities in central and south coastal districts have been covered under the Smart Cities programme.

Source:TOI

MUMBAI: SIX MONTHS ON, SMART CITIES PLAN IN COLD STORAGE Even though the BJP-led state government took the decision to implement the Smart Cities Mission in Mumbai and seven other cities in the state six months ago, the proposal has gone into cold storage. While the approval from the general body is still pending,

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hiv Sena as well as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have expressed reluctance to take it forward. Terming the project unnecessary, senior civic officials said the BMC doesn’t need to implement the Smart Cities Mission since it was working towards providing the same services to the public.“They have asked us to use our own funds to improve road connectivity, availability of internet, ensure 100 per cent collection and segregation of garbage among other services, as well as increase the hours of water supply. We are already working on all the aspects. Why should we then be answerable to the state,” said a civic official. In December last year, the Shiv Sena had given a conditional approval to the smart cities proposal and had sent its recommendations to the central government.

They had demanded that the mayor should head the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the project and have a right to veto on decisions taken by the SPV. The Sena had also demanded that 85 per cent (60 lakh) of employment generated from the project be reserved for the ‘sons of the soil’ — Maharashtrians. The government, however, had not considered any of the suggestions in its resolution released in June.

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According to the circular the state released in June, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai municipal corporations were asked to implement the smart city project using their funds as they were financially strong. These eight cities had been excluded by the Centre when it announced its first list at the beginning of this year. The civic official pointed out that in order to execute the state government’s directions, the civic administration needs the Sena’s approval for the sanction of funds. “The BJP-led state government has not agreed to any of the Sena’s demands and Sena corporators are very clear about not being answerable to BJP. Until this impasse is resolved, the administration cannot do anything,” said the official. “Depending on the standing committee’s decision, we will send their response to the state government, which will then decide the future course of action,” said another official. Supporting the government’s stand, group leader and BJP corporator Manoj Kotak said, “BJP wants to make Mumbai a smart city to benefit people. All parties should put their political differences aside and extend their support to doing so.”

Source:IE

Trushna Vishwasrao

Leader of the House

That the Sena will not extend its support to the smart cities proposal unless the BJP agrees to their demands. “The Centre is not giving us funds to implement the project. Mumbai is already on its way to becoming a smart city and the BMC is working to improve the services. Why should we then give up the control of the BMC budget to the BJP?,” she said. Civic sources stated that the BMC is obligated to follow the directions of the state government and will table the proposal in front of the standing committee the next week.

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South Korea today expressed willingness to invest in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh region, and is keen to develop IT in cyber security and data protection space.

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US HELP IN DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA’S SMART CITIES TO GO ON KOREAN COMPANIES KEEN TO INVEST IN PUNJAB, HARYANA UNDER DONALD TRUMP The new administration under President-elect Donald Trump will continue to engage with India on development of smart cities, a US government official told ET. ndia and the United States, during President Barack Obama’s term, signed memorandums of understanding develop three smart cities in Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam. The US agreed to assist the cities in project planning, infrastructure development, feasibility studies and capacity building.

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We had initial discussions with the transition team (under new Presidency). It is still early stages but we have shared our plans and they have been included,” said Vinay Vijay Singh, deputy assistant secretary in the US Department of Commerce.

There are some challenges from the Indian side which can be addressed. “Indian cities should be enabled to have more autonomy,” he said. The mechanics between the Centre and states in India need to be worked out, Singh said. “I know they are working hard at it. We had this (smart cities) competition and the money has gone to the states, then we go to the states and some states say we don’t have the money because these things haven’t been done,” he said.Some companies which are already involved in India’s smart cities project also echoed these concerns.

Mr. Vinay Vijay Singh

Deputy assistant secretary in the US That some clarity would be welcome. “In Vizag (Visakhapatnam), in particular, there were talks of a new airport. It would need significant investment, so clarity around these, what is in works and how are they working forward would be helpful for the business side,” she said.

Ashley O’Connor

vice president, AECOM Singh said that US participation in development of smart cities in India is not a political initiative and the agenda is driven by the US private sector, which sees this as a growth area. “We will continue to engage with all stakeholders. We will also work with multilateral institutions to help eliminate the initial risk involved in such projects,” Singh said, citing the example of US government’s Department of Treasury’s initiative with Pune Municipal Corporation to help the city raise funds via issuance of bonds.

Source:ET

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t has evinced keen interest to invest in joint venture partnership with industrialists from Northern region, and has expressed willingness in developing IT especially in cyber security and data protection and infrastructure projects, including smart cities, transportation, power generation and transmission. “Korea is particularly keen to forge business ties, JVs, partnerships, mergers and develop other inter-trade mechanisms like appointing dealerships and distributor channels with the industrialists from Northern India, especially Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal and Harayana region, considering immense potential in this region for Korean technologies and products having a large number of small and medium industries,” Hyun said. while visiting IT facilities in the city.

“The visit of Prime Minister to Korea and various steps taken by India including launch of Korea Plus , a special initiative to promote and facilitate Korean investments, and steps for easing of doing business and creating an ideal investment environment coupled by success of several existing Korean companies in India, large number of new companies are interested in investing and setting up industries in India and becoming a key partner in ‘Make in India’ initiative,” Hyun said. He added that the India-Korea comprehensive economic partnership agreement has the potential to take bilateral trade relations between the two countries to new heights.

Mr. Cho Hyun

Ambassador of Korea in India

“ The first Honorary consul general of Korea in Chandigarh accompanied the Korean Ambassador. Korean Embassy will be opening its Consul general office in the city tomorrow. “The opening of Consul General office in Chandigarh will provide limited consul assistance in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union territory of Chandigarh,” said Jagdip Singh.

Mr. Jadip singh

Chairman, Sigma Group

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS NAGPUR WILL BECOME WI-FI BRITAIN SEEKS TO HELP PHILENABLED CITY BY MARCH 2017 IPPINES BUILD ‘SMART CITIES’ “ That Nagpur will become Wi-Fi enabled city by March 2017. Fadnavis was here to inaugurate the public Wi-Fi system under the Smart City project. Union Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari too was present for the function. He said, Nagpur will take shape of ‘Smart and Safe’ city by March 2017. “Around 4000 surveillance cameras have been installed in the city. This will help police in obtaining information about accidents and criminal activities and also help in real time planning of traffic movement,”

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Mr. Devendra Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister

imilarly, digital kiosks will be installed at city bus stops, wherein the passengers will get location of the buses, seating arrangements and timings on screen, said Fadnavis. He said, “Various government services will be available online for citizens as digitalisation initiatives have been implemented in city and by the end of this year, Nagpur is set to become digital city of the country.

Source:PTI

The United Kingdom is willing to help the Philippines build “smart cities” as it seeks closer economic ties ith one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies while preparing to leave the European Union, an envoy said. The eco-friendly metropolis, which British companies have showcased in Hong Kong and Singapore, makes efficient use of digital, electricity and sewage systems,

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“ British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad said.“Smart cities” will be the theme of a British trade delegation’s visit to the Philippines this week, Ahmad said. Cities are more than just buildings, roads and infrastructure.

