Smart cities and technology

Technology is also a key  driver in other goals, including Goal 7 (affordable and clean energy, Goal 12 (responsible consumption and production and Goal 13 (climate action). Less directly, it can help cities advance other socially and environmentally focussed goals.

There are many definitions for the term ‘smart city’, but these definitions all agree that information and communication technology (ICT) is central to improving the quality and performance of public services. Appropriate use of ICT in transportation, health, energy and other utilities can reduce consumption and waste and combat climate change.

As urban populations grow and demand for public services increases, governments need to find new ways to engage citizens in decision-making and to ensure policies are equitable and embraced at the community level. Beyond technically-optimised infrastructure, an encompassing view understands the smart city as a strategy for deploying ICT to bring people into practices of urban governance and innovation.

Below are 5 programmes on the use platform being implemented by local governments in partnerships with NGO’s, civil society and the private sector to make their cities smart and sustainable:

 

SmartData Platform, Chicago

The SmartData Platform utilizes an open-source data infrastructure and set of algorithms to power a predictive analytics tool that enables data-driven decision making. The Platform allows policymakers to make sense of the city’s billions of lines of data stored in disparate systems. Managers are able to find answers to specific questions without having to manually search for data, or even know where or how the data is stored. The SmartData platform’s potential impact also includes crime reduction and prevention, as well as prevention strategies for public health, homelessness, infrastructure maintenance, and the delivery of core services.

https://use.metropolis.org/case-studies/smartdata-platform-solving-problems-before-they-start

 

Kolorob – Dhaka, Bangladesh

Kolorob aims to eliminate the social gap of low-income communities and people living in urban poor settlements, providing target users - primarily young people, parents and caregivers - with critical information. This online service directory and interactive map helps new urban dwellers to search and compare information: to find a clinic, or a school, or a government office that they may have otherwise not known about and delivers that information quickly and freely. Users of the app can also add new information to the app, update details of an existing school, or add details of a new employment opportunity. Users can provide feedback on the services that they have paid for.

https://use.metropolis.org/case-studies/kolorob-lighting-up-the-city

 

Sao Paulo Public Innovation Labs – Sao Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo is South America’s most populated city and the municipal government’s main challenge has always been finding effective ways to communicate and engage with citizens. To address this complex issue, public innovation labs as platforms of communication between municipal administrations, civil society and the private sector have been established. Actions to increase citizen participation in the decision-making process for policy and service issues through collaborative approaches are being trailed and evaluated.

https://use.metropolis.org/case-studies/sao-paulo-public-innovation-labs

 

Ramani Huria - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

To address issues around natural disasters, the Ramani Huria project uses community mapping to raise awareness and increase resilience. The project involves university students working with community members using open source tools in order to collect the data that is needed to better understand the effects of flooding. The tools are simple to learn and can be used by anyone who has an Android smartphone. Ramani Huria also uses open source software so the data can be easily accessed by everyone.

https://use.metropolis.org/case-studies/ramani-huria

 

OpenBorough: active citizenship via e-participation – Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Amsterdam City Council is working with citizens, to consider how it might bring greater transparency and flexibility to its own participation processes. OpenBorough is piloting stand-alone functionalities and simple prototypes that will gradually build the city’s e-participatory capabilities.  The project encourages citizens to share their ideas, vote or undertake action and mobilise their creativity and knowledge. Through the engagement of more residents in the consultation processes, the project aims to improve the legitimacy of council actions and to generate evidence of political engagement and the cost-effectiveness of participatory democracy so that it becomes policy across all borough’s in Amsterdam.

https://use.metropolis.org/case-studies/project-openborough

 

For more programmes and policies related to cities and technology you can search the use data base by SDGs or topic – smart city and technology: https://use.metropolis.org/search