The concept of smart cities is soon going to be a reality in India. Cities that are energy efficient, driven by smart environmental practices, smart governance, smart mobility and smart technology are now being planned and some are even underway to offer better quality of life in urban environments.
But the real foundation of a smart city is its? safety? aspect designed and built to protect its citizens and resources. A smart city can only function efficiently when its social and physical infrastructure is safeguarded from possible threats, natural or man-made. Over the years, many Indian cities have expanded as their populations have grown considerably. This has posed governance and safety challenges in these cities owing to high density of population in certain areas on one hand, and larger area coverage overall on the other. Examples of safety hazards to citizens and resources include natural catastrophes like earthquakes, flood, hurricanes, accidents like fire breakout and other social risks like terrorism, cyber-attacks, etc. The current systems and measure often fail to prevent or control damage in such situations. Future cities therefore require a planned approach and infrastructure not only ready to support the growing population, but also tackle the risks to a city?s resources in the times to come. In smart cities, components like intelligent sensors, city architecture, emergency services, hospitals, law enforcers, corporations and individuals, all team up to address the ever growing need for security and safety. Some of the key market drivers for safe cities are:
Strong City Economies: Strong city economies are the main factor for implementation of safer city projects. Growth in each city influences the level of technological adoption in that city. The stronger the economy is, the higher the probability will be to procure technology that would integrate existing security devices such as Closed-circuit television (CCTV), sensors and detectors.
Security and Safety Threat: A part of the security factor is the internal/external terrorism threat a city faces. The higher the internal/external threat of terrorist attacks the more probability there is of a city implementing a safer city project. Other elements that drive this factor are natural disasters, and crime. The main purpose of safer cities is to decrease the crime rate and increase the feeling of safety amongst the citizens.
Natural Disasters: Natural Disasters are a major threat to safety and first response is critical to the success of the mission. With cities being susceptible to natural disasters, advanced information and communication systems must be deployed in order to minimize casualties and economic loss. In cities with high natural disaster threat levels, there is an increased possibility of safer city programs which would reduce the amount of economic and civil loss.
Internet Protocol: The technology of the future will be through high speed internet and that is why IP infrastructure will be a necessity for all systems to comply with each other. Safer City projects will definitely be driven by the development of systems infrastructure whether it?s through fixed cable or wireless. The more extensive the IP infrastructure, the higher the probability is for new technology adoption.
Improved Private/Public Partnership and Cooperation: Crime as a community problem is another important factor that allows society to unite with public services to fight criminal activities. Uniting the society to fight crime together is imperative for the livelihood of such projects. When we mention public awareness we are also focusing on the private businesses that are in the purview of criminals, natural disasters, etc. Allowing all the community entities to have a united security system will lead to efficiency gains, thus reducing the time to act and allow swift apprehension of the law breaking individual.
Urbanisation Rate: The rate of urbanisation is a major driver for safer city projects for several reasons. As cities expand, new infrastructure is developed to support the growing population. Cities that are able to build security solutions based on IP infrastructure rather than overhauling large legacy systems are more likely to adopt new and integrated systems. A further impact of urbanisation is the increased anonymity of people who are likely to present a threat. There is a correlation between city size and crime and the need for integrated security solutions become more important as the rate of urbanisation within a country increases.
Today many organisations are coming together to work with central and state governments to execute intelligent management systems integrated with information and communication technology (ICT) in order to drive the creation of smart and safe cities. Moreover, Indian Government?s plan of developing 100 smart cities has further created a Greenfield opportunity for many organisations to invest heavily in some key urbanisation projects.
NEC envisions smart cities as part of a sustainable society in which people live, work, and play in safety and comfort while also coexisting in harmony with the environment. In India, NEC is working closely with the central and state governments in deploying technologies like biometrics, fingerprinting identification for police and forensics departments in India to help tackle governance challenges and make a smart city – safe.
Surely, technology alone does not solve problems. Leadership, foresight and political will are some of the other key attributes that contribute to a safe city. As technology advances, citizens too have to be comfortable with the privacy issues involved in data being collected, shared and processed by the relevant authorities. Ultimately, governments and city authorities will have to evolve in their planning and decision-making, as cities become bigger. With the right innovation tools, city planners can build capacity and translate all the information coming through their feeds into action.
Japan?s reputation of building best in class technology to empower people and the bilateral relationship between the two countries, given the Prime Minister?s recent visit to Japan can drive synergies to build smart sophisticated and safe infrastructure in India. Today, India is being projected as a solid investment destination and a commerce partner, therefore substantial investments made in human and social capital along with technology (communication infrastructure) will further fuel sustainable economic development and increase the quality of life. This combined with an active participatory governance will hence make a city ? Smarter and safer. Such ties at a macro level will fuel better trade through public-private partnerships (PPP), which will further yield considerable economic results for the country.
(Contributed by Andrew Chi, Head ? Public Safety Solutions, NEC India)
