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Smart Cities of future to help combat challenges of rapid urbanization
Dubai has taken a giant leap to become world's smartest city
More than 70 p.c. people to live in cities by 2050
Dubai - Smart Cities industry is projected to be worth more than $ 400 billion by 2020, according to experts. The mega trend of Smart Cities is the main solution to cope with water and energy shortages, higher air pollution, traffic congestions and other challenges due to rapid urbanization.
By 2050, more than 70 per cent of global population is estimated to be living in urban areas, presenting multiple challenges of managing resources and protecting the environment.
Hamza Achour, Marketing, Alliances & Sales Operations Manager, Smartworld, a leading digital smart service provider in the Middle East, said: "As the population gravitates toward urban areas, globally, we are bound to have higher air pollution, water and energy shortages, traffic congestions and issues like inadequate capacities for disposing of urban and industrial waste for long."
"Smart and intelligent cities are the way forward if we want to ensure superior connectivity, healthy and comfortable lifestyles for all and not be hit by scarcity of resources. Major initiatives are being taken to make cities smarter which will utilize new technology to attain their goals efficiently. Dubai's plans of 100 initiatives in transport, communications, infrastructure, electricity and urban planning and to convert government services to smart services are indicative of the ushering in of a new era," said Achour.
Dubai has already taken a giant leap in this direction with the launch of its strategy to turn to a 'Smart City'. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the 'Smart City' project under which, more than 1,000 government services will go smart in the next two years. Major transformation in the way we live is on the cards as Dubai moves toward its target of becoming the world's smartest city.
According to a United Nations report, urbanization, combined with the overall growth of the world's population, could add another 2.5 billion people to urban populations by 2050, necessitating an efficient management of the global urban areas.
In addition, experts worldwide point out, there will be a need to cope with changes in lifestyles, work, studyalong with time and location constraints.
"Through Smart Cities, we can expect to address these challenges.New technologies, for instance, can not only ensure optimal utilization of available resources, these can provide new services regardless of time or place," said Achour.
IHS Technology expects there will be at least 88 smart cities by 2025, up from 21. Many countries are announcing initiatives to develop new smart cities as well as turn the existing ones smarter.
Recently, India announced its plan to develop 100 smart cities.UK's Bristol announced 'Bristol is open' a multi-million pound experiment to create the smart city of the future. In Japan, the national government has selected 13 locations for its Eco-Model Cities (EMC) scheme.
While this mega advent of Smart Cities would bring in opportunities, Achour said the common aim would be to provide cost efficient smart services.
"These rapid developments will provide great business opportunities especially for technology and service providers. But even before we talk about the revenues, the common goal is to provide cost-efficient services to their residents and make cities both economically vibrant and also environment friendly," he said.
Talking about challenges, he said Smart Cities will need to address digital security and capacity building issues alongwith cost factor at the same time. Effective utilizationof infrastructure, resources and better sustainability are the key, he added.
To achieve this, the service providers need to chalk out their plans and offerings starting now, said Achour.
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About Smartworld
Smartworld is a joint venture between Etisalat and Dubai World Central. The company's growth is driven by the clear vision of being the top-of-the-league digital smart service provider to enable a futuristic digital economic growth. Established in 2008, Smartworld works closely with government entities, telecommunication operators, SMEs and large enterprises delivering them unique value using its state of the art next gen infrastructure, efficient processes and a top notch team.
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© Press Release 2015
