Lagos, Johannesburg Rated High in Ericsson City Index Report

Nigeria and South Africa have been rated high in the Ericsson Networked Society City Index 2016 report, which measured Information Technology (ICT) maturity level in developing smart cities in various countries of the world.

Although the two African countries were not close to the top 20 countries in the ranking order, they were mentioned to have effectively used ICT to drive smart city development in their countries. While Johannesburg was considered as a smart city driven by technology development, Lagos was also considered as a smart city, driven by ICT development.

Both Johannesburg and Lagos were ranked 35 and 40 respectively, among the 41 cities of the world that were covered by the Ericsson Networked Society City Index 2016 report.

Ericsson, however, named Stockholm in Sweden as the top-ranking city in the Networked Society City Index 2016, followed by London, Copenhagen, Singapore and Paris.

The index measures the performance of 41 cities from around the world from two perspectives: sustainable urban development and ICT maturity.

Although starting at a low level, Johannesburg and Lagos are progressing in all ICT dimensions of the index which includes infrastructure, affordability, and usage, the report said.

Stockholm is ranked number one in the sustainable urban development part of the index, closely followed by Copenhagen, Helsinki and Paris. London ranks top in the ICT part of the index, replacing Stockholm, which now ranks second before Singapore on third place. Lagos is ranked in a category of better performing cities from an environmental standpoint. Cities in this category perform well with regard to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and energy usage per capita but experience high levels of pollution.

Cities that have noticeably moved up the Networked Society City Index 2016 ranking, compared with the 2014 index, include Barcelona, Istanbul and Jakarta.

However, Hong Kong, Moscow and Dubai dropped in the ranking. In general, cities with low ICT maturity tend to mature faster than cities with higher ICT maturity, which indicates the presence of a catch-up effect.

Other highlights from the Networked Society City Index 2016 include positive correlation between social and economic development and increasing ICT maturity; and ICT not only being critical to socioeconomic progress, but can help decouple this progress from an increased environmental footprint in favor of more sustainable development.

According to the report, ICT infrastructure in Johannesburg is developing rapidly, and the municipality is investing in new infrastructure to ensure affordable high-speed broadband throughout the city. Today, Johannesburg’s relative strength lies in its mobile broadband quality, which is above the index average, the report said.

Although Lagos faces several challenges related to ICT infrastructure, the results for internet usage and electronic payments are better, but still remain well below the index average, the report added.

According to the report, smart city planning will be critical to achieving several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For example, cities will be instrumental for the advancement of climate action, poverty reduction, better health and education, as well as improved social and financial inclusion.