IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Synopsis: "While taking forward his legacy, various schemes will have to be implemented for farmers' children. Farmers should become suppliers of energy along with suppliers of food. There is a need to implement the 'smart village' concept along with the smart city project," the minister added.

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said along with smart cities, India also needs "smart villages". He was speaking after inaugurating a statue and memorial of late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde at Nandur Shingote in Sinnar taluka of Nashik district. "Munde led from the front to do justice to farmers....He worked for farmers through schemes such as the Krishna Valley, Tapi Irrigation and Vidarbha Irrigation projects," Gadkari said. "While taking forward his legacy, various schemes will have to be implemented for farmers' children. Farmers should become suppliers of energy along with suppliers of food. There is a need to implement the 'smart village' concept along with the smart city project," the minister added.

A smart city employs an information and communication technology (ICT) framework to develop, implement, and promote development methods to address urban challenges and build a coordinated, technologically enabled, and sustainable infrastructure. Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the Smart Cities Mission on June 25, 2015. By focusing on the social, economic, physical, and institutional foundations of the city, the mission seeks to promote economic growth and enhance quality of life. The objective is to produce replicable models that act as role models for other aspirational cities, with a focus on inclusive and sustainable development. A total of 100 communities were chosen to be transformed into “smart cities” after a two-stage process.

As population and urbanisation keep increasing, several communities will look to cutting-edge networks and contemporary technologies to help them manage resource limitations. AI can prove transformative in India, which has the second-largest population and the largest economy that is developing at the quickest rate in the world.

At Rise Up Summit we checked out, “The Future Of Investments In The Area” panel, given that this is current talk of town given a growing global economic crisis. Several speakers participated to give their two cents and we were most interested with what Hashim Nabulsi, director of investments at NEOM in Saudi Arabia had to say.

For those who don’t know, NEOM is a smart city in the heart of Saudi Arabia ambitiously aiming to run entirely on renewable energy while promoting new technical breakthroughs. Speaking of talk of the town; NEOM has been word of mouth for its ambitious and futuristic designs and function.

Command & communication centre dysfunctional for 2.5 years due to pending bills of Rs 7 crore

Not one or two days, but for the last two and half years, hundreds of cameras, part of the Kakinada Smart City Command and Communication Centre have been dysfunctional. Reason —pending bills to the tune of Rs 7 crore— to the company maintaining the CCTV cameras and controls of the command centre. Sterlite company, which has a five-year contract, has dropped due to pending bills.

Hanoi's authorities will adjust the development plan for the smart city project on the northern side of the capital city as suggested by the Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo, mayor Tran Sy Thanh said on March 15.

Municipal authorities will also kickstart several major tasks in the project in 2023 as part of the serial activities that will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations, Thanh said.

At the 32nd ASEAN Su​mmit in 2018, Siem Reap – one of the most attractive tourism cities in Cambodia – was selected as an ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) Pilot City.

And JICA has collaborated with the Siem Reap Provincial Administration since 2020 towards “Smart City” realisation.

In May 2022, the “Project for Implementation of Smart City Approach to Solve Urban Issues in Siem Reap” was launched as a JICA technical cooperation project.

Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp and Vietnamese real estate developer BRG Group hope to start work on a US$4.2-billion smart city in Hanoi this year.

Sumitomo chairman and CEO Shiomi Keigo said during a meeting with Hanoi chairman Tran Sy Thanh and Japan’s ambassador to Vietnam, Yamada Takio, on Wednesday that he wished that the authorities would speed the progress of adjusting the 1:500-scale plan for the project soon so that the project could be implemented in 2023, when Japan and Vietnam celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.

Many years have passed since the Internet first became part of how government serves the people. There have been setbacks along the way, but digital government continues to deliver on its promise.

Homer Simpson spoke for a generation of legislators and the general public when, in a February 1998 episode, he observed, “Ohh, they have the Internet on computers now.” That vibe was very much part of the atmosphere as governments experimented with establishing a presence on the network of networks at the turn of the century.

Bacolod City, together with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), launched on Tuesday, March 14, the Palengke-QR (Quick Response) Ph Plus for the use of digital payments in public markets and transportation hubs, at the Libertad Market here.

Bacolod is the first local government unit in the Western Visayas region and the seventh in the country to adopt the program.

The City of Johannesburg says it seeks to enhance the standard of living for each and every one of its citizens.

