latest updates about digital infrastructure and the future Smart Cities mission?

latest updates about digital infrastructure and the future Smart Cities mission?

As local governments play a key role in the planning, delivery, and delivery of services, they need to provide a digital infrastructure developed as part of the Smart Cities mission.

When the Smart Cities (SCM) mission was launched on June 25, 2015, it was not described as “smart”. At the same time, the main focus was on the development of digital infrastructure and the implementation of technological solutions for urban governance and services.

Since then, many cities have managed to deploy digital infrastructure - the most common integrated command and control centers (ICCs), which have doubled as a battlefield for many cities during the Covid-19 epidemic. At the same time, more digital infrastructure has been installed in cities - sensors to measure traffic flow, coastal blocks that monitor urban vehicles, smart poles, and services that perform multiple sensing, surveillance, and network functions. plan applications.

As cities are busy completing projects before next year’s SCM closes, the question is worth asking: what will happen to the city’s digital infrastructure and the data it produces?

SCM required cities to install special purpose vehicles (SPVs) under the Companies Act to plan and implement projects. The specialized companies are owned by the respective state governments and the ULBs that constitute the shares. These institutions are outside the traditional chain of city government. It is estimated that SPV will help eliminate administrative barriers to project implementation, strengthen interagency cooperation, facilitate financial rapprochement, and attract private sector investment to cities.

While SPCs may be considered less effective in implementing projects in collaboration with departments in different cities, there are several examples of effective coordination of funding or private sector investment - often SPEs are linked to SCM funds for project implementation and day-to-day operations. Liq. . . If SCM funds run out, there is no clarity on how SPC funds will be raised.

As with the uncertain future of certain businesses, the potential of digital infrastructure assets and the data they create is less clear. The main problem is the lack of open access to infrastructure. If the SPV is dissolved, who will control the assets where much public money is spent? While some infrastructure is being developed for government agencies such as the Department of Transportation or the police, it is unclear whether they have such infrastructure.

Who controls this infrastructure outside the property? Many Smart City projects have seven-year operation and maintenance (O&M) contracts between vendors and specialized companies. If the SPVs are dissolved, it is unknown which agency will deal with these contracts. There have been many instances of infrastructure collapse, such as public buses and sewage treatment plants, following the completion of programs under previous governments. Such a classic infrastructure requires more advanced investment and lower operating and maintenance costs, but a digital infrastructure does the opposite. If digital infrastructure is not regularly calibrated and maintained, it will break down quickly.

The Syrian Statistics Center also predicts that digital infrastructure will bring revenue to the city in the future. The experience of previous missions, such as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Reconstruction Mission (JNNURM), has shown the failure of this model. Smart poles and fiber-optic devices installed by SPV can be leased to carriers to accommodate a 5G network, but it is unknown which city agency will manage the vendors, as well as the businesses that manage and supply them, due to uncertainty over the ownership of the assets. It can set conditions, and from whom it can make a profit. These features

ICCCs are basic digital infrastructures that apply to all other infrastructures developed within the SCM. In addition, the Remote Control Centers (MCCs) centralize all the information collected from these infrastructures, creating a clear picture of the entire city, from services, transportation, and public transportation to solid waste management. If SPV can’t do that right now, which city agency can monitor all of the city’s activities, along with international climate change centers? ICCC data improve service, reduce leakage, and develop solutions

Digital assets can also provide an income stream for ULBs - leased infrastructure networks, such as fiber optic cables and smart poles. The revenue will help cover maintenance and repair costs and could contribute to future infrastructure expansion. The value of the data generated by these infrastructures can also be explored by providing researchers, universities, and hackathons with abundant resources rather than providing traffic data and outsourcing advice for future solutions.