The Narendra Modi government has ambitious plans to create 100 smart cities across the country. But the government white paper on the subject does not clearly state what a smart city is and how they will be developed. BLink spoke to technology major Cisco, which has prepared the information and communication technology (ICT) roadmap for four smart cities. Purushottam Kaushik, managing director, sales, growth verticals, Cisco India & SAARC, explains what a smart city will look like. Edited excerpts from an interview:

There is no standard definition of a smart city. What, according to you, is a smart city?

Over the past few years, the definition of smart cities has evolved to mean many things to many people. Yet, one aspect remains constant: part of being ‘smart’ is utilising ICT and the internet to address urban challenges. Digital urbanism is rapidly becoming a central pillar for urban planners, architects, developers, and transportation providers, as well as in public service provision. The foundation for a digital India will be intelligent networks which will transform the delivery of citizen services from transportation, utilities and security to entertainment, education, and healthcare.

Cisco has prepared the roadmap for four smart cities in India. What does that roadmap entail?

Cisco has prepared the ICT master plan for four smart cities which was proposed under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project. As part of the project, Cisco is preparing plans for Shendra Industrial Park in Maharashtra, Dholera Special Investment Region in Gujarat, Manesar Bawal Investment Region in Haryana and Khushkhera Bhiwadi Neemrana Investment Region in Rajasthan. The objective is to dovetail physical planning with digital planning so as to ensure integrated control and governance. Cisco Smart City in Bangalore is a showcase of how the government can offer governance and essential services to citizens digitally, build broadband highways, enable digital inclusion and deliver information for all.

What is the role of technology in a smart city?

With regard to utilisation of technology , the end result is to leverage the internet and telecommunications technology to enable the city and citizen multiple services, thereby enhancing their quality of life. Cities are growing at the rate of 10,000 people every hour even as we continue to accelerate towards a world of connected devices. For every two people connected around the globe, there are five more ready to be connected, and for every device connected to the internet, 10 more are set to join in the near future. Through the Internet of Everything, we can help countries, cities and communities embrace sustainable urban development and enable economic, social and environmental stability. Cisco has already demonstrated this with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation where we have deployed a video surveillance system. The solution utilises live camera feeds and alerts from IP-based outdoor cameras. The solution detects and records attacks, theft, vehicular movement, human movement, etc and alerts officials in a centralised control room which will enable faster incident response.

Cisco has also undertaken a pilot project for the Bangalore City Police, where citizens can avail of an ATM-like kiosk to file FIRs remotely, irrespective of the jurisdiction in which an incident taken place. The system utilises video and audio; touch screen, virtual keyboard and Cisco collaboration technology, allowing citizens to launch a live video session with a designated police officer. Post filing of the FIR, the citizen instantly receives a printed copy as an acknowledgement. In response to the success of the pilot and positive citizen feedback, the City Police have announced their intent to set-up 100 more such kiosks.

How easy or difficult will be the implementation of technology on such a large scale ?

Building a smart city from scratch is relatively easy compared with the task of introducing intelligence into an existing urban environment ie retro-fitting a smart city. For most cities, the challenge does not relate to creating a smart city from scratch but rather, on adding intelligence to existing infrastructure. Further complications arise as a result of distributed infrastructure, and multiple government departments which become hurdles in architectural design and implementation. What is needed is a step-by-step process starting with simple solutions to improve basic city intelligence like sensors, cameras, connected transport, smart lighting etc. to larger interventions such as a consolidated Common Information Model.

Since technology is at the core of smart cities, how will it accommodate those who are technologically illiterate?

Technology has been absorbed ubiquitously across India through smart phones and the mobility revolution has extended through every layer of society. Technology is an enabler of progress, and applications therefore need to be aligned to ensure that people of all educational backgrounds are able to leverage the benefits of technology for social and economic progress.

With a high rate of technological obsolescence, the costs of upgradation (of various devices/processes for city administrators and inhabitants) would be high. Has Cisco analysed that aspect of future costs?

At Cisco, we leverage our Cisco Capital arm which helps mitigate the risk of technology obsolescence. Today, there are multiple financing options that offer the flexibility needed to upgrade to new technology to cater to current and future business requirements.

What kind of back-ups can one expect in smart cities if technology/networks fail?

Redundancy has to be built into the foundation of the architecture that goes into any smart city solution. Given that essential and core services run on these solutions, ring-based networks, redundant data centres, and back-up of end devices give operators the assurance of high availability in any scenario.

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