ICT readiness for smart cities demystified: A practitioner′s perspective

In over 40 conferences and conclaves that I have been a part of in the past year across the country, technology investments needed in smart cities seem to have conflicting acceptance. The reasons are manifold. Being a practitioner and having worked on several smart city projects, the leverage of technology is a no brainer when we talk about smart cities even with conflicting and sometimes convincing debates on where the investments within the Indian context should be; Urban Vs Rural, Technology Vs Infrastructure and so on and so forth. Drawing from experiences of the West where use of ICT has moved from a support function to an enabler even as their core infrastructure continues to evolve, India's predicament cannot be any different irrespective of its infrastructure maturity.Indian cities have traditionally faced several challenges across domains and have confronted them by allocating large amounts of money to address their urbanization challenges and it is evident that those efforts have consistently fallen short of their goals. Adopting urban technology advancements is a rational resolution to urban problems. However, demystifying the advantage of ICT within context of smart cities is critical for its success and sustainability. To start with, an ICT master plan must be drawn for the city and this must be in complete alignment with the city master plan. Thus the proposed plan must leverage every facet of managing the city by allowing seamless readiness for deployment and delivery of end-user services, at the receiving end of which are residents, businesses and governments.The best way to explicate readiness for deployment of end-user services is by breaking down the master plan into a number of cohesive layers. While many discussions and design considerations are imminent over the next year as part of the City Challenge of MOUD's Smart City program, it is imperative to establish the following baseline for deployment of enduser services:

1. Sensing Network: This layer comprises of sensors and edge devices that collect data and video feeds and relay the status of urban and service infrastructure for analysis and decision-making.
2. Comms Network and Data Storage: The comms layer provides connectivity for all edge devices and sensor networks across the municipal footprint where they lie and haul the harvested data and video to data stores.
3. Integration Platform: This layer helps close departmental silos, ensures interoperability across systems and allows for opening up of government data.
4. City Operations and Contact Center: This layer facilitates an integrated approach to city management, by decreasing response time and supporting decision-making.
5. Service Delivery Channels: This layer defines the various channels of service delivery to the end-users.