Mumbai, Medellin: Knowledge networks
Fourth Industrial Revolution guided Japanese choice models
17: Mumbai and Medellin would be the two knowledge sharing regional networks for South East Asia and Latin America respectively to help realise and align smaller cities in the zones to execute their vision to become smart cities in the coming years, a top industrial source has said.
The two World Economic Forum (WEF) selected networks, which would be hosted by India and Colombia respectively to connect leading pioneer cities from the Global Alliance with smaller cities in the region, will also help them have better cyber security as cyber attacks are becoming more frequent globally.
“Our ready for market approach with solutions for smart cities follows a recent announcement by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to launch two regional networks of cities in South Asia and Latin America with the aim to share knowledge on smart city development, while protecting public interests related to privacy, security and sustainability,” the source, who did not wish to be named, said.
“With cyberattacks on municipalities rising and digital technologies becoming central to economic competitiveness and especially so in India, small cities need to invest in new technologies but have less capacity than their larger global counterparts to implement and ensure effective governance, said the source, who is close to one major technology group which is in talks with several parties to offer its products and solutions tailored to specific need of each city. Bengaluru, Bhopal, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Kohima, Mangalore, Raipur, Shillong and Thane are on top Indian cities in the smart city list that would be seeking global best practices to be tech-driven municipalities for growth of local economies, according to the source.
He said global technology companies have positioned their solutions and products to help India realise and align its ambitions with the vision of smart cities in the coming years.
These networks selected last month as part of the WEF’s G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance are designed to help small cities implement new technology policies and will be supported by partners of the WEF and the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) Global Network. Going forward, the Japanese cities are their choice models which were guided by the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Japan, he noted.