Developing smart island economies

The idea of building smart cities started in Los Angeles, where a study on neighborhood demographics and housing quality was undertaken by the LA Community Analysis Bureau in 1974. Using cluster analysis and aerial photography, its goal was to create an urban information system to tackle the city’s problems.

Over the past 40 years, the smart city concept has evolved due to rapid urbanization, economic competition, aging infrastructure, and climate change. In 2015, North America’s first major smart cities conference was launched in Washington D.C., while in Europe, smart city investments are growing in urban areas such as Copenhagen and Barcelona. Future cities, as they are also called, have sprouted in pockets of Asia-Pacific notably in Singapore, Yokohama, and Christchurch.

After smart cities, now comes the advocacy for smart islands. The Canary and Balearic archipelagos of Spain that are popular tourist destinations have submitted bids for a smart island initiative on networked living scheduled to run up until 2019.

Here at home, a case in point is Boracay, which in its virgin state, had no electricity or indoor plumbing. As recent as the early 1990s, its waters were clean, and concrete structures were prohibited on the beachfront – a far cry from the runaway commercialization today.

Such unregulated growth could potentially create social disruptions. Filipinos should learn from the jewel of the Mediterranean coastline – Cote d’Azur in the south of France – that has undergone more than a century of tourism development. Yet the French Riviera has retained its status among the most celebrated coastal destinations in the world.

Another shining example is Bang Rong, a small community in Phuket, Thailand where residents banded together in 2000 to form an agro-tourism association aimed at better managing the local hospitality industry. Bang Rong’s pier has evolved into a popular attraction, with kayaking tours around the mangroves. Residents of the selfsustaining community realized the importance of those mangroves that were instrumental in protecting them from the wrath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Boracay’s location in the province of Aklan, slightly off the northern coast of Panay Island in Western Visayas region, is strategically at the center of the Philippine map. Aklan is now booming, and several private companies are investing a total of P20 billion for power and infrastructure development in the province over the next three years. These projects include solar, wind, and hydro power generation plants with a combined capacity of at least 70 megawatts.

Among the first to operate is Petro Energy’s wind farm in Nabas, a coastal town overlooking Boracay. In 2015, the project consisting of 18 wind turbine generators started feeding energy to the Visayas grid. This was Aklan’s maiden export of power sourced from the single biggest renewable energy venture in the province.

Investments are also on the rise in the municipality of Malay, which is home to Boracay’s three barangays. Ayala-owned Manila Water operates a 25-year concession there and is set to expand the coverage of its water supply business to the entire Aklan.

New resorts have sprouted on the front and back beaches of the “World’s Best Island” as voted by global readers of Travel+ Leisure Magazine. Nowadays, environmental measures are being implemented to prevent over-development and preserve the world’s best beach as a holiday haven. Just like Cote d’Azur and Bang Rong, can Boracay become a smart island economy for future generations?

*** J. Albert Gamboa is the CFO of Asian Center for Legal Excellence and Senior Producer of Bloomberg TV Philippines. nextgenmedia@ gmail.com.