Smart Cities & Future of Smart Governance

Recently, I have been approached to provide my insights in the current topic of Smart Cities & the future of good Governance. 

In order to understand the need of creation of smart cities and for those of you who are new to the topic, we need to understand how cities have evolved over a period of time.  When we look back in history, we find that every historical period is characterized by the emergence and development of cities in connection with economic and social conditions.  The practice of developing cities is called urbanization.  

According to a UN report in year 2014, it has been projected that “urbanization combined with the overall growth of world's population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban populations by 2050 - out of this percentage, close to 90% of the population will be demographically based in African and Asian countries.” With more than half of the world’s population residing in cities, there is an increase of human interactions with the environment. 

During the late 1800s, the world’s population living in cities was just 3% as compared with 90% people living in cities by year 2050. 

With an increasing demand of education and skilling of people to match the dynamics – both from environmental and economic conditions, the concept of smart cities have materialized. 

So what are smart cities?

Due to an ever increasing numbers of people migrating to the cities, the smart city plan conceptualizes upon providing for:

• ·         Environment:  promotion of energy saving, usage of renewable energy, and reduction of environmental pollution (especially, CO2 emissions).
• ·         Mobility:  accessible and safe transport with a focus on low environmental impact.
• ·         Citizenship: promotion of civic engagement and citizens’ creativity and lifelong learning and education, thereby, nurturing of cultural diversity.
• ·         Living:  catering to the general public health and welfare, thereby, promoting social cohesion.
• ·         Economy:  creation of a flexible labour market; support for entrepreneurship and innovation, targeting women and young people in particular.
• ·         Government and political participation:  adoption of transparent decision-making and creation of accessible online services, thereby, promoting of political participation.

What it means for us?

Well, the concept of smart cities and smart governance is to help with the betterment of how we will perceive our future in this century.  The 20^th century had revolutionized the world with the onset of computers, while the 21^st century has experienced the rate the technologies are evolving to add quality meaning in the way a common man lives.  This has pushed the governments to think how to balance the lives of their citizens with minimum impact upon the environment with the growing population dynamics and keep pace with increased world exposure on technology based changes. 

With increase in education exposures, we are becoming more accustomed towards technology.  This means that Information & Communications Technology (ICT) has become an integral part of our lifestyle.  We have become highly accustomed to the internet and digital technology in all areas of our lifestyle (see picture for a graphical representation).

In order to effectively manage these segments of our society, we need smart governance and administration.  There is a strong need for our governments to design and implement policies which are effective for the society as a whole.  Our leaders and government officials need smart systems and tools to coordinate across different departments, sectors and agencies in order to have full access to data, information sharing and implementation of schemes, overseeing welfare and development.

Need for Smart Governance

The aim of smart or e-governance is to make the system more transparent and citizens more informed. Government information will no longer be a repository of few public officials or servants but accessible by all sections of society.  Countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Angola and many others are making government information digital across all segments. This has derived many positive results and value for citizens. 

Web portals, online forums, mobile apps and their unified services have helped public to directly share their questions, suggestions and grievances to government authorities.  One such example is that of the RTI application process.  In India RTI act was passed to empower ordinary citizen about the working of public offices.  Anyone can file an RTI application and know answers about government policies, funds allocation and implementation, publication of tenders, delays and discrepancy and get a reply within a stipulated time. 

To summarize, if our cities are to meet the challenges of tomorrow, the smart city agenda needs more clarity, and more innovative and ambitious objectives. Better technology to support business as usual is no longer sufficient. Therefore, by focusing on inhabitants, be they individuals, businesses or the community at large, and setting an aim for real outcomes that will impact them, city leaders can reinvent their institutions, improve services and build the infrastructure of the digital age in order to deliver public service for the future. The urban areas that fail to make the transition will be abandoned. But those that embrace a human-centered approach to their digital government strategy will thrive in the information and knowledge era. 

- Article has been contributed by Entrenador Shruti Misra, a Neuro-Leadership & Business Coach.  *All images have been taken from Google.com.