Envisioning a data-driven people-centric urban agenda

By 2023, India is projected to become the most populous country in the world overtaking China, and have the largest working-age population in the world. To leverage the demographic dividends, it is necessary to simultaneously focus on urbanisation and digitalisation – the two megatrends driving India. Indeed, bringing greater synergy between the two mega forces can go a long way in propelling economic growth, generating employment opportunities, improving governance functions and leading to a better quality of life for the burgeoning population.

India is rapidly moving towards an urban future. Between 2022 and 2045, the number of city dwellers is projected to go up by 329 million, which is higher than the entire population of the United States. In the process, around 2047, the centenary year of independence, India is expected to become an urban-majority country. Urbanisation is associated with economic growth, entrepreneurialism,

Band innovations. McKinsey Global Institute research in 2010 suggested that more than 70 per cent of Indian GDP and 70 per cent of new employment by 2030 would be generated from its major urban centres while increasing urbanisation could lead to a four-fold increase in per capita income. According to a study by management consulting firm Ernst and Young, by 2047-48, India may reach developed economy status, with per-capita GDP crossing USD 15,000.

However, reaching these economic milestones largely depends on how India’s urban turn is managed and governed. Negative externalities such as traffic gridlocks, air pollution, and water scarcity can seriously hurt the growth prospects. As Indian cities are facing huge infrastructure deficits, additional population pressure can further worsen the situation. Therefore, it is essential to leverage digital technology to improve urban management capacities. Linking sensors and data with a city’s infrastructure networks can significantly boost their operational efficiency, reduce waste, and improve environmental performance.

India is a global knowledge economy powerhouse. The Information and Communication Technology-enabled service sector is a key driver of India’s economic engine and its associated developmental potential. Indeed, big data, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial Intelligence, blockchain, and other such digital technology applications are rising in every sphere of the economy. Between 2014 and 2018, the number of smartphones per 100 people increased from 5.4 to 26.2; the number of internet users went up from 239 million to 560 million; the number of cashless transactions per person jumped from 2.2 to 18. Digitalisation is also a key policy priority for the government to achieve various developmental objectives, such as improvement in transparency in public services delivery, facilitation of greater citizen engagement, direct transfer of social welfare benefits to the poor, and augmentation of safety and security of the people. Technology platforms such as Aadhaar, CoWIN, Aarogya Setu, and DigiLocker are redefining the way people engage with the government. In a parallel, technology aggregators are reconfiguring the way people carry out financial transactions (PhonePe, Paytm) travel (Ola, Uber), buy groceries, (Bigbasket, Blinkit) and eat food (Swiggy, Zomato). Indeed, the ‘gig economy’ segment based on flexible working contract has become a key employment generator in Indian cities. According to an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) report, the gig-economy segment in 2020 was worth USD 1 billion and generated 15 million jobs.

SmarT CITIES & DaTa maNagEmENT

The Smart Cities Mission (SCM) facilitates digital technology applications in the urban context. The Mission sought to bring about a transformative change in how Indian cities are managed and governed by focusing on big data and digital platforms. It is common knowledge that the delivery of public services in Indian cities is frequently impeded due to different agencies working in silos and the inadequacy of granular city-level data. SCM brought out a Data Smart Cities Strategy to meet these challenges.

The Data Smart Cities Strategy aims to reduce gaps between the outcomes and the desired goals in governance systems. The strategy is based on developing well-capacitated institutional structures across all tiers of governance along with the formation of networks and alliances; process enablers-such as policies and standards; and technology platforms to support the implementation of policy intents. It had laid out the overarching data governance framework and had launched supportive platforms such as India Urban Data Exchange for information dissemination and the National Urban Learning Platform for skill development.

At the city level, implementation responsibility for the Data Smart strategy rests with the Smart City Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV). The national-level Data Smart strategy envisages that each city has its own data policy and a dedicated data governance team. It recommends that a designated city data officer (CDO) should be responsible for data governance at the city level and formulate the City Data Policy. The CDO should be supported by a pool of data champions and coordinators in various city departments and governmental agencies. To measure the performances of cities in implementing the Data Smart strategy, the Smart Cities Mission framed a Data Maturity Assessment Framework.

To facilitate city-level data management, SCM led to the establishment of Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) in all 100 cities. The ICCCs are considered as nerve centres of smart cities and use sensors to combine data from numerous sensors located across the city to deliver actionable information with the help of visualisation tools like GIS. They can facilitate day-to-day urban management and improve inter-agency coordination in running civic operations. At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, cities such as Bangalore, Surat, Varanasi and Naya Raipur were able to repurpose their ICCCs to perform diverse disaster management functions. Private sector technology vendors and consulting firms played significant roles in planning, designing and operating the ICCCs. Now as the national-level data governance framework is in place and foundations of city-level digital infrastructure had been laid with the operationalisation of the ICCCs in all 100 cities under the SCM, it is important for the cities to take the next step and start framing their own data policies. Digital technologies are regularly evolving, and there cannot be a definitive end. While the Smart Cities Mission has laid the basic foundations, it is necessary for the cities to build upon it, as digital technology adaptation is a continuous process.

While framing city-level data policies it is necessary for the City SPVs to take into consideration how digital technology can be applied in more people-friendly ways to include all sections of society. It is particularly important to focus on the urban poor in building city-level data sets, as they are often unable to access social welfare programs like the PM SVANidhi scheme Issues of data privacy, security, and digital inclusion also require special attention. While digital technology is often equated with achieving systemic efficiencies, its improper usage can compromise sensitive personal information. It can also perpetuate the digital divide by leaving behind people who are not techno-savvy. The UNHabitat has developed People-centric Smart Cities Framework to help cities develop digital technology policies that focus on multi-stakeholder engagement, inclusivity, prosperity, and human rights. The framework rests on five pillars: Community Engagement, Digital Equity, Digital Infrastructure, Digital Security, and Local Capacity.

The Data Smart Strategy of India’s SCM is broadly in sync with the UN Framework in terms of policy aims and objectives. It remains to be seen how Indian cities adopt the frameworks to their local context. While the SCM has planted the initial seeds, ultimately cities need to take ownership and mainstream digital technology adaptation within their own planning process, not let it just be a stand-alone one-time activity. However, Indian cities frequently lack technical and financial capacities, and they would require support from state and national governments. Indeed, smartening up Indian cities in the true sense of the term is a tall order that needs to be accomplished through cooperation between governments at all levels and between the public and private sectors.

[The views expressed are the author’s own. They do not purport to reflect the views of Urban Update.]

Ranjan K Panda Convenor, Water Initiatives/Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India