It’s how lifestyles are conducted, how people interact with each other,” he told ANC’s “Market Edge with Cathy Yang.” “It’s high time that the Philippines experiences some of our expertise,” he said. The UK wants to play a “bigger role” in rebuilding Philippine infrastructure, he said. British engineers are currently involved in airports in Manila and Cebu, he said. Ahmad said the Philippines is “very much ripe” for a free trade deal with the UK, which will be negotiated separately from the EU.

LODHA GROUP LAUNCHES STARTUP INVESTMENT FUND FOR REALTY, SMART CITY TECHNOLOGIES Realty developers Lodha Group has launched its maiden investment fund for startups focused on smart city solutions and overall real estate sector. With an initial investment corpus of Rs 50 crores, the company will provide angel funding or venture capital along with business opportunities, industry contacts and mentor support. Lodha Group’s Startup Investment Fund will invest in startups at all stages of the development cycle, including early stage startups, which are focused on creating value in the real estate and smart city space in India, the developer said in a release.

Mr. Abhishek Lodha

MD, Lodha Group

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“ Within real estate, the company will look at all aspects of the value chain including digital marketing, analytics, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and smart city services. “Our fund’s philosophy is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three core campaigns – Startup India, Housing for All and Demonetization. Real estate sector is unarguably an important sector for India’s economy being the second largest employer in the country after agriculture. As India ushers in a new era on the back of path-breaking policy changes such as demonetization, RERA and GST, the sector too will reap its benefits in the long run,” Lodha also added that the company has been working in a focused manner to establish

this platform over the last few months. The fund has already vetted two-three business ideas and the first round of investments will be completed by March 2017. He expects demonetization and decline in interest rates alongside the government’s new incentives for low cost housing will boost the overall growth of the real estate sector. With the launch of the Startup Investment Fund, the company is looking to bring significant expertise, knowledge and resources for the technology led solution providers that aim to serve the smart city and real estate space. The fund is aiming to address the prevailing inefficiencies in the sector with the use of technology and smart solutions.

Lodha Group is currently developing around 41 million sq ft of residential real estate across 31 ongoing projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Hyderabad and London. For the year ended 2015-16, the company registered new sales of Rs 6,400 crore, while it delivered 6,800 units across projects.

Source:ETR

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS SMART CITY ROUND 3: GHAZIABAD OFFICIALS PLAN REDEVELOPMENT OF OLD CITY

ORANGE SELECTED FOR QATARI SMART CITY PROJECT Officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation are again gearing up to prepare a Smart City plan (SCP) to be submitted to the Central government

by March 31.

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fficials plan to change the area-based development concept and to give a makeover to the old city area from which present-day Ghaziabad has grown. The city has not fared well in the Smart City race so far.

In the previous round in September, Ghaziabad had ranked 53 out of the 63 participating cities. From Uttar Pradesh, only Agra, Kanpur and Varanasi had made it to the list of 27 cities selected for Smart City funding. The list was released by the Union ministry of urban development.

“This time, we plan to redevelop the old city area that also has heritage value. Roads, sewerage and repainting of old buildings can be done to give it a unique, heritage look. The area has four old gates (only three are present now) and includes major market and residential areas too. Public opinion will also be solicited,” said Sanjay Chauhan, executive engineer, Ghaziabad municipal corporation.

Under their last SCP, the focus was on developmental works in new areas such as Kaushambi, Vaishali and Maharajpur under the ‘area-based plan.’ The plan also included a proposal of five stations for e-bikes near Kaushambi and Vaishali metro stations. Another proposal was of development of a 1-km green area under the 10.3-km Hindon elevated road, which is being built near the Hindon canal. It had also proposed an ‘intelligent city platform’ with a control room for the entire city with a variety of services.Despite the city not making it to the race the last time, state nodal officers recently apprised corporation officials that the consultant firm that had prepared the previous SCP will be again assigned the job.

“However, the firm has not responded so far. They have told us that they have not received any instructions yet. Payment to the firm was also held up after Ghaziabad was not selected in September. However, this was as per norms,” Chauhan added. Following September’s results, mayor Ashu Verma had written to the municipal commissioner seeking to hold the nearly Rs8 lakh payment pending to the consultant. For the September round, the new consultant had prepared a SCP estimated around Rs1,897.7 crore, but the city failed to qualify. According to officials, they have not received any communication about the points and the criteria on which Ghaziabad fared poorly in the Smart City race. The result would have given them a better idea as to where the city lost vital points and needs improvement, they added.

Source:HT

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Qatari managed services provider, Meeza, has granted a multimillion dollar consulting deal to Orange Business Services (OBS) to oversee the biggest smart city project in the Gulf region.

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s the prime contractor, OBS will deliver the majority of smart services and applications at Msheireb Downtown Doha, a flagship development in Qatar. The regeneration project, located at the heart of the traditional centre of Doha, will involve a mix of residential, commercial offices, retail outlets and hotels and will be completed in six phases through 2018. Aiming to improve the overall quality of life for Qatari citizens, OBS will manage the design of the district’s central command centre, which controls the smart operation of buildings and services, including security cameras, building access control, fire alarms, street lighting, automated waste collection, car parks and public announcements. The full scope of the project also covers the ICT Infrastructure for the district, which will be managed by Meeza. This infrastructure includes the network, management of two data centres, provision of IP telephony and management of desktops in the smart ecosystem. “This partnership marks the start of a new era in the development of smart cities across the region and beyond, “It brings about local domain technology knowledge coupled with leading multinational expertise.

We are truly delighted to partner with Orange on this landmark project, which will leave a longstanding impression on the regional and global scale.” Saad Sabah Al Kuwari chief marketing officer, Meeza.

In addition, Orange has designed and operates a range of smart applications (for both PCs and mobiles) for the general public, as well as for residents. These smart applications include apps for community services, wayfinding and online payments. Other services developed and run

by OBS will help to regenerate the district include smart energy management, such as smart metering, business intelligence and data analytics, a central service desk management solution, and indoor geolocation infrastructure, the company claims. “Msheireb Downtown Doha is a perfect illustration of how the region is transforming itself and better serving its citizens, “Orange Applications for Business. “Orange has the advantage of being both an operator and a specialised digital services company that supports digital transformation of societies, enterprises and government bodies.” Béatrice Felder, senior vice president,

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS AT&T TO COLLABORATE WITH DUBLIN CITY AND IDA IRELAND TO EXPLORE SMART CITIES DEVELOPMENT AT&T* is committed to help build smarter cities –in the U.S. and abroad. We have signed an agreement with IDA Ireland and Dublin City Council to collaborate and exchange information about smart cities solutions.

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nitiative will foster an open dialogue of IoT best practices with Ireland and Dublin, which is developing into a leading IoT location. As part of this collaboration with Ireland, we will also explore opportunities to work with other organizations on IoT-related development projects across the country, including Dublin’s Docklands IoT project.

Smart cities solutions can offer citizens many benefits in sustainability, transportation, public safety, infrastructure and more.

