A brief view of Smart Cities
Over the past year, I have explored Smart City articles. Part of the journey started with a discussion with Benson Chan from Strategy of things. We talked about how people and governments perceive Smart Cities. As he started in this sector, he discovered the need to understand the importance of building a Smart City initiative.
One exciting observation during our discussion was how Benson actually clarified the definition of a city.
A city should a responsive city, that actually provides an efficient service to its citizens.
The team behind StrategyofThings has done extensive research on Smart Cities around the world. As part of their research, they came up with the Smart City ecosystem framework.
This framework gives a clear overview of the various value layers of a Smart City. You will notice that each layer needs to be developed and integrated with the other layers. Technology is just a supporting tool to achieve the goals that improve city services and the quality of life for its citizens.
A city is a very complex “machine”, that holds multiple services and components that need to work together to keep a smooth city expansion while citizens act as the oil in the machinery. The citizens contribute to the economy and need to be upskilled to be able to follow the fast pacing transformation.
Much like in the industry, the cities must embrace digital transformation. The industry does this, to be able to compete, and to deliver the latest innovation in products and services.
You may ask, what is the importance of this for a city?
Most of us live in cities, and we all take for granted that we have water from the tap and electricity in our homes. These are services, that were implemented in the early cities, as we know them. But now, with the more modern cities, the city has to evolve with the citizens and the businesses.
This means that cities are becoming smarter, by embracing digital transformation, which is usually implemented in stages. In Singapore, these initiatives are supported by the governments' investment in research and development. Such initiatives attract foreign investment and businesses and create new jobs. This is also one of the reasons that education is a big industry, as more and more people need to be up-skilled to cover the new jobs created. Some of the interesting developments are seen by citizens, who develop new ideas and start their own entrepreneurial journeys. Some of these small businesses, end up becoming part of the growing city eco-system.
Looking back to Chan’s Smart City ecosystem framework, we will find some very accurate definitions to support a Smart City strategy and development.