This will be done by deploying smart city infrastructure, such as CCTV cameras, interactive panic buttons, and electronic signage, to enhance road traffic enforcement, law and by-law enforcement, the detection, prevention, and investigation of crime, disaster mitigation, licensing-related services, and services relating to medical and fire emergencies.

Worldwide investments in smart pole and smart corridor technologies will grow from $10.8bn in 2022 to more than $132bn in 2030, according to ABI Research.

Global technology intelligence firm ABI Research analysis indicates more than 10.8 million smart poles will have been installed by 2030, redefining smart urban infrastructure in the process.

Looks to generate Rs 25 cr revenue in upcoming fiscal; floats tender

The Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) has set the ball rolling to monetise its optical fibre cable (OFC) duct network on revenue-sharing model by leasing out its infrastructure to various telecom companies.

Besides earning revenue, the move is aimed at reducing damage to government utilities and inconvenience caused to general public due to repeated digging up of roads. The CSCL looks to earn Rs 25 crore under the project in the coming fiscal.

Cities across the country are grappling with the problem of deteriorating roads. When left unaddressed, potholes, cracks in the road and crumbling sidewalks can lead to costly repairs, damage to vehicles and potentially serious accidents.

What if there was a way to detect these problems before they become major issues? A key part of the solution is hiding in plain sight: the humble garbage truck

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has launched an open call to startups across Asia to take part in the Smart Cities

The project invites entrepreneurs with a regional focus on either Sihanoukville in Cambodia, Chiangmai in Thailand or Surabaya in Indonesia, to collaborate with municipal governments to scale up sustainable smart city solutions.

For government to realise billions of pounds in efficiency savings, those running departments need to improve their understanding of digital transformation, a new NAO report says.

‘Digital transformation in government: addressing the barriers to efficiency’ welcomes the stronger central function the Central Digital and Data Office’s (CDDO) provides in leading digital transformation. It also commends the CDDO’s fresh approach to helping government departments address longstanding challenges to digital transformation through its 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data.

Kochi Metro has begun accepting the digital currency in its parking facilities as part of a campaign to support the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The initiative was launched on Friday at the Thykoodam parking facility, and it will soon be implemented in all other Metro parking lots.

Kochi Metro is the first Metro in the nation to take CBDC, according to Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) authorities. The initiative was launched in collaboration with the technology startup Anantham Online and IDFC FIRST Bank. The Reserve Bank of India’s pilot program served as the foundation for this effort. CBDC for retail customers has just been launched, according to the RBI.

In the remaining 78 cities selected under the mission, the ongoing projects will be completed in the next three-four months.

Agra (Uttar Pradesh), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Pune (Maharashtra) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat) are among the 22 cities that will complete all projects under the government's ambitious Smart Cities Mission by next month, giving their citizens better quality of life and a clean and sustainable environment, officials said on Sunday.

In the remaining 78 cities selected under the mission, the ongoing projects will be completed in the next three-four months, a senior official of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said.

Attendance being marked manually in register: RTI reply

A biometric attendance machine purchased by Karnal Smart City Limited (KSCL) in 2020 at a cost of Rs 7,670 is lying unused in the office.

Employees of the Karnal Smart City project are marking their attendance through a manual system in a register. This has been revealed in a reply received by advocate Rajesh Sharma, a local, in response to details sought from the KSCL, under the Right to Information Act 2005.

Executive director and chief executive officer of Smart City Limited Chandra Shekhar Shukla has said his priority is to complete the work on time and maintain its quality.

The two projects – rejuvenation of Lakha Banjara Lake, its front development work and elevated corridor – are the most important ones, Shukla said at a meeting with officials on Thursday. Shukla reviewed the progress of work at the meeting held in the Smart City auditorium.

Chandigarh Smart City Limited may be roped in to assist the UT civic body in providing “consultancy” services in drawing up 'smart parking' tenders for lots in the city.

The issue, officials said, will be taken up in the upcoming General House meeting. The Chandigarh Smart city limited is already running the ICCC project in the city.

The Netherlands capital has published an online map of electric vehicle charging points following contributions from citizens on desired locations in the city.

The City of Amsterdam has published a revamped map on the location and proposed location of electric vehicle charging stations following a citizen engagement project.

Building a smart city has the potential to improve lives in big ways.

