CLIMATE CHANGE & SUSTAINABILITY 115
“ Today we witness a shift of the problematic from an infrastructure-led logic to a service-led economy. We are becoming less dependent from infrastructures: web, mobility, cloud computing helped to overcome the constraints of the old client / computing server relation; and a modern browser has become the universal interface between all access points to information: smartphones, tablets or laptops, and applications.”
smart infrastructure but to produce and control the data- the Big Data – collected throughout the infrastructure networks. The key ingredient to develop smart solutions for cities is data that is not only necessary to plan the changes in the city, but also to gather real-time information to manage services and use infrastructure better.
And that shift is a unique chance for developing countries where urbanization is projected to be at its most rapid pace. Many have inadequate infrastructure that will require enormous investments to retrofit to standards. New cities require huge investments that developing countries need to balance with other priorities. Already facing increasing pressures to deliver more and better basic services to a growing urban population, countries will need support in exploring approaches that fit local contexts. The“ big data” is part of the solution; Kenya succeeded to“ monetise” the country with the help of the mobile phone despite the lack of a sophisticated banking infrastructure.
Smart cities cannot be developed through a patchwork approach, but by the step-by-step adoption of incremental improvements. Integrating infrastructures and services depends strongly on interoperability( i. e. devices and systems working together), which in turn is facilitated by technical standards. As IEC said in its recent White Paper, standards are essential enablers by guaranteeing an expected performance level and compatibility between technologies.
Thus, It is the improvement and the integration of infrastructure policy with the comprehensive understanding of the city process as well as of the behaviour of their stakeholders, including citizen’ s participation, which will make smart city become a reality.
After all it is on the social fabric, not only on economic competitiveness and cutting-edge infrastructure that resilient and sustainable cities are built.