Building for the future

PA Consulting Group’s Peter Elliott discusses why ‘smart cities’ can promote happiness, diversity and sustainable growth in the fertile Gulf region.

Vibrant and creative cities drive economic, social and cultural development. Governments have an opportunity to ensure ICT infrastructure is integrated into the city fabric, enhancing the lives of citizens, encouraging businesses to invest, and creating a sustainable urban environment. Thinking 'smart' now will ensure that a city retains its competitive edge. Governments need to consider three activities to ensure they can exploit the potential of smart city infrastructure:

• Understand how smart city infrastructure can improve public services, enhance liveability, expand and diversify theeconomy, and promote sustainable development
• Integrate plans for the implementation of ICT infrastructure with other plans for development or renovation
• Decide the role the municipality will play in developing the ICT infrastructure

Governments need to enhance communications between people and government, creating a safe, friendly and efficient environment. Governments and partners can operate services and infrastructure using a single, integrated network with shared service platforms. Citizens will benefit from smart services including: transport management, security and surveillance, e-learning, e-health and identity management. The availability of high speed, low latency networks with excellent global connectivity enables business to benefit from services that exceed anything available elsewhere. Enhancing city connectivity to markets elsewhere gives people the opportunity to learn, and using knowledge and experience developed elsewhere, gives them access to larger markets. This drives the diversity of the urban economy and assures long-term viability of a city.

A sustainable future
Sustainability and a low carbon economy are key challenges for cities. ICT infrastructure enables better resource usage and more efficient operations.  A recent Climate Group and GeSI study (www.smart2020.org) reported that more efficient road transportation could reduce travel time and congestion while saving 240-440 mmt of CO2 emissions and US$65 to US$115 billion. Other smart technologies including smart grid and smart metering can also deliver significant benefits.

There are strong economic incentives for implementing smart infrastructure. ICT investment boosts economic productivity, contributing between 0.3-0.7 percent of GDP per capita growth in OECD countries between 1995 and 2005.  Commercial service providers are unlikely to deliver the ubiquitous high speed network and shared platforms that will enable governments, business and citizens to realise the benefits of smart cities. Some governments have actively participated in promoting ICT infrastructure including Amsterdam and Singapore.

A smart city defined
The smart city requires a ubiquitous ultra-high speed network infrastructure, fixed and wireless, that allows people, business and government to connect with each other enhancing the lives of people living and working in the city by enhancing the social environment, managing built environments more efficiently, enabling innovative services to be offered to consumers and providing world-leading ICT services to businesses that make the city a compelling place to do business. Clients globally have thrived from PA Consulting Group (PA) working with them on all aspects of smart cities, including complete business case, urban planning, procurement process, ICT network and systems, innovative services and implementations.  PA has the skilled people, project experience and sophisticated tools to support governments and municipalities with their smart city ambitions. PA's work worldwide on master planning incorporates the smart cities concept, designing new urban environments that are best suited to promote economic and social well being.

Peter Elliott has over 20 years' experience in ICT. He has extensive experience gained through CTO & CIO roles in leading ICT companies with particular expertise in strategy, technology business cases, complex programme management, ICT network infrastructure, applications and systems. Elliott, who joined PA in 2006, leads the company's smart cities initiative.