With pace of technological innovation, we have been moved from living in the wilderness to inhabiting urban areas, and our societies are always looking forward to an improved quality of life all the ways.We are aiming to be smarter in coming days than today. Many cities around the world are now trying to apply new technologies through implementing different new projects to make the city smart. So, what actually means by “smart city”? What could make a city smart? Despite the growing popularity of this term and so many initiatives taken by the different city authorities over the world, still, most of we are remain blurred about it!
Well, if we think from technological aspects then, smart cities are those cities where people are using various types of information communication technology to provide information in regards to asset and resource management. Smart cities are depending on internet-of-things (IoT) developments, wireless technology, and other innovations to improve quality of life. However, a key aspect that is usually overlooked is, smart cities are setting-up these technologies not just for gathering data but making the city attractive to live.
How a city could become a smart city is mostly depends on how well its decision makers understand what the city dwellers need and how it could be possible to meet their demand. Many municipalities over the world have already started implementing IoT based solutions to make more efficient the city services and collect data that can be turned into actionable results. Services like traffic control, utility, power allocation, and more which are required human interaction is been automated by using different devices and platforms and at the same time, these devices and platforms produce a large number of data which are useful to improve the life of residents. So, strong technology infrastructure and advanced analytics are must be required to make a city smart!Having only a strong technology doesn’t mean that a city is becoming smart but it needs to have a proper plan to bring new innovation. Plan; in terms of ensuring proper support to create innovators and an environment where innovations can take places. Improvements in IoT and empower people to adopt with the positive changes are mandatory to encourage this innovation. If the thing goes like the trash bin given by Dhaka North City Corporation a few days back then, it does not matter how the idea and infrastructure were brilliant, rather it must be the failure all the way. So, we need to develop a sustainable plan to encourage innovation and at the same time empower our citizen. By empowering citizens, our authorities can tie-together with the most powerful resources and create more transparency which must be added value in our daily life. So, only believe in innovation is not enough to bring modernism rather we need to act accordingly.
Recently a number of public spots in Dhaka have been facilitated by WiFi mostly in some universities and which is completely free to access.
If we look closely, we may find some positive changes in internet users over there. Widespread connectivity is an underrated but one of the most important factors of a smart city. Without having widespread internet connectivity in the city smart initiatives from transportation to IoT improvements would fail. In India, telecommunication companies have a partnership with Google to develop a series of public WiFi hotspots to provide better web access to citizens, so why not in Bangladesh?
The concept of the smart city is not just about innovation only but improved lives also. Cities are like Singapore, Tokyo and Moscow are considering innovation is an inclusive process, why not Dhaka? This is not only Governments’ responsibility but we the citizens should come forward to make our city smart. If the Government builds a structure then it’s our responsibility to maintain and make sure that the initiative works towards its goal not like the Trash Bin! Countries in the West are taking the lead to develop infrastructures which allow their citizens to lead a better life, so, this shows we can start with momentum and a solid plan, isn’t it?
The issues I’ve mentioned above are not the only necessary ones to make our cities smart but they are significant enough to meet a society’s ever-evolving needs like Dhaka. We can make our lives better than any other time to improve IoT in the traffic system, health sector, banking sector even in Journalism and so on.
This is high time to make these things happen. If we don’t come forward then, who else? Best wishes for the thinkers and their innovations in coming days with IoT.
https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/275972/IoT-for-smart-city