In fact, as part of our smart cities initiative in the U.S., we are currently working with several of our spotlight cities including Atlanta, Chicago and Miami-Dade County on projects ranging from water conservation to intelligent lighting to citizen engagement.

“IoT solutions are already generating a measurable value for businesses. And around the world, more cities are realizing the impact IoT solutions can have on making their communities more efficient, sustainable and enjoyable,” said Mike Zeto, general manager, AT&T Smart Cities. “As an IoT and smart cities leader, we’re excited to lend our passion, expertise and insights to help Dublin create a more connected city that will have lasting benefits for current and future generations.”

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“IDA Ireland welcomes AT&T’s choice of Ireland as the company’s first international location for global Smart Cities collaboration,” “The availability of world class talent, excellent infrastructure and openness from industry, academia and government to collaborate, enables companies to deliver outstanding IoT products and services.

Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland.

Companies are discovering that Ireland is small enough to trial, yet big enough to prove their Internet of Things technologies and solutions.” “Being smarter will be a defining characteristic of tomorrow’s leading cities. Dublin has the key ingredients and is exploiting them

to be at the forefront of smart city developments leveraging our unique cluster of global technology companies, thriving start-ups and research centres, “Dublin City Council is delighted to collaborate with AT&T, one of the world’s leading technology companies, to explore future smart city innovations.” For more information on our IoT solutions for Smart Cities, visit: www.att.com/iot. *AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Owen Keegan, Chief Executive, Dublin City Council.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS SMART CITIES: STAKEHOLDER BUY-IN AND PROJECT FUNDING MAY CHALLENGE ANTICIPATED MARKET GROWTH The Smart City movement is gaining momentum. Citizen expectations, growing connectivity, and increasingly strained government resources are converging, strengthening the case for cities to invest

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intelligent solutions rooted in information and communication technologies. As cities and solution providers develop their Smart City strategies, they are trying to understand which solutions and business models hold the greatest promise in this growing market.

According to Frost & Sullivan’s Visionary Innovation Group’s recent Smart City Pulse survey, more than half of all respondents report that their organizations are focusing their Smart City efforts on opportunities in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, with aging infrastructure and cities competing for long-term business development driving the adoption of Smart City solutions by local governments. The Visionary Innovation Group’s Smart City Pulse report reflects the collective experience of 75 professionals operating in the Smart City space, gathering information on the motivations propelling growth in the Smart City market, the hurdles for sustaining growth, and how organizations are adapting to better meet market needs.

“The most innovative cities in the world are implementing Smart City solutions by building strategic partnerships with solution providers,” “For cities, municipal strategies must carefully consider each city’s unique challenges, devising how the Smart City concept can be molded to meet very specific needs. Establishing Smart City teams is also critical to addressing another cited restraint: working across departmental siloes.”

The large-scale nature of these projects requires cities to future-proof their investments, considering technologies that offer additional cost savings or conservation of resources through optimized performance.

Moreover, cities are embracing Smart City development as an avenue of competitive advantage. On the horizon, respondents believe that scaling Internet of Things solutions and integrating prescriptive analytics will greatly influence future Smart City market development, opening up opportunities in urban sensors, big data, analytics software, and cloud markets.

Key Smart City project restraints identified by survey respondents include securing adequate funding and lacking a cohesive Smart City vision or strategy to direct projects. Solution providers can help cities overcome these restraints by introducing innovative business models and collaborating with cities to articulate visions and draft persuasive strategies.

“Survey participants are optimistic about the Smart City market: 54 percent of respondents indicate revenues from Smart City solutions will either increase or increase significantly in the near term,” Walker said. “Moreover, responses indicate that Smart City solution providers are moving beyond pure plays and venturing into more integrator and managed services roles. It will be imperative for solution providers to have a differentiating strategy as the integrator

and services fields become more crowded.”

The Smart City Pulse survey covers the following concepts and associated technologies: Smart Governance and Education Smart Healthcare, Smart Buildings, Smart Mobility, Smart Infrastructure, Smart Energy, Smart Security Smart Citizens Survey respondents pull from a global pool and survey questions relate to a global market, with respondents asked to identify the regions their organisations are prioritizing for Smart City solutions.

Jillian Walker.

Senior Consultant Click on the following link for complimentary access to more information on this analysis and to register for a Growth Strategy Dialog, a free interactive briefing with Frost & Sullivan’s thought leaders. In many brownfield markets, replacing or modernizing existing infrastructure represents an area of neglect and critical need, creating an opportunity for Smart City innovations.

Source:Yahoofinance

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS IOT PROPOSALS OVERFLOW BOSTON’S INBOX FOLLOWING SMART CITY RFI Boston got so many responses to its smart city RFI released in December that the city is extending its timeline to sort through it all, a representative from the mayor’s office told StateScoop on Tuesday.

The city received 104 submissions from 85 vendors,

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“Harvard Presidential City of Boston Fellow and RFI organizer. The submissions, which are publicly available via Google Drive, include everything from discrete emerging technologies like advanced-911 systems and smart street lights, to expansive, citywide Internet-of-Things platforms that claim to provide a comprehensive answer to the city’s many goals.

Jaqueline Lender endors include lesser-known names like BigBelly, which already sold Boston connected trash compactors that are installed throughout the city, and big names like AT&T, Phillips, Deloitte, Esri, Dell, Hitachi, IBM and Tesla. The city will adjust its timeline by reaching out to vendors for follow-up interviews within the next two weeks, and next steps will be posted on Feb. 27, Lender reported, though these dates could change due to the large volume of information received.

“The quantity of responses to the RFI exceeded our expectations,” Lender said in an email to StateScoop. “We were impressed by both the scope of proposed ‘smart’ projects, and the ways in which applicants engaged with our Smart City Playbook in their submissions.”

Among the submissions is Tesla’s proposal for the city to adopt its electric vehicle charging stations, wall-mounted batteries, and solar-powered batteries to build up the city’s clean energy infrastructure. “When these technologies are working together in concert, it will demonstrate Boston’s commitment to the present and future,” Tesla’s proposal reads. AT&T and General Electric

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proposed the city deploy a network of 15,000 smart street lights that include optical, acoustic and environmental sensors to minimize traffic collisions, improve traffic flow, reduce crime, and enable a “living lab” to draw outside funding and talent. The proposal would generate more than 4,000 new jobs and generate $7.5 billion, according to the vendor.

In one of three submissions, Sasaki proposed a 60-day pilot project in which the city would use an existing public-facing video camera to pair with a machine-learning algorithm that detects movement patterns and helps the city better understand how people are using public space. Citibot pitched the city chatbot its technology, which uses text, messaging and social media apps to help citizens get answers to questions in real-time, with a special emphasis on underserved populations. CivicConnect proposed the

use of an augmented reality app called CivicAR, which is advertised as a way to turn cities into places that are richer and more easily explored. The company noted that its software was a great way for the city to meet its goal of creating more “accessible, practical and delightful public spaces.” HAAS Alert pitched a vehicle-to-vehicle alert system that would allow people driving city streets to receive warnings when a potential hazard, like a fast-moving fire truck, was near.

IBM suggested the city build a living laboratory that uses its Watson AI to drive decisions.