Smart devices have been in homes around the world for years—60.4 million households in America actively use smart products like speakers, televisions, and thermostats. By 2025, this number is expected to rise to 64.1 million. Globally, the number of Internet of Things devices is expected to grow from 9.7 billion in 2020 to 29.4 billion in 2030.

In an area of 7,579 square kilometres, 6 million people, about 40 per cent of the population of Jordan, live in Amman, the country's capital. The steady increase of population is a result of difficult economic and political circumstances that occurred in neighbouring countries, increasing the pressure on Jordan's infrastructure, particularly in Amman.

Transportation is among the most pressing issues facing the capital.

More than 100 people have reached out to Tillsonburg’s mayor to voice concerns about the town becoming a Smart City or 15-Minute City.

The problem, says Mayor Deb Gilvesy, is their concerns are based on misinformation.

“There is misinformation circulating about the town that is unequivocally untrue, and it is actually scaring some of our residents,” said Gilvesy at a council meeting on Feb. 27.

Smart Cities at the center of the digitalization process of the country system. The first report was presented today in Rome ‘Italy of smart and sustainable cities’ created by the TIM Study Center in collaboration with the ‘Smart City’ and ‘Startup Intelligence’ Observatories of the Milan Polytechnic and with the Department of Engineering, ICT and Technologies for Energy and Transport of the CNR.

Pietro Labriola, Chief Executive Officer, opened the meeting and together with Elio Schiavo, TIM Chief Enterprise and Innovative Solutions Officer, illustrated the development prospects of Smart Cities in Italy and the digital services that the Group makes available to the Public Administration and local authorities. The mayor of Assisi Stefania Proietti and the General Manager of Technological and Digital Innovation of the Municipality of Milan Guido Arnone also took part in the event to discuss what has already been achieved and the future of two different but very important cities.

As part of the plan, it is seeking to unlock access to funding as well as work with a commercial charge point operating partner with whom it will share profits.

The Scottish capital of Edinburgh is putting plans in place to boost electric vehicle charging across the city with 500 new public charge points.

The HCM City government has announced its digital data governance strategy for 2025 with a vision towards 2030.

The strategy, part of a cooperation programme between the city and the World Bank (WB) in the 2022-23 period, was launched at a conference held late last week.

It is expected to unlock data potential to better serve operations of local authorities, provide friendlier and more effective public services for people, raise productivity and step up innovations towards the comprehensive and sustainable development of the digital economy.

The future competitiveness of sub-Saharan Africa’s agriculture and its contribution to national economies will depend on how countries position themselves to utilise and exploit digital technologies.

African countries, however, are far from reaching the expected levels of development and are at various phases of the changeover to digital agriculture.

• have tried out ChatGPT myself and found it really good. This has marked a new stage for the future development of AI,’ technology chief Sun Dong says
• blic consultation on AI supercomputing centre for top talent to be carried out this year, he adds

Hong Kong aims to develop its own artificial intelligence-based chatbot platform, similar to the popular ChatGPT, to catch up in the global race for innovation, the city’s technology chief has said.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) have held a seminar on digital transformation to share experience and best practices on digitalisation in the two regional blocs.

More than 100 participants from ASEAN and EAEU member states joined the event, which is part of the activities set out in the Programme of Cooperation to implement the memorandum of understanding between ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) for 2020-2025 period.

Gender perspectives should be ensured as part of national digital policies, with adequate resources being allocated for full implementation, said Pauline Tamesis, resident coordinator of the UN in Vietnam, at a dialogue held in Hanoi on March 3.

She also suggested that the nation promote quality education for women and girls, forecast and anticipate future job and skill needs, move to increase data collection, and seek to address gender-based violence online.

While diamond mining has long been a mainstay of Botswana’s economy, the Southern African nation is turning its attention to cutting-edge technologies to help grow and diversify its economy.

This is according to Botswana communications, knowledge and technology minister Thulagano Segokgo, speaking during a high-level media roundtable on the sidelines of MWC Barcelona 2023.

In today's digital age, the concept of chatbots is becoming increasingly popular across a wide range of industries. City chatbots, in particular, are gaining traction as a tool for revolutionizing local services. By leveraging chatbot technology, city governments and local businesses can provide efficient and accessible services to residents and visitors alike.

The use of chatbots is rapidly growing in popularity, and for good reason. These AI-powered bots are able to provide quick and efficient responses to customer inquiries and are becoming increasingly common in a variety of industries. One area where chatbots are particularly well-suited is in local services, where they can provide an easy and accessible way for residents to get information about their city.

