Surat ties up with Microsoft to achieve Smart City dream

In what will become a feather in the cap for the diamond city - Surat, the local civic body has tied up with technology giant, Microsoft for bringing innovative and online solutions in civic services and make them more responsive, efficient and people-centric.

Microsoft's CityNext service will empower citizens in Surat with open data and digital way of accessing civic services, thereby making Surat a Smart City.

Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and Microsoft India will jointly transform Surat into a smart city by adopting process automation and technology-driven citizen services, a statement said.

The engagement between Microsoft and SMC would involve citizen services across RTI, property tax payments, birth & death registration, grievance redressal system, vaccination alert system, application tracking systems, disease statistics/reports for hospitals and solid waste management system. Also, it would include utility services including water supply and sewage systems.

Milind Torawane, Surat Municipal Commissioner, said, "Over the course of the next few months, we will work with Microsoft and its partners, Iconics and SoftTech, on solutions for water management and urban planning (building plan approvals). These along with other similar solutions will help us keep the citizen at the centre of our development and fulfil our smart city vision."

Microsoft CityNext is a people-first initiative to enable residents and city leaders to use technology to build a foundation for sustainable growth and prosperity.

The CityNext initiative has been successfully implemented in cities across the world including Paris, Washington DC and Auckland.

"With help from Microsoft and its partner ecosystem, the city administration is evaluating technology infrastructure to meet the changing needs of its citizens," added Torawane.

Surat, one of the fourth-fastest growing cities in the world, has a population of 50 lakh and a business hub for diamonds and textiles business.

Commenting on the announcement, Niranjan Zanzmera, Mayor - Surat said, “By transforming Surat into a smart city, we are setting a benchmark for other cities in the country on how IT solutions can help empower citizens and address cities biggest challenges and fuel economic growth."

Microsoft's City Dashboard would provide a customized view of key performance indicators for the city. The Dashboard displays important indices at a city level and for specific city domains such as complaints, health, and project works, among others.