The Need for Developing Nations’ Model of Smart Cities

BY KRIS LIBUNAO

Exploring smart city practices in the Philippines and other developing countries underlines that promoting and adopting a sustainable digital transformation approach should be the main action for companies, donors, and governments.

SmartCT is in the business of making smart cities open. If you have been looking to make a difference in the developing world or get into Asia’s smart city arena but have found it difficult to do so, I hope to lend some perspective as head of an organization leading the charge toward smart cities in the developing world.

Smart city initiatives are going full swing in Southeast Asia. But here are three littleknown facts about this region: First, Southeast Asia may be the hot spot for megacities, but economic growth and urbanization are also happening in middleweight cities with populations between 500,000 and 5 million.

Secondly, cities in Southeast Asia are particularly at risk from climate change. For instance, Jakarta is sinking faster than any other major city on the planet.

And third, cities are becoming increasingly independent. As a result, engaging with city leaders as the main stakeholders rather than coercing everything through the national governments is the future.

Despite opportunities in the region, here’s the sad truth: In developing countries, fewer than 20% of digital government projects are successful. That’s more than 80% of failed digital government projects. Why? There are many reasons that international development organizations have cited, including limited funding, stretched implementation capacity, and political instability, among others.

The smart city business journey to Southeast Asia is riddled with complexity. But there are also many opportunities, especially when going beyond the usual public-private partnerships that leave us with projects that no one uses and initiatives that people don’t really ask for. It is better to work with local independent organizations that know the DNA of their region, the culture, demographics, challenges, citizens’ needs, and existing infrastructure. This is why SmartCT exists. We sprang from the following realities: 1) Most digital projects don’t address the data problem. Recently, we passed the first local government-level open data policy, ensuring that the data sets will be machinereadable and open. 2) Unlike existing projects that focus on the supply of tech, we focus on the users’ demand and capacity. We have data and digital literacy projects on both the public sector and citizen sides. We’re also about to launch the first Open Data Fellowship in the country in partnership with a university in one of our partner local governments.

3) Developing countries are burdened with legacy systems and proprietary software that don’t talk to each other. We partner with Linux Professional Institute in creating a demand for open-source software, talents, and practices. We are also about to launch Foss Pilipinas to organize and build the open-source community in the country. 4) We want to move away from 100-page reports that no one will read and the public can’t understand. We recently finished a project, “Getting Started with Being Smart,” which teaches the fundamental concepts of smart cities and practical ways of getting started through the use of icons and easy-tounderstand cards. 5) The existing coalitions in the region focus on megacities and the usual public-private partnerships. To ensure that all of the above will be adopted in cities and municipalities, we’re creating a network of smart cities and communities, private companies, and local independent organizations. At the end of the day, the future lies in public-private-people collaboration so that tech can be maximally beneficial for everyone. Beyond altruism, understanding the city’s challenges and citizens’ needs will give the businesses the best bang for their buck.

Kris Libunao

Director, SmartCT

Quezon City, Philippines

Kris Libunao, an Internationally Certified Sustainability Practitioner, is the Executive Director and Chief Sustainability Officer at SmartCT and is currently training under the ASEAN Smart Cities Leaders’ Programme. She is committed to transforming how the world thinks about and plans smart cities in the Philippines and developing countries.

“THE SMART CITY BUSINESS JOURNEY TO SOUTHEAST ASIA IS RIDDLED WITH COMPLEXITY. BUT THERE ARE ALSO MANY OPPORTUNITIES.”