Industry and capital markets have high expectations after the national-level Digital China blueprint was released this week to guide China's development of the digital economy in terms of data, artificial intelligence, cloud, 5G and other innovations.

The guidelines set a specific timeline for China's digital construction. By 2025, the digital infrastructure will be efficiently connected through a broad range of sectors, and China will become a global leader in digital innovations. By 2035, the level of digital development in China will be at the forefront of the world, according to the Digital China blueprint.

The technology is already out in force in some cities, but the true debate on privacy and policies is lagging behind.

In the skies above Chula Vista, California, where the police department runs a drone program 10 hours a day, seven days a week from four launch sites, it’s not uncommon to see an unmanned aerial vehicle darting across the sky. For officers on the force, tapping into this aerial reconnaissance resource has gone from a rare occurrence to a routine one. An officer about to enter a house where a potential suspect might ask “Is UAS available?” over the radio, and one of the department’s 29 drones—or “unmanned aerial systems”—could soon be hovering overhead. When the department needs to be slow and methodical, there’s almost always a drone involved, flying between 200 and 400 feet above the action. Most people wouldn’t realize it’s there.

The city’s elected officials are pushing back against conspiracy theorists with claims about the 15-minute city and smart cities planning concepts

Fuelled by misinformation, local conspiracy theorists have expanded their scope beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and focused on another convoluted web of misinformation.

Snapshot

• The "15-minute city" is an urban planning approach that seeks to establish cities, where citizens can access all their necessities within a shorter radius, either by walking, cycling, or using public transportation.

As India undergoes a transformation in its urban landscape, with a keen focus on creating "sustainable cities of tomorrow", it has become imperative for the government, planners, and authorities to constantly explore new advancements for its developing urban areas.

The concept of ‘15-minute’ cities is straightforward – amenities such as parks and grocery stores must be accessible through a 15-minute walk or bicycle ride from a person's home. But much like COVID-19 vaccines and 5G, the concept has become the victim of unfounded conspiracy theories

If you’ve had a look at social media over the past few days, you might have seen some up in arms over ‘15-minute cities’.

Union Information Broadcasting, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur has asked the officials and the public representatives to work with a future-oriented approach in the Dharamshala Smart City project.

He said that in the smart city project, prepare Dharamshala according to the needs of the next 100 years. Work on such plans that create global level systems here.

Arya made the statement at the 30th meeting of the board of directors of Sagar Smart City Limited on Friday.

Collector Deepak Arya has directed the officials to find efficient agencies to ensure proper maintenance of the facilities provided to the people through the projects of Smart City Limited.

He said the Sagar Smart City Limited had launched various projects to improve the life of citizens.

Sugar Land plans to install hundreds of miles of infrastructure that will enable all residents and businesses to access fast, affordable and reliable internet.

During a recent meeting, the City of Sugar Land approved SiFi Networks’ 30-year plan to establish fiber optic infrastructure across the city.

A team from the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), which on Saturday inspected the projects carried out under the Smart City Mission, lauded the choice of projects and their execution by the Coimbatore Smart City Limited.

A team led by MoHUA director (finance) S C Jana visited various projects carried out under the Smart City Mission, including Race Course, Valankulam and Multi-Level Car Parking (MLCP) and DB Road, which was developed into a model road.

The Makati City government is set to transform its Makatizen Cards into virtual cards.

Mayor Abigail Binay made this announcement during Wednesday’s forum dubbed as “The Rise of Intelligent Cities and Municipalities” held at the Bonifacio Global City.

Binay said by going digital, the Makatizen Card will soon be conveniently accessed through a smartphone or any internet-enabled device, making it easier for residents to access government services and programs.

The Patna Smart City Limited (PSCL) has introduced the state-of-the-art 'adaptive traffic control system' (ATCS) to facilitate effective management of traffic, ensure commuters' safety and surveillance in the city.

As a pilot project, the new traffic system has been made operational at Bakarganj Mor, Buddha Colony, JP Golambar, Dak Bungalow Crossing and Income Tax-roundabout.

Transport for London has continuously been at the forefront of implementing new technologies city-wide, transforming how people travel. With 2023 marking the 20th anniversary of the Congestion Charge, as well as the expansion of the world-leading Ultra Low Emission Zone to further tackle air pollution, Theo Blackwell MBE, Chief Digital Officer at the Greater London Authority, has taken the opportunity to showcase TfL’s trusted global innovation leadership.