“By analyzing the data from Boston’s many assets we can determine what citizens need proactively and provide the services to them when they are ready,” IBM’s submission reads.

“This could mean turning street lights on when sensors show that a wreck has occurred; or even when a lone jogger comes by with a smart device. It could mean emptying waste bins when they are full, rather than on a schedule, but also proactively emptying them before a big event. It also will extend to things citizens will never see but that improve their lives, like managing water lines to minimize leaks saving money and preventing disruptive service.”

AppGeo pitched map-based kiosks that look something like those being built now in New York and Chicago. Phillips pitched several ideas, among them a street light with touch screens built into the body. The product, called Sidewalk Buddy, would double as a way for people to pay for parking and also find tourism information.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS SAN ANTONIO CHOSEN TO PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL SMART CITY PROGRAM San Antonio is among 10 U.S. communities that have been chosen by Envision American 2017 to take part in this year’s Smart City initiative.

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he program will help participating cities explore new ways to use technology to make municipal government more effective, sustainable and responsive, San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor said.Envision America, a national nonprofit that has been supported by the White House in the past, has issued a challenge to U.S. cities to become smarter by accelerating the deployment of innovative technologies that address critical issues such as energy, air quality, water resources and waste. Cities were chosen for the program based on criteria including their display of cross-sector collaboration and a commitment to developing innovative approaches to community challenges.

“We’ve implemented some projects through the city’s Transportation and Capital Improvements department, the Office of Sustainability, my Digital Inclusion Initiative and SA Tomorrow plans,” Taylor said in a statement. “We look forward to sharing our models and learning what other cities are doing.”

The other cities picked for the Smart City initiative held in Charlotte, North Carolina, in March include Jackson, Mississippi; Wichita, Kansas; Providence, Rhode Island; and Burlington, Vermont. Detroit; Chula Vista, California; Greensboro, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; and Long Beach, California, will also participate in the three-day workshop. Community representatives will collaborate with industry leaders, academic experts and entrepreneurs to develop innovative strategies to help implement “smart” projects in their respective cities.

ORLANDO’S BUILDING A STRATEGY FOR A SMART, CONNECTED FUTURE he city of Orlando has accomplished a lot in terms of enhancing livability and sustainability with a variety of energy, transportation and other beneficial projects as it continues to develop its smart city program.

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t has several more projects in the works, some of which are outlined in our story. What may be the most important of those is the city’s commitment to developing a comprehensive smart city plan. Why is it so important? Because the plan will help guide and coordinate all aspects of how the city operates and provides services – and consolidate individual city department plans into one that will ensure consistency in its smart city efforts.

One of Orlando’s goals is a very ambitious one: develop a truly comprehensive smart city plan in a year’s time.

What city officials envision is a plan that promotes coordination and collaboration among city departments, amendments to its existing city comprehensive plan and land development codes and inclusion of a diverse group of stakeholders, from neighborhood associations and nearby local governments to business, social service and advocacy groups. It also is expected to provide a coordinated approach to how the city inte-

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grates smart city technologies and expertise from outside sources. For Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, the plan represents a way for the city to continuously improve the lives of its residents and visitors.

“Through access to international industry experts, new data and communications technologies, the challenge will continue to ensure Orlando is a more intelligent, interconnected and efficient city,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer

Showcase projects

As part of its efforts to ensure future success, competitiveness and continued improvements for residents and visitors, the city wants to zero in on smart transportation projects that improve traffic flow and safety, parking access, guidance to available parking for motorists, more convenient parking

and toll road payment systems. The city also plans to implement a city-wide building automation system to monitor and control mechanical and electrical systems such as HVAC and lighting, which should reduce maintenance costs and energy waste. Also, several city buildings will be renovated for improved energy efficiency. The results of those upgrades will be monitored through an online building analytics dashboard.

Learn more about Orlando’s plans at Smart Cities Week Silicon Valley…

Smart Cities Week Silicon Valley will bring together city leaders and technology innovators to explore trends and disruptive technologies for smart cities. The conference kicks off on Monday, with in-depth pre-conference workshops on crucial topics such as resilience and readiness. Click to learn more and register. Doug Peeples is a Portland, Oregon-based writer specializing in technology and energy.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS EUROPE TO LEAD WORLD’S SMART CITIES BY 2040 European smart cities could transform the continent’s urban landscape in less than three decades, speakers gathered at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels said on Tuesday. “ told attendees at a press briefing that Europe’s role in history’s “third industrial revolution” would see cities transition from fossil fuels to full implementation of the circular economy as early as 2040.

“My belief is that we can move this infrastructure in place in less than three decades,” he said. “We laid out the first industrial revolution in Britain in four decades. We laid out the second industrial revolution in the United States in four decades. We can easily beat that target of four decades on this third industrial revolution. This is smart Europe.”

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Mr. Jeremy Rifkin

President of The Foundation on Economic Trends

round 78 percent of Europeans live in cities, which make up around 85 percent of the EU’s GDP. Several European cities have successfully begun to implement the circular economy, defined as an efficient ecosystem of information, as well as physical goods designed to minimise waste and consumption of energy. Smart cities are a growth market expected to be worth around US$1.5 trillion globally by 2020. Of the total market value created by this time, around 38 percent is predicted to emanate from smart education and smart energy technology.

Rifkin said the circular or ‘sharing economy’ would follow similar trends in history by arising from combined technological innovation and cheaper fuel sources, such as digital solar power. In a report published at the 7th European Summit of Regions and Cities in Bratislava on 8-9 July 2016, he adds that both China and Europe are paving the way towards a “green digital economy”, a model “now being embraced by other nations around the world”. “spoke on Tuesday’s later panel about the benefits Europe’s reputation as a centre for global expertise and investment has for smart cities. He said private firms are keen to invest in smart cites in Europe as they regard the continent as “a beacon of stability”.

In 2016, member states of the European Union and Japan launched a two and a half year programme to provide cities with a cloud-based platform to link government data with the IoT. The platform, known as CpaaS.io, will link technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data and the Cloud with open government data and linked open data to enable a multitude of different applications

Mr. Maros Sefcovic

Vice-President of the European Commission

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SMARTEST CITY IN U.S. MAY SOON BE MIAMI THANKS TO PARTNERSHIP WITH CIVIQ

You may know Miami for its beaches, but the Florida city wants you to know it for its smarts.

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arlier this week, the coastal metropolis announced a new partnership with CIVIQ Smartscapes to launch the first fully interconnected smart city ecosystem in the U.S. And best of all, the landmark tech deal will come at no net cost to taxpayers, the mayor’s office says. CIVIQ, a company that specializes in smart communications infrastructure in public spaces, aims to deliver the best “Citizen Mobility Experience” to the people of Miami, engaging citizens and providing access to city services. Over the course of the next three months, CIVIQ plans to install and maintain up to 300 interactive digital WayPoints. First launched in 2016, WayPoints are described as “smart city communications devices” that come with Wi-Fi, USB quick-charging ports, and more. And with Miami’s new fleet of these connectivity portals, residents will be able to access free public Wi-Fi as well as timely transportation schedules. “These new devices and services are much more than a new way to access the internet,” “Greater connectivity in the transit system means increased efficiency, less downtime, and overall better experiences for our passengers.”Alice N. Bravo, Miami-Dade Director of Transportation & Public Works.

