Smart Cities involves the interplay of multiple contents and stakeholders. Hence, it can be regarded as the Art and Science of Systemising Complexity. Through this systemization, it aligns various city stakeholders involving governments, communities, private sectors, youth, academia and NGOs, towards addressing the key challenges of urbanization and climate change in cities.  There are 6 key steps to get started on Smart Cities namely Planning, Governance, Innovation Hub, Delivery Office, Data Management, and eventually leading to the pinnacle of operationalising the Integrated Operation Centre (IOC). With these 6 systemised steps, it will also de-risk delivery and private investments in smart cities.

 

STEP 1 - SMART CITY VISION

Smart City Vision is translated through a common document, Smart City Action Plan (SCAP) at the local level. For developing countries which are dependent on private sector partnership, this SCAP will in turn indirectly translate into the private sector business plan. The key components of SCAP are Aligning to current policies, baseline digitalization readiness, strategies development, maturity roadmap, action plan development, and implementation management.

 

STEP 2 - SMART CITY GOVERNANCE

To operationalize the SCAP, its implementation governance need to be firstly put in placed. Smart City Governance involves the establishment of Terms of Reference (TOR) for two level governance namely Program Steering Committee and Program Implementation Committee. The Secretariat for these two committee is the Program Delivery Office (PDO). Program Steering Committee oversees city services, operations, data management and risk management of the program. Program Implementation Committee on the other hand oversees the implementation coordination of smart solutions and related enablers

 

STEP 3 - CITY INNOVATION HUB

Upon operationalizing the governance system, other external stakeholders need to  commence their participation in jointly delivering the program as outlined in the SCAP. As these stakeholders are from different background and perspectives, it is crucial that they interact on a neutral platform to spur open-mindset and collaboration. Hence, neutral platform such as City Innovation Hub is a critical element in smart city delivery to unleash city innovations. To sustain the hub, it needs to operates on 3 key elements are Community, Contents and Place

 

STEP 4 - PROGRAM DELIVERY OFFICE (PDO)

Through the Innovation Hub, collaborations amongst stakeholders are derived and spurring various smart city projects and initiatives, involving the related smart domain namely smart community and living, smart economy, smart mobility, smart government, smart environment and smart digital infrastructure. These multi-projects need to be planned, coordinated, monitored and reported through a central coordination team, namely the PDO. The PDO also manages the progress in smart city through the Smart City Maturity Roadmap. Apart from overseeing projects, the PDO also carries out Program Management involving operationalisation of the Integrated Operation Centre (IOC), Data Management, Funding Planning, Risk Reporting, etc. In view of these required Program Management capabilities, partnership with private sector (at program level, beyond just projects) is a necessity in delivering and realizing the smart city aspirations.

 

STEP 5 – DATA MANAGEMENT

Through various smart solution projects, there will be high volume of data to be consolidated, integrated, and processed towards value creation, as one of key objectives of smart cities. Hence, Data Pipeline Management is an important capabilities to facilitate data sharing policies, data cleansing, data aggregation, data profiling, data cataloguing, data modelling, data analytics, data platforms and data services. Data output from these processes are translated in the form of digital twins, urban observatories, citizen apps, reports, etc.

 

STEP 6 – DATA MANAGEMENT

Data management therefore plays a critical role to support the operationalization of IOCs in terms of city planning, surveillance and decision making. The IOCs operates on 3 modes namely Mode1 : Daily Management (to spur Digital Economy and citizen well-being) , Mode 2 : Incident/Accident Management (by police, fire brigade, health authorities) and Mode 3 : Disaster Management (Disaster Management agencies). The early and accelerated recovery of cities from Modes 2 and 3, returning to Mode 1 demonstrates the city’s sustainability and resilient.

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STEP 7 – DISASTER/CRISIS MANAGEMENT

For cities to be resilient and sustainable, it needs to accelerate its preparedness for disaster and crisis scenario encompassing : Pre-disaster activities focus on preparedness and mitigation, including risk assessment, early warning systems, education, and infrastructure improvements to reduce vulnerabilities. During a disaster, efforts shift to response, prioritizing saving lives, providing emergency aid, and ensuring effective coordination among agencies. The recovery phase involves rebuilding and rehabilitation, restoring essential services, and supporting affected communities through financial and psychological aid. Finally, post-disaster activities emphasize evaluation, learning from the event, revising strategies, and implementing sustainable measures to better prepare for future risks, thereby creating a continuous improvement loop in disaster management.

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