The 20th anniversary of the Congestion Charge is a reminder of how Transport for London (TfL) sets the pace globally in developing world-leading technology. And – as the Mayor of London prepares to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) London-wide to tackle air pollution – I think it’s time to showcase how trusted TfL is globally as an innovator, which is maybe something that we need to celebrate more at home.

CLAIM: Governments can “forcibly remove” people living on polluted land or water and require them to live in “smart cities” under a plan from the World Economic Forum and United Nations called Agenda 2030.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The U.N.’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which the World Economic Forum is helping to implement through a partnership, outlines broad goals related to issues such as economic growth, equality and the environment. It does not discuss removing people from their homes, nor does it refer to the term “smart cities.” Regardless, the U.N. does not have the power to allow, or prohibit, countries to take such an action.

• Discover NEOM KSA tour kicked off in Saudi Arabia
• The event will host multiple meetings
• NEOM is a planned smart city in KSA

An event ‘Discover NEOM KSA tour’ has been kicked off in Saudi Arabia that will host meetings with local investors, potential business partners, and stake holders of multiple industries.

In striving to integrate into the national development, Hong Kong must seize the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area opportunities and capitalise on its advantages as an international innovation and technology centre.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan made the statement this morning when delivering the Budget speech, noting that as Hong Kong integrates into the national development, the city must fully leverage its unique advantages and irreplaceable role under "one country, two systems" to make proactive contributions to the modernisation of the country.

High crime rates are a reality of South African life. For that reason, a number of our cities have already created camera-based monitoring systems to deter criminals, or identify and prosecute them if they transgress the law.

One example is Safe City Msunduzi, an entity of the Msunduzi Municipality, which monitors 169 CCTV cameras across Pietermaritzburg. Some are going even further – like the City of Cape Town, which is building on its camera-based system to deploy drones, gunshot sensors and a tech-heavy Highway Patrol Unit that will automatically scan number plates.

Among the first top 20 cities selected to be developed under the Smart City Mission in the country, Ludhiana has failed to maintain the momentum on project implementation. Out of total 70 projects taken up under the mission as of now, only 43 projects have seen completion. While some other projects are under execution, the rest are still at the tendering stage.

The Union ministry of housing and urban affairs recently announced that 22 cities are likely to complete the Smart City Mission by March-end, but the industrial capital of Punjab has not been included in the list of these cities. The MC officials said going by the utilisation of funds under the mission, the city has been ranked 32nd all over India.

Colorado Springs’ Office of Innovation has been working on technology-driven projects over the past few years with the intention of making Colorado Springs a “smart city.”

Deborah Newman, innovation analyst for the Office of Innovation, said that “smart cities” are developed with a set of specific goals in mind.

New orders for electric buses experienced unprecedented growth in 2022 driven, in part, by robust state and federal incentives, policy pressures and cost savings. With plenty of money in the pipeline, those purchases will continue.

Electric transit buses are finding their way onto U.S. streets at an alarming pace, with some states seeing triple-digit growth in the technology in just the last year.

What do you think about when you hear the word smart cities? Flying cars and droids (from Star Wars) taking over human jobs? Well not just yet. Realistically, a smart city seeks to improve the quality of life for citizens by using smart technologies and data analysis…to put it simply.

The value of a smart city lies not in the deployment of several technologies, but rather in the application of these technologies. For instance, a city’s technical infrastructure, which enables people to live and work there while utilizing its resources, would largely decide just how smart the city is.

It all started exactly two decades ago, but only in the last few years has the e-government formula developed. Much is done, much remains to be done

Japan’s Waseda University, in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference (APEC) from 2005-2021, has been publishing the annual “Global E-Government Ranking” report, which counts the e-government scores of various governments.

For the first time, the Smart City Fair will be inaugurated in March 2023 in the city of Casablanca in Morocco, with the aim of presenting more concrete solutions and innovations for the future

The Centre for Innovation and Technology Transfer of the Hassan University of Casablanca will host the first edition of the ''Salon PedagogicAfrica Smart City''. The event will be held from 15 to 17 March 2021 under the theme ''Moroccan engineering at the service of the smart city''.

