How will Digital Transformation Shape the Cities of the Future?

Contributed by Stuart Pearce of the Information & Communications Technology Committee

Digital transformation is an influential factor in Smart City and other developments and is therefore essential to understand for any city looking to evolve to the next level of living. This article continues the ongoing series of informative pieces provided by the ICT Committee.

The concept of ‘digital transformation’ is largely thought to be shrouded in mystery, where the privilege of knowing and understanding is reserved for the industry giants who shape the future. However, digital transformation is an influential factor in Smart City and other developments and is therefore essential to understand for any city looking to evolve to the next level of living.

Digital transformation is simply put, the process whereby businesses or cities embrace digital platforms and practices. The digital transformation process is often adopted and implemented by companies looking to leverage the power of information and communication technologies (ICT) throughout every level of their businesses. Embracing digital transformation is a key to success in the modern landscape of business practices as it allows for business fluidity and adaptability in preparation for future obstacles. By utilising the power of these technology platforms and digital practices, companies give themselves the tools needed for success in the modern age. Digital transformation therefore allows businesses to prevent a stagnation in their digital approach and adopt dynamic and innovative solutions.

The word innovation is frequently thrown about when describing “this or that product”, to the point where its true meaning has become clouded and confused. True innovation means finding intelligent and dynamic solutions to complicated problems, in many cases problems that many were unaware existed. Innovation can change the world and often has; it is a key element in successful digital transformation. To us, its meaning is clear and a mantra to our business practices. Creating something new, something that is impactful. Applying powerful data solutions in conjunction with digital transformation allows for the seamless integration of technology platforms and digital practices into a development and often will determine its success.

How does digital transformation make an ordinary city, smart? Across the globe, smart cities have been growing in number and popularity becoming the ideal place for people to live and work. Despite their increasing number, there is no standard set of rules or guidelines that form a concise definition of what a smart city requires, but there is a common thread. Every smart city has achieved its status by introducing ICT to enhance the quality and performance of urban services to achieve a higher quality lifestyle for residents.

The range of technologies that could potentially be used to achieve this goal are countless, but if the technology used meets the demands of citizens, encouraging community involvement and integration with their city digital transformation can be considered success. Factors that might be addressed in the digital transformation of a city may include a human-centric approach, driving intuitive processes and machine learning, a move from CapEX to OpEx, solutions to increase citizen engagement, decentralizing control, increasing government transparency, increasing public safety, improving the availability of transportation and sanitation services and finally focusing on generating revenue.

Think Digital’s approach to smart city creation through digital transformation focuses on the importance of mixeduse developments. We believe that this innovative solution allows for the outcome to thrive in a digitally integrated ecosystem. Our bottom-up approach to smart city development is a systemic solution, focusing not only on the individual innovations that will digitally transform the city but also considering the city as a whole system. This approach provides insight into the how each part of the city will be affected and interact with the others, providing insight into the most effective means of technology implementation and integration. By driving focus on understanding what makes a smart city successful, we have identified the five essential pillars to smart city development which include:

• Focus on the environment by adopting building practices and procedures that will have the lowest impact on the natural environment and efficiently manage energy and water use. • Focus on quality of life by executing practices that meet the lifestyle demands of the citizens living in the city. • Focus on public transportation that paves the way to economic growth and stability, allowing easier city access for residents and visitors. • Focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) which allows for streamlined data collection and analysis for efficient delivery in solutions and smart city development projects. • Focus on growth, both physical and economic, to allows for the city to a growth in revenue, quality of life, resident engagement and city growth.

The benefits of this progression are not just improved technology systems or a rise in revenue, but most importantly improving the lifestyle and success for citizens, retail outlets and service providers. Every city has the potential to evolve through digital transformation into a smart city with the right technological integrations.

ABOUT THE COMMITTEE

The ICT committee’s mission is to inspire, educate and engage Chamber members and non-members on the transformative capabilities of Information Technology to their business. The goal of the committee is to add value to the Chamber and its members through activities that demonstrate the value of ICT solutions to their business; educate them on future ICT trends that will impact their business; offer member networking opportunities to better enable business across the region; share knowledge and insights, and attract new members to the Chamber. Visit britcham.org.sg/committees/ict for more information.