270
INTELLIGENT CITIES
IT-enabled city strategies involve the use of latest IT tools to
improve and optimize the existing city infrastructure components.
Examples of IT-enabled city strategies are shown in the following
diagram:
Shopping
Entertainment
Public
administration
Private and
public health
Private and public
education
Road, traffic
transportation
Security (public
and environm.)
City marketing
Culture
Tourism
Application areas
Snacking
entertainment
Interactive media
Lifelong learning
Independent life
in aging soc.
Ecologically integrated
road and traffic mgmt.
Data fraud
protection
Cultural heritage
Always in touch with
your social network
Service areas
3
1
Trends
2
Tagged
environment
Local guide
Ambient
devices
Intelligent
building
City TV
Intrusion
monitor
Disaster mgmt.
CCTV
Child watch
Traffic
mgmt.
Remote medical
treatment
IT-enabled social initiatives stimulate self-help, community endeav-
ors using social media and other IT tools, community-based business
initiatives, and other activities that could efficiently use IT tools for
the benefit of society. ese initiatives cannot replace IT-enabled city
strategies; instead they can complement them and make them work
more effectively for the benefit of the residents.
IT-enabled city strategies can take several dimensions such as
e-governance and digitization of processes involved in various city
sectors such as healthcare, education, and transportation, to name a
few. Some cities in the world have surpassed these levels of digitization
and have attained new heights in the technology-enabled city con-
cept by embracing the concept of ubiquitous computing. Ubiquitous
computing deals with embedding computing devices in our surround-
ings and making them work in an interconnected, interoperable, and
seamless manner with the main objective of making computing power
271
INTELLIGENT CITIES: STRATEGY-MAKING
available for an average person to smooth everyday activities. For our
discussions throughout this chapter, we will use the following evolu-
tionary framework to categorize cities in terms of maturity of their
technological infrastructure:
Intelligent city uses a
combination of
ubiquitous technologies
and information
technologies
Ubiquitous
technologies such as
RFID, broadband,
locations-based
services, and GIS
Digital city uses
internet and other
Web-related
technologies for the
formation of
e-government
From this diagram, it is clear that there are two stages of evolution
for a city:
1. Digital city. A digital city is one that uses the Internet and
other Web-related technologies for the creation of processes
and systems that would benefit its residents. It more tightly
aligns itself to the e-governance concept, which at present has
its roots in most cities across the world.
2. Intelligent/ubiquitous city. An intelligent or ubiquitous city is
one that uses a combination of IT and ubiquitous technolo-
gies such as RFID, location-based tracking, GIS, and other
sensors embedded in the surroundings to automate the daily
activities of residents. is requires a matured IT infrastruc-
ture backbone that should have the scalability and adaptability
to absorb and accommodate many cutting edge technologies.
272
INTELLIGENT CITIES
For a city to evolve into an intelligent city, it is necessary to ensure
that it first transforms into a digital city. e concept of a digi-
tal city encompasses both a digital city, which involves the use of
IT-enabled city strategies, and a digital society, which involves the
use of IT-enabled social initiatives. In the next few sections of the
chapter, we delve further into these two types of cities, focusing more
on the technological aspects, examples of city processes with which
the technologies can be integrated, and the benefits the citizens can
gain using each of them.
7.2.1 IT-Enabled City Strategies
IT-enabled city strategies provide new ways for governments, munici-
pal authorities, and private sector companies to design and build more
efficient infrastructure and services for cities. In the next section some
examples of IT-enabled city strategies are discussed, with an in-depth
look at e-government, which is the core component of a digital city.
7.2.2 E-Government
An e-government is a government that uses IT for its transformation
by making its systems and processes more accessible, effective, and
accountable for its citizens. E-government can be described as a social
technical system with a social subsystem (government) and technical
subsystem (IT). e social technical framework for e-government is
shown in the following figure:
E-government as a Social-Te chnical System
Environment
Interaction
Technical subsystem
Social subsystem
Internet
System
– Legal and regulatory
arrangements
– Organizational structure
– Government business
process
273
INTELLIGENT CITIES: STRATEGY-MAKING
E-government includes
• Facilities that provide good access to government information
• Options that promote citizen engagement by offering more
facilities for the public to interact with government officials
• Provisions that make the government more accountable for
its operations by allowing more transparency, which in turn
alleviates opportunities for corruption
• Options that provide more development opportunities for its
residents, especially for the benefit of rural and traditionally
underserved communities
e key feature of e-government is the use of IT to connect gov-
ernment very closely to its citizens. E-government cannot be set up
overnight simply by a government deciding to buy some computers
and set up a website. Instead, it requires careful planning, execution,
and the full support of city leaders and other government officials for
its complete success. Setting up of an e-government is a three-phase
process. e success of each phase determines the success rate of the
next phase. e three phases for setting up an e-government are as
follows.
Phase 1: Make the government information available and accessible to
citizens through IT tools (publish). Government agencies generate huge
volumes of information that are mostly useful for their citizens. But
most of the time, the citizens are not aware of the availability of such
information and hence fail to make use of it judiciously. is can be
avoided to a great extent by posting such information online and
making it accessible to all citizens. Examples of such useful infor-
mation could be changes in government policies/rules, forms, and so
on. ese government websites go a long way in making government
information available to large masses of the population.
Phase 1 of E-government in action. e Government of Colombia
portal is a true example of a one-stop portal that provides access to
all types of government information using a single view. is was
set up as a result of a directive from the president of Colombia to all
government agencies to create websites that represent their services
correctly to the citizens of Colombia. All of these websites were later
linked through a single portal. Each government agency paid a great
deal of attention to set up high-quality websites that made the citizens
274
INTELLIGENT CITIES
aware of its services in the best possible manner. As a result of this
effort, this portal is now quoted as a well-established example of an
e-government one-stop portal.
Phase 2: Increase citizen participation in government activities (interact).
After publishing the government-related policy information on web-
sites, it is the responsibility of the government to make people aware of
the information and also provide them appropriate trainings on how to
use it. After this is done, the government should motivate its citizens and
involve them in the policymaking process. is can be done by adver-
tising various aspects of the proposed government policy online before
finalizing them. e citizens should be also encouraged to openly share
their views and thoughts in open blogging communities/groups set up
by the government for that purpose. e government should also
reciprocate by informing citizens that their views are highly appreci-
ated and making them aware of the steps/actions that were taken by
the government to address their viewpoints or suggestions. With the
increased proliferation of Web 3.0 technologies, interactive websites
are no longer a dream or a myth. Government agencies across the
world are using interactive communities and forums to understand
the views of citizens on various activities that are in the government’s
pipeline for execution.
Phase 2 of E-government in action. e Government of Namibia has
a website that provides opportunities to its citizens to participate in
national government discussions. e government using this website
wants to involve its citizens in its political discussions, thereby setting
an example of a true democratic government. is website provides
an opportunity for citizens to be up to date with the latest legislative
developments of the Namibian parliament. One specific aspect that
needs to be mentioned is that bills that are under consideration are
posted on this website and the citizens are provided an opportunity
to voice their concerns directly to the parliamentary representatives.
One recent trend that has become increasingly popular in this
direction is the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter for
gathering the views of citizens on specific activities that are planned
by the government. e various types of interactions (likes, com-
ments, dislikes, etc.) of large masses of population are tracked and
reported using various mechanisms and they are used to finalize the
appropriate course of action. An entire new stream of analytics has
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.