Dive Brief:

• Arlington County, Virginia, is launching a municipal smart parking initiative to help drivers quickly find on-street parking, reduce traffic congestion, improve road safety and curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to an emailed statement Thursday.
• The county has partnered with eleven-x, a wireless IoT and smart city vendor, to install approximately 5,000 sensors in on-street parking spaces, allowing drivers to use signs and an app to get real-time information about parking availability at a given location.
• “The goal of the pilot is to improve the user experience with metered parking spaces in two key commercial and multifamily residential corridors,” an Arlington County spokesperson said in an email. “This will also help to reduce the negative impacts associated with the search for metered parking (cruising, double parking, going somewhere else to do business, etc.).”

The Shalimar Group of Companies, the leading real estate group in Sargodha, has brought the world’s best architects to Sargodha for their upcoming project, Shalimar Smart City – The First-Ever Smart City in their locality. The world’s best urban planners, Meinhardt Group Singapore, are designing this housing project and working in synergy with Shalimar because they regard Shalimar’s success as their success.

The official launching ceremony for the Shalimar Smart City’s latest concept of a Smart Business District, which is the heart of the project and considered the new business zone in Sargodha, was held on Friday, 17th February 2023, with an exclusive event organized by Elysium. Delegates from both groups, industry leaders, foreign delegates, the realtors’ community from Sargodha and other cities, the business community, and media personalities attended the event.

Master Planner

The “Lahore Smart City” of Lahore is set to become a Smart City with the help of Surbana Jurong, a leading consultancy firm based in Singapore. They have brought in the experience of renowned British architect Norman Foster to develop a master plan for the Smart City Lahore project. The plan is expected to include a variety of smart features, such as smart buildings, smart infrastructure, and smart transportation. This initiative is expected to bring a new level of urbanization to the city of Lahore, making it a hub for technological innovation. With the help of Surbana Jurong and Norman Foster, the Smart City Lahore project is sure to bring about positive changes for the citizens of Lahore.

Alleging that the 'Smart City' project in the capital city is a scam of Rs 1,000 crore, the Goa unit of Congress 'warned' the BJP to face the music if the citizens and tourists meet with accidents

Alleging that the 'Smart City' project in the capital city is a scam of Rs 1,000 crore, the Goa unit of Congress on Friday 'warned' the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to face the music if the citizens and tourists meet with accidents.

eleven-x tapped for wireless, real-time monitoring of 5,000 parking spaces in Arlington VA.

Arlington County in Virginia has selected the Waterloo-based startup eleven-x for one of the biggest deployments of smart-parking technology in North America.

Eleven-x will embed 5,000 sensors in the pavement of on-street parking spaces in Arlington’s commercial district. The sensors will communicate with the eleven-x software platform, eXactpark, that provides real-time information on whether a spot is vacant or not.

• The use case consists of communicating between several drones in flight, as well as with different connected urban elements, in order to make a correct delivery of a package to a mobile collection point.
• This project is part of the Telefónica 5G Madrid proposal within the call for 5G grants from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation through Red.es, co-financed with FEDER funds.
• To carry out this project, Telefónica has counted with Correos as the recipient of the use case and with the collaboration of Gradiant, Ericsson and Genasys.
• For the first time, several innovative technologies have been combined, namely 5G, C-V2X communications (the same used in the connected car), RTK technology and mobile location.

The Smart District will be a testbed for ideas and technologies that maximise investment opportunities as well as address the city centre’s key challenges.

Belfast City Council has announced proposals for a Smart District to support the transformation of Belfast city centre, one of several initiatives in its Smart Belfast Urban Innovation Framework.

The Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is targeting to help 24 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) enter the digital ecosystem by the end of 2023.

"As of December 2022, there have been 20.76 million MSMEs that have been 'onboarded' to digital (ecosystem), and in 2023, it is targeted 24 million MSMEs will enter the digital ecosystem," Cooperatives and SMEs Minister Teten Masduki informed.

A $4.6 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration will allow for deployment of 86 new smart intersections throughout downtown.

Chattanooga, Tenn. plans to stand up 86 new smart intersections downtown between 2023 and 2024 to create the largest Internet of Things network of its kind and pave the way for electric vehicles.

The city of El Paso, Texas, has partnered with the private sector to create the Economic Snapshot Dashboard, a data visualization that will paint a picture of the city’s economy as it grows and adapts.