More: LinkNYC heads to Brooklyn, where hopefully they won’t be used for porn Indeed, Wi-Fi will soon be made available for folks on county trains and buses, each of which will soon sport mobile Wi-Fi networks. This, the city hopes, will allow for a new level of among various Miami-Dade public services. “Miami Dade is a great example of a municipality rethinking the real value of technology as an enabler to livable, sustainable communities,” “Global Government Development and Innovation division. savvy leaders now have the opportunity to make decisions that create immediate benefits for the community. The result is more efficient government, a stronger community identity, and better connections for all who live, work, play, and visit the county.”

George Burciaga, the managing director of CIVIQ’s

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS INDONESIA SET TO DEVELOP SMART CITIES WITH FRENCH EXPERTISE French companies are helping to establish so-called smart cities across the archipelago as part of efforts to enhance the partnership between Indonesia and France

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hile promoting the latest technologies in sustainable urban development.

During the Indonesian-French City of Tomorrow Roadshow, representatives of companies involved in sustainable urban development visited Palembang (South Sumatra), Surabaya (East Java), Bandung (West Java) and Jakarta to share their expertise on how Indonesian cities can be transformed. “Indonesia is faced with challenges in city organization and planning. [Through the City of Tomorrow Roadshow,] we had the opportunity to discuss and share our knowledge and expertise with the mayor of each city we visited,” Business France trade counselor Rachid Boulaouine told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday (02/02).

Business France – an agency involved in international economic development – facilitated the meetings and discussions between French technology providers and local municipalities as part of the City of Tomorrow program, which focuses on smart city programs.

The French-Indonesian business partnership aims to promote investment in technologies that will help urban centers in the archipelago become smart cities of the future. These technologies include 3-D design and engineering software from Dassault Systèmes, smart transportation and parking solutions from Parkeon, energy transition technology from Engie, as well as engineering consultancy firm Tractebel.

“The experts discussed how their companies can assist to solve the various challenges involved in the development of smart cities – from managing street parking, to simulating the inner works of what makes a smart city. “We duplicate systems that we know will work locally.

[Such as] mobility issues and parking problems. What we introduce are our solutions and show them how cities have managed it overseas,” said Pierre-Antoine Decoux, sales

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development manager at Parkeon. Parkeon has worked with 4,000 cities across the world – including Paris and New York – and it has advised local municipalities in Indonesia for a few years already on how to manage mobility issues and traffic congestion.”

Decoux said time plays an important role in the development of smart cities.

“Everything takes time to discuss and understand. It’s complex, and it’s a matter of digging deeper and deeper to really understand the market […] Our challenge is how to get involved and commit ourselves to understanding this market and address it the right way.

It doesn’t happen overnight,” he said. Smart cities focus their investment in human and social capital, which allow for both sustainable economic development and a higher quality of life, while incorporating sustainable urban management systems.

“This smart city is a new concept in Indonesia; we propose to bring the best practices, from what we’ve done on projects in Europe, to Indonesia,” said Lauren Peeters of Tractebel.

The roadshow had a positive reception in all the cities it visited, with mayors sharing their respective visions to improve their cities rapidly, to attract investors, and to develop new ways of doing business with foreign companies. Dassault Systèmes, one of the companies involved in the City of Tomorrow program, focuses on bridging the gap between what makes a smart city and how people play a role in making that a reality, while also providing positive input and solutions.

“One thing we need to highlight is that technology is one part of the solution, while government bureaucracy is another. The synergy to realize these smart city visions requires a strong policy within the government and [participation by] technology players,” said Adi Aviantoro of Dassault Systèmes.

FINANCE MINISTER REBUKES SMART CITY SOLUTIONS FOR VAT ON PARKING METER CARDS

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Mr. Winston Jordan Finance Minister

inance Minister Winston Jordan this evening in the National Assembly took up a concern raised

by Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira that Valued Added Tax (VAT) was being charged on parking meter cards.

“ Minister Jordan said in the National Assembly this is incorrect and ought not happen, adding that a statement will go out about the incorrect practise of Smart City Solutions (SCS).”

Teixeira told the House she hopes SCS will refund monies to those persons made to pay VAT over the past few days since the coming online of the city’s parking meters, which have been rejected by many citizens including the business sector, and even some in City Council. This is a developing story and Demerara Waves Online News will bring more information in a subsequent report.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS INSECURE ‘SMART CITY’ TECH RAISES PUBLIC SECURITY AND PRIVACY FEARS British homes are increasingly likely to feature smart devices such as connected thermostats, Wi-Fi light bulbs and clever Bluetooth speakers. Among other benefits, these gadgets can augment home entertainment systems, provide additional security and save energy. But we’re also starting to see smart tech deployed on a huge scale in our towns and cities.

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mart cities use networks of computer systems and sensors to collect and analyse data about infrastructure and assets, and promise to help authorities manage towns and cities far more efficiently. Examples of smart city technology in use today include automated traffic management, Wi-Fi hotspot networks and parking space sensors. Many cities also offer apps which leverage the data gathered to help residents.

Yet for all the advantages, there are concerns too.

Smart cities can hoover up a huge amount of information, which has worrying implications for our privacy and freedom. A database of everything from our energy usage to our movements throughout the day would not just be a tempting target for hackers, but offer governments an unprecedented amount of power to monitor every single one of us. This knowledge could be utilised to prevent undesirable behaviour and clamp down on dissenting voices.

It sounds like the plot of a science fiction movie, but some countries are already heading in this direction – China has proposed that by 2020 every citizen will be awarded a score based on their behaviour which would affect their standing in society.

Smart city technology in the UK To find out more about smart cities in the UK, Broadband Genie looked at the use of smart technology by British councils, and the public’s opinion of it. Freedom of Information requests were submitted to councils around the UK asking for details of deployed and planned smart city programs, the allocated budget for these programs, who owned the data gathered and whether data was shared with third parties.

While a significant number of authorities did not respond or declined due to the cost of gathering the information, we did obtain details of many smart city projects. For instance, energy saving street lamps are in use in Leicester, Cambridge, Aberdeen, Chester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Reading and York. And council operated public Wi-Fi is found in Belfast, Derby, Inverness, York, Leicester and Worcester (with Inverness council saying it had a budget of £500,000 for the deployment).

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Councillor Frank McAveety, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “Glasgow is at the forefront of the innovative use of data in the UK, and this was recognised when the city won the £24million award from the UK Government for the Future Cities Demonstrator project. We use data to make the lives of our residents, businesses and visitors easier and simpler and recognise its importance now and in the years to come.”

Other smart city technologies found around the UK include traffic management, bicycle tracking, environmental sensors, air quality monitors, smart waste bins, people counters, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), water depth sensors, anti-drowning systems and smart parking meters.

Some councils also class broadband improvement projects as part of their smart city work.

