WHAT IS A SMART CITY?

WHAT IS A SMART CITY?

Dear Mr. President: So far, no city in the Philippines has claimed to be a “smart city”, not even Manila, the capital city. But what does it take to be a “smart city”, and which city in the Philippines will be the first to claim it? And how could we tell whether the first claimant would pass the criteria? According to Microsoft Copilot, there are already three “smart cities” in Asia, namely Singapore, Beijing and Songdo in South Korea.

I know that there are several criteria for judging whether a city is already “smart” or not. But as far as I am concerned, the first hurdle should be the automation of all business processes in the city halls, starting with what is commonly known as “Management Information Systems” (MIS). Before MIS, these systems were commonly known as “Electronic Data Processing (EDP) systems. Nowadays however, the “Enterprise Resource Planning” (ERP) approach has become more popular, whether it is hosted on premise, on the cloud, or a combination of both.

In a manner of speaking, the city hall building, and all its surroundings could be considered as a “campus”, and that is why I say that “smart cities”, no matter how big they become, should start with what could be called “smart campuses”. In that context, it would be fair to say that a city would have no basis to call itself a “smart city”, if its city hall campus, which is supposed to be its “nerve center” is “dumb”, so to speak.

It would also be fair to say that all technologies that could eventually be deployed in the entire city should first be tested and tested in the “smart campus”, such as, but not limited to EDP, MIS, ERP, Building Management Systems (BMS), Internet of Things (IoT), big data, data analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics and other innovative solutions. It goes without saying that most if not all authentication technologies will be used, such as bar codes, Quick Response (QR) codes, Near Field Communications (NFC) codes, facial recognition, voice recognition, gait recognition, retinal recognition, thumbprints and the vein pattern recognition recently introduced by FinGo.

As far as I am concerned, a city could not be considered a “smart city” if it is not also a safe city, and a clean city. Aside from that, it should also be a city where the transportation system is affordable and always available. Of course, it should also be a city where the crime rate is low, and the poverty rate is low. Add to that the goal that joblessness should be low, and homelessness should also be low. Not to forget that there should be affordable water, power and internet for all.

Again, according to Copilot, a “smart city” uses “advanced technologies and data analytics to enhance the quality of life of its residents, improve sustainability, and streamline city operations”. Copilot also says that the existing “smart cities” have “implemented various smart technologies to improve urban living, sustainability and efficiency”. In other words, Mr. President, the technologies were only used as tools to improve the human condition in those cities. Technologies were only the inputs that were used to produce the outcomes of having the “good life” because of good governance. IKE SENERES/10-26-2024

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