The city of El Paso, Texas, has launched the Economic Snapshot Dashboard, a data visualization meant to help inform the public about the city’s economic state.

Intended to be a 110 miles long smart city with a population of nine million, resulting in a population density 38 times that of Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia’s ‘The Line’ raises questions as to whether it is merely a vanity project or an effective plan for some futuristic utopia.

Located in the province of Tabuk, near the border with Egypt, it is estimated to cost around $200 bn (some estimates placing it near $1 tn) and bring more than 400,000 jobs to the region.

While GSCL is implementing 16 projects worth ₹814.29 crore, the failure to implement some of the vital projects has left the top honchos with an egg on the face.

Of the vital projects, the failure to implement the ₹215 crore Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) is a ‘big embarrassment’ to the GSCL officials.

Indore, number one in cleanliness, is constantly innovating in the field of green energy. While the Municipal Corporation is preparing to set up a solar power plant in Jalud by issuing green bonds, it is also planning to build 160 e-vehicle charging stations for electric vehicles in the city in the next one year. The corporation will prepare 47 solar energy based charging stations through AICTSL. Electricity will be generated by installing solar panels on their roofs.

AICTSL has entrusted the work to New Delhi’s Jiva International Pvt Ltd on Public Private Partnership basis. The company will prepare 10 fast and 37 slow and moderate charging stations. Solar energy will generate electricity from these stations in summer and winter. Excess power will be given to the power distribution company and power will be taken from the company during the rainy season.

The city as we know it is changing. Spurred by the pandemic, in which traffic was greatly reduced and outdoor spaces reclaimed, city councils are reimagining traditional concepts of urban planning. City planners are there by looking to design cities that are more sustainable and less congested, and they are utilizing artificial intelligence to assist. Enter the smart city.

By definition, a smart city is a technologically advanced urban area that uses sensors and other IoT devices to collect and analyze data, with the goal of optimizing certain aspects of the city. This can involve everything from identifying patterns in traffic congestion to controlling street lights based on night-time foot traffic.

Town of Olds officials attempt to dispel 'disinformation' about surveillance, land use bylaw and a 2018 application to the federal government's Smart Cities Challenge

The Town of Olds is the latest municipality in the area to have been contacted by people concerned it might be or become a “smart city” or “15-minute city.”

It is not – and has no plans to be – either, according to a town news release issued today, Feb. 9, intended to dispel disinformation.

For the moment, 5G has been positioned as a consumer technology focused on delivering better download speeds and a smoother connectivity experience. While this is true, these benefits are largely a by-product and miss the point of what 5G has been designed to do.

5G is a very different technology to its predecessors. Where 4G focused on connecting people to the internet, 5G has been designed to go beyond this, with the capability to connect vast amounts of ‘things’, as well as people.

Cities are ruled by the “imperative to save time,” states Paris-based urbanist Carlos Moreno. Yet, city drivers frequently travel painfully slowly in their supposed freedom machines because when there are millions of these freedom machines, they can but only impede each other. Driving to reach distant urban amenities is a needless time sink, posits the Panthéon-Sorbonne professor. Motorists, he observes, travel in a “bubble of illusory acceleration.”

Instead of being perfected for cars, cities “should be designed so that within the distance of a 15-minute walk or bike ride, people should be able to access work, housing, food, health, education, culture, and leisure.”

The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), a regional macroeconomic surveillance organization, estimates that the ASEAN's economy could grow by 4.6% this year, down from 5.3% in 2022, but still outstanding compared to other regions’ performance.

Despite this, their infrastructure such as housing, public security, education, and medical care cannot keep up with the economic improvements. From my encounters with government officials and academics of Asian countries over the recent years, I perceived their strong needs and demands for advanced urban planning and development. Therefore, I have repeatedly urged the Hong Kong Government to seize this market since 2019, but the pandemic here has disrupted the efforts.

Starting with the heartlands, it will scale nationally and increase the accessibility of IoT technologies for government projects and Smart Nation initiatives.

SPTel, a joint venture company of ST Engineering and SP Group, has launched what it claims is Singapore’s first sensor network powered by LoRaWan for business applications and government projects.

The Centre's assertion came in response to a question in Lok Sabha by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who asked about "discrepancies" in the implementation of the projects under the smart city programme.

The government on February 9 said that almost all 100 cities selected under the smart cities initiative are progressing "fairly well" with some facing a slowdown in work due to COVID-19 and local factors.