What do Brits think about all this though? According to our survey of 2,030 people, they may take some convincing: 67% say smart city tech is not a good investment for public funds.A similar number are also understandably skeptical about their personal information being retained. If councils are to move forward with these projects, strong protection of private data is essential to reassure Brits that any data captured is properly handled. The security of smart technology is crucial too. Not only could it be exploited to steal information, it could even be corrupted to damage and disrupt infrastructure.

Cesar Cerrudo, Chief Technology Officer at IOActive commented: “I’m very concerned due to the current adoption of many insecure smart cities technologies. Most technologies are being implemented without any security testing, putting smart city services at risk of cyber attacks.

Threats of cyber attack are very real; there are plenty of possibilities for cyber attacks on cities around the world. It’s just a matter of time that attackers decide to do it.”

Our survey also suggests more effort needs to be put into making the public aware of smart city technology. Just 10% of respondents said they knew about smart city projects around the UK. Our survey also suggests more effort needs to be put into making the public aware of smart city technology. Just 10% of respondents said they knew about smart city projects around the UK. 1 – Singapore 2 – Barcelona 3 – London 4 – San Francisco 5 – Oslo Singapore achieved the top spot thanks to its vast array of smart technology which includes sensors and cameras that can detect smoking in unauthorised areas and littering from skyscrapers. Singapore’s traffic management is also highly advanced with road sensors and smart parking, and city planners use a virtual model of the city to run tests. Its broadband is also among the best in the world, with ISP Singtel offering an incredible 10Gbps connection.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS DELOITTE JOINS SMART CITIES COUNCIL TO HELP CITIES HARNESS THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY Deloitte recently announced it joined the Smart Cities Council, an industry coalition comprised of the foremost specialists and leading consulting and technology companies to accelerate the growth of smart cities.

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eloitte brings experience delivering smart city services globally. As a Smart Cities Council Lead Partner, Deloitte will work with the Council’s advisors and members to help cities make investments that fuel sustainable economic development and a high quality of life, with a wise management of natural resources.

“Faced with the societal challenges associated with population growth, urban areas are turning to innovative technologies and data-driven decision making to transform into smart cities,” said Rana Sen, managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP and Smart City lead for U.S. public sector practice. “Deloitte is proud to be a leader in this quickly growing sector – and joining the Smart Cities Council is another significant step on our journey to gain and share knowledge to help cities and its citizens prosper in this new digital era.”

Deloitte shares the Smart Cities Council’s vision of cities that are livable, workable and sustainable. As a world-leading consulting firm, Deloitte has extensive experience delivering smart city services globally – from the U.S. and Mexico, to Latin America, Europe and Asia. Specific to its international projects, Deloitte has worked with cities such as Prague, Barcelona, Valencia and Buenos Aires.

“The Smart Cities Council is working with cities around the world to help them gain the many benefits of smart technologies. But cities are large and diverse and complicated and very different one from the other,” said Jesse Berst, chairman, Smart Cities Council. “That’s why we are so proud to have Deloitte’s broad, global experience on our side. They are experts in helping cities craft an individualized path to a smarter, more sustainable, more resilient future.”

The Council recently announced the Smart Cities Council Readiness Challenge Grants – a program to help five American cities apply smart technologies to advance innovation, inclusion and investment in their cities. As part of the current White House commitment to accelerate the development of smart cities, the winners will receive a tailored one-day Readiness Workshop, where Smart Cities Council experts, members and advisors will assist in building or enhancing a smart city roadmap – taking into account immediate priorities, long-term goals and current use of technologies.

In addition to participation on the Smart Cities Council, Deloitte’s Center for Government Insights developed a website to explore trends and case studies as well as promote Deloitte client experiences and thought leadership related to our Smart City framework – smart mobility, security, economy, living, environment, and education.

Source:PRN

FIVE COMPANIES FORM ETSI GROUP ON SMART CITIES

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he members of the newly formed ETSI Industry Specification Group created on Context Information Management (ISG CIM) together with the Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC) are Easy Global Market, imec, NEC through NEC Laboratories Europe, Orange and Telefonica. The new group’s aim is to improve interoperability for smart city products. Beyond the initial focus of smart cities, the approach will be transferable to other applications, such as smart agriculture and smart industry. Organisations from all areas are welcome to join the ISG CIM initiative.

The ISG CIM will specify open standards for the context information management layer, running ‘on top’ of IoT platforms, enabling implementation of context-aware behavior in smart applications. This context information manage-

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ment layer accesses and updates information coming from different sources that comprise the semantics of information, including data source, time of validity, ownership and many more. This is meant to dramatically extend the interoperability of applications, helping smart cities to integrate their existing services and enable new third-party services. The ISG CIM aims to overcome smart cities’ lack of interoperability for exchange of information between platforms for telecommunication systems, city infrastructure databases, car traffic management systems, and new Internet of Things (IoT) products which each have their own specification.

A focus of the group will be collaboration with other standardisation activities in related areas, including ETSI TC SmartM2M and ETSI PP oneM2M. The ISG CIM work is intended to align with the EU’s standardisation policies for the Digital Single Market.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS

RS. 2,000-CR. SMART CITY PLAN BEING GIVEN FINAL TOUCHES

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Modernisation of bus stand, setting up of desalination plant among proposals evelopment of an administrative and a commercial complex at Swedeshi Mill, a multi-level parking lot at Old Jail, modernisation of new bus stand, setting up of a desalination plant, remodelling of underground sewerage system, improvement of streetscapes and extension of the beach promenade are the highlights of the Rs. 2,000-crore project proposal prepared by the Local Administration Department for bidding to get included in the Centre’s Smart City programme. The Local Administration Department, which is in the final stages of preparing the report with assistance form consultant, JLL India and French Development Agency, would submit the report to the Ministry of Urban Affairs in the next two weeks to participate in the third round of Smart City selection process in April.

As part of the preparations, the LAD held a final consultative meeting, which was attended by Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy, top officials and representatives of 15 French companies, here on Thursday. According to a note circulated at the meeting, 62 projects covering departments such as Electricity, Public Works, Tourism, Transport, Traffic, LAD, and Puducherry Urban Development Authority were considered for funding under the Smart City project.

The re-worked project proposal concentrates on retrofitting format to take up development works in several areas. Tourism being the main attraction, the project managers had giv-

en thrust to projects such as restoration of government-owned heritage building, improvement of historic temples, cultural and wellness centre, improvement of Botanical Garden, beach nourishment, sea walk, retrofitment of the Old Pier and development of a hotel at Old Distillery.

The other key projects envisaged under the Smart City project included construction of an administrative complex on a built-up area of 2.5 lakh square feet at Swedeshi Mill, a commercial complex on 5 lakh square feet on the mill premises, development of Mairie building, setting up of an advanced integrated system to operate and manage multiple city service operations, enhancing power distribution system and waste to energy project at Kuruvanpet. Participating in the meeting, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said he was hopeful of the UT finding a place in the Smart Cities list in the upcoming bidding process. Speaking on the Consul-General of France to Puducherry and Chennai, Philippe Janvier-Kamiyama said the French government would partner with the Union Territory in the project by providing financial and technical expertise.

Minister for Public Works A. Namassivayam, Chief Secretary Manoj Parida, LAD Secretary P. Jawahar and Minister Counsellor and Head of the Regional Economic Department for South Asia, Embassy of France, Jean-Marc Fenet, attended the meeting.

Source:TH

GUJARAT BUDGET: RS 597 CRORE FOR THREE SMART CITIES

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hmedabad once again cornered the lion’s share of funds in the budget. The government has allocated Rs 597 cr under the Smart City Mission for Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. The government allocated Rs 60 crore for a subordinate loan for

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the Metro project in Ahmedabad. Apart from flyovers, cities have got allocations to improve connectivity . The Ahmedabad-Bagodara-Rajkot six-laning project finally got an allocation of Rs 50 crore in the budget. This will speed up transportation between Ahmedabad and Saurashtra and North Gujarat and Saurashtra. The government allocated Rs 225 crore for automated super

sucker machines and other equipment for all municipal corporations and district headquarters, to ensure that no safai worker is exposed to health hazards. The government also announced four new shelter homes for orphans–one each in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot.Gujarat budget: Despite shortfall of over Rs 6.6 thousand crore, Rs 11.8 thousand crore hike.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS MP GOVT TO SPEND RS 86,000-CR TO DEVELOP CITIES

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The Madhya Pradesh government would be spend Rs 86,000-crore during the next five years on the development of cities across the state. he CM said the state government has set the target of March 31 this year for making all cities of the state open defecation free.

“Sixty cities have been made free of open defecation so far. All the cities of the state would be freed from the curse of open defecation by March 31 this year. Swachcha Bharat Mission is being conducted to bring changes in the mindset which cannot be completed without people’s participation,” he added. Chouhan mentioned that absence of proper sewage system was the biggest problem of the cities.

“The scheme related to sewerage system has been made for 40 cities at present. The sewage water will be treated in the treatment plants and will be supplied to gardens through pipelines,” he said adding sewage water will be stopped from getting released into rivers by ensuring the treatment system in all the cities. Chouhan reiterated his commitment to provide clean potable water under to all the 378 cities of the state. He also informed about the steps taken by his government in order to make better transport arrangement in the entire state.

“The government would develop the state’s cities by spending an amount of Rs 86000-crore during next five years,” Chief Minister Shivraj Singh announced while launching the third phase of ‘Nagar Uday Abhiyan’ at Jabalpur. He said the plan of development would be chalked out on the basis of people’s suggestions. “Cities are engines of development and also a source of employment. 30 per cent population of the state resides in 378 cities of the state,” he added.

Source:TOI

CHANDIGARH MC GETS FIVE-FOLD BUDGET; FOCUS ON SMART CITY, WATER

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ive-time hike in allocation to the municipal corporation, 20% increase in allocation for rural and urban development, are the key takeaways for the city from the Union budget present in Parliament on Wednesday. The MC has got Rs 419 crore for carrying out development works under different heads for the 2017-18 fiscal against just Rs 84 crore the administration got for it for the current fiscal. Of the amount that is linked to projects, Rs 100 crore are for smart city and Rs 50 crore for Kajauli Water Works.TOTAL CITY BUDGET AT Rs 4,312 CR; 9% HIKE For this fiscal, the Centre has allocated Rs 4,312 crore (capital head – Rs 475 crore and revenue head Rs 3,837 crore) to the UT. This is an increase of 9.5% over last year’s Rs 3,937 crore. There has been a slight tweak in the way the budget is categorised with the Centre doing away withplan and non-plan category.

Now, we have Capital and Revenue. As part of the budget, the administration plans to spend Rs 700 crore on Smart City project and to upgrade water pipelines.

The revamp of Sector 17, sports complexes, hospitals, construction of judges houses is planned.

Source:HT

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IN SURAT, RS 500 CRORE SMART CITY SCHEMES’ ROLLOUT BEFORE FISCAL-END

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he Diamond City is a forerunner when it comes to implementation of the smart city project and this has even been acknowledged by the central government often. Automatic fare collection system in buses, my Surat-citizen engagement enterprise and visual improvement project together worth Rs500 crore will be launched

by March-end. Surat has a smart city project fund of Rs2,597 crore allocated to it for five years by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. Fiber to home, intelligent traffic management system, smart LED lighting, air and water quality improvement and solar energy projects are also on the anvil.

“Many other cities are also developing these projects but they are on a smaller scale. Our projects have been designed keeping the future in mind. Surat’s automatic fare collection system project is being prepared for 2,000 buses when there are only 150-odd buses plying on the city roads now. Air and water quality improvement project covers all areas of the city and the river that passes through Surat,” Special Commissioner of the smart city project implementation, M Nagarajan said.

He said Surat’s smart city projects would take less time in their implementation but have high impact value. The city would start using smart applications for future development fast, he added. The projects that would be launched before March 31 will be completed within a year’s time. “We expect results of these works to show by March 2018,” Nagarajan added.

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS BUDGET 2017: WHAT DO WE NEED FOR SMART CITIES FROM ARUN JAITLEY The Smart Cities Mission is clearly one of the most prominent initiatives of the Government of India to make its urban citizens experience world class amenities and municipal services. With 60 cities having been selected for upgradation based on the Smart City plans submitted by them, the programme now stands at an important crossroads where timely implementation and demonstration of benefits is key.

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an the forthcoming Budget 2017-18 do anything to incentivise quick implementation? The answer is clearly yes, since fiscal and related provisions are likely to have a significant impact on the over Rs. 1,000 billion Smart City mission. However, to identify specific areas for intervention, it becomes important to identify the key issues which are likely to impact implementation of Smart City plans.

Individual city plans envisage investments ranging from Rs. 1300 Crores to Rs. 6000 Crores, depending on the extent of basic urban infrastructure (water and sanitation pipelines, housing, public amenities, roads etc.) to be added or upgraded in the city. Thus for a city like Chennai where much of the basic infrastructure is already in place, the plan estimates an investment of Rs. 1300 Crores, whereas the envisaged investment for Indore is around Rs. 6,000 Crores, with over 50 % earmarked for basic urban infrastructure.

Despite these variations in investment quantum across cities, there are some common threads which run through most of the Smart City plans. The most important one is around financing. Even after considering Government of India and counterpart funding from the State Government as well as the municipality, for most cities there exists a financing gap of at least 20%of the total investment plan, which would need to be met through private participation. In absolute terms, this would translate to over Rs. 200 crores for 100 cities, across areas like water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, mass rapid transit systems. Many of these projects are proposed to be awarded on build operate transfer (BOT) or build, own operate (BOO) basis, leading to a further increase in associated risks. The forthcoming budget provides a good opportunity to incentivise potential private partners by

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exempting income arising out of such investments from tax. With exemptions under section 80 IA being phased out from April, 2017, the Government may consider extending benefits similar to what has been extended to specific housing projects under Section 80IB-A to all Smart City projects. This would also ensure that exemptions are only granted to projects which are approved and also completed within a specified time frame, thereby encouraging timely implementation. The other important component of financing where budgetary provisions could make a significant impact is earmarking a corpus for setting up a Smart City infrastructure guarantee fund. The fund could be used for guaranteeing loans availed by the Smart City Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) as well as area development and pan city projects, provided certain basic eligibility criteria around finance and governance are met. Alternately, the credit enhancement facility being set up by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), as announced in the last budget, could be extended to cover Smart City related bond issuances. Finally, while it may not be relevant during the first couple of years, the Smart City SPV should be given a “pass through” status for income tax purposes as in the case of real estate investment trusts. Dividends declared by the Smart City SPV should also be exempted from dividend distribution tax at least till such time as 100% shareholding is with the Government.

JAIPUR CIVIC BODY TO CUT SPEND ON ‘SMART CITY’ PROJECT

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he Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) has finalised draft of the budget for financial year 2017-2018, which will be spent to carry out development work in the city. The JMC this year has reduced the budget of Prime Minister’s ambitious smart city project from Rs 50 crore to Rs 20 crore. The corporation will table the budget of Rs 1,715 crore for this financial year, which is Rs 350 crore higher than the previous year. For the financial year 2016-2017, the JMC presented budget of Rs 1,350 crore.

Conservation of heritage will be the major focus of JMC in the new budget. This is the reason JMC has proposed Rs 31 crore for Walled City area and Rs 5 crore for heritage development.

For construction of roads in JMC periphery, it has proposed to allot nearly Rs 100 crore.

Other than this, the JMC has increased the target of collecting development taxes. “Last year, JMC’s target to collect development tax was Rs 180 crore but even 50 % of the target was not achieved. However, the corporation has decided to increase the target,” added source In absence of finance committee chairman, newly appointed mayor Ashok Lahoti is expected to present the budget in the general body meeting (GBM) on February 9.

“In the 8th GBM, 6 agendas will be tabled. The four agendas will be related to sanitation,” said an official source.

BJP government recently accepted the resignation of all the committee chairmen after appointing the new mayor. The names of committees’ chairmen are likely to be announced in GBM. Sources informed TOI that in the 5th board, the JMC has decided to constitute 20 committees that would run the municipal corporation. As the size of the city is increasing, JMC has decided to constitute three electrical committees and three public lights committees.

Last time, JMC constituted three sanitation committees for 91 wards of the city. The JMC might also constitute a new committee for sewerage.

Source:RETI

Source:DNA

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SMART SMART CiTY NEWS SAN LEANDRO SET TO INVEST $5.2 MILLION IN SMART CITY TECHNOLOGIES The City of San Leandro announced that it is about to implement a new program that will make great strides in reaching the City Council’s adopted Climate Action Plan goals by investing in infrastructure retrofits and smart city applications. Thanks to a $5.2 million contract with Climatec, department of Energy certified Energy Services Company, the City is on track to achieve guaranteed energy savings resulting from the installation of an array of new projects and improvements that will off-set the cost of implementing the program.

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he project began in 2014, with a request for proposals from firms that could design and implement a comprehensive package of utility savings measures and infrastructure upgrades.

As part of its request, the City included a critical financial requirement: to make the project feasible, the infrastructure improvements needed to pay for themselves over time without the need for any upfront capital expenditures from the City’s general fund.

In early 2016, the San Leandro City Council selected Climatec to install $5.2 million in energy and water saving equipment at numerous public facilities across the City. Climatec was chosen because its guaranteed savings will cover 100% of the costs of the improvements and related debt service.

Through this new partnership, the City expects to save $8 million over 15 years through strategic reductions in energy and water usage, while realizing over $1.5 million in positive cash flow over that same period of time. In addition to the financial benefits, San Leandro’s investments in clean infrastructure will reduce the City’s greenhouse gas emissions by 1,390 metric tons annually. That’s the equivalent of 3.3 million miles driven in a year.

“As we continue to live with limited natural resources, it’s important that the City lead by example in be“San Leandro eming more efficient with bodies sustainability our municipal operin action. We invest ations,” stated Pubin green infrastruclic Works Director Debbie Pollart. ture and programs to ensure that our City “Budget savings that are achieved on furthers its legacy as our utility bills through this program a smart and sustainable community,” will be reinvested to fund additional added Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter. municipal efficiency projects.”

As part of the program, 4,730 City street lights will be replaced with LED smart lights, and a wireless mesh network will be installed on the City’s street light poles. The wireless network will connect to a centralized management control system utilizing the City’s fiber optics network for high-speed communications, leading to reduced energy usage. The network will enable remote management of the lighting system, leading to reduced outages and an improved ability to optimize the lighting configuration by location.

This innovative technological design will also prepare the City to potentially support additional smart city applications in the future, such as integrated parking systems, public wireless internet service, traffic signaling, and more.

The comprehensive project, which also includes installation of new, high-efficiency HVAC equipment, interior/exterior LED building lighting, and smart irrigation clocks in several City parks, is anticipated to break ground in mid-November and is expected to be completed in approximately nine months.

FIVE-YEAR ACTION PLAN UNDER SMART CITY PROJECT ON CARDS A five-year action plan is on the anvil as a part of the Smart City project spending Rs.1,602 crore and the government has released Rs.349 crore.

“ the State and Central Governments will foot Rs.500 crore each and the remaining would be mobilised through other sources, He said after hoisting the tricolour on Republic Day at the GVMC. Municipal Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan has said. Of the total outlay

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ontinuous water supply, underground drainage, complete streets, development of green spaces, underground cabling, measures to prevent beach erosion and development of the beach front were among the smart city proposals.

5th rank After winning the 8th rank in Smart City race from among 20 cities in the first round and 5th rank in Swachh Bharat survey in 2016, it was making all efforts to get into the top three ranks in 2017, Mr. Hari Narayanan said.

However, competition will be

tough as 500 cities were being covered in the 2017 survey, up from 75 cities in 2016. Unless the staff worked with dedication and people also cooperated the city could not come out in flying colours, the Commissioner said.

Awards for LED project The efforts of the corporation had been recognised, he said, adding that the city received two awards at the national level for installing the highest number of LED lights and maintaining them, he said.

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Source:TH

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India’s Leading Smart City Magazine Urbana World is India’s Leading B2B Media on Smart Cities. Urbana aims to serve the industry’s key stakeholders & government officials with daily newsletter, conferences, infographics, interviews, etc.

Urbana publishes bi-monthly magazine, daily e-Newsletter & websitecontaining Policy & Regulatory Regime, Product Launches, Case Studies, Technical Articles, etc.

be i r c s b Su y...

Toda Saumya Gupta EDITOR Mail ID : saumya@urbanamagazine.com Phone : +91 9575499990

www.UrbanaWorld.com

Rahul Rai Nigam Marketing Communications

Prasoon Agrawal PR & Buisness Development Manager

Mail ID : rahul.nigam@eqmag.net Phone : +91 731 4222268

Mail ID : prasoon.agrawal@eqmag.net Phone : +91 96440 94933

URBANA WORLD

Jan-Feb 2017 75

R.N.I. NO. MPBIL/2015/61352 | DATE OF PUBLICATION: Jan-Feb 2017