Wg. Cdr. Pradeep Valsangkar
Urbanization in India has been accelerating due to country’s adoption of a mixed economy. Population residing in urban areas in India, according to 1901 census, was 11.4%. This count increased to 28.53% according to 2001 census, and crossing 30% as per 2011 census, standing at 31.16% In 2017. These numbers increased to 34%, according to The World Bank. According to a survey by UN State of the World Population report in 2007, by 2030, 40.76% of country’s population is expected to reside in urban areas. As per World Bank, India, along with China, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the United States, will lead the world’s urban population surge by 2050. No wonder improving the lives of the citizens living in the urban areas through the adoption of Smart City initiatives is a major Project of the NDA Government at the centre.
A city is a complex system of systems, involving many different domains, infrastructures, organizations and activities. All these systems need to integrate and work together effectively for that city to become smart. This integration needs to take place at many levels, technical level of course, but also about integration of business processes and management, integrated strategies and regulations. It is clearly impossible to develop a single model of a smart city that will be simple enough, but will be comprehensive enough to cover all the key aspects. However one factor that stands out clearly is the “Adoption of Key Information & Communication technology across all aspects of urban Living”.
While urban infrastructure may provide facilities to the citizens, they can only be converted in to smart solutions and services through the use of Digital Technology. Digital technology acts as a force multiplier that multiplies the impact of the underlying infrastructure by many folds. Hence the smart grid makes power distribution far more efficient bringing down the mean time between failures; smart transportation makes available to the commuters’ whole lot of information that helps them make critical travel decisions that saves them time and money and smart street lights automatically figure out times to switch on and off thereby saving lots of critical energy.
It is there for important that the digital technology take the centre stage in the implementation of the Smart city solutions across the state. Implementation of digital technology solutions across all domains of the city infrastructure is covered under the Pan City ICT Solution Component of the Government of India’s 100 Smart City Program.
While implementation of the Digital technology solution shall immensely enhance the effectiveness of the urban infrastructure; there is very little capacity amongst the city corporations and administrators to understand and implement such technology solutions effectively. Thus, the cities face innumerable challenges in implementing smart City Projects. No wonder, not much progress has happened across the designated Smart Cities in the country. Some of the Major Challenges faced by Smart Cities include:
- Advanced Technology Solutions: Most of the Technology solutions in the Smart City space belong to the advanced technology category. Take for example “Internet of Things” (IoT) based data acquisition and analysis, Advanced data analytics using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Integration of voluminous data from across varied domains in to a Command and Control centre, Use of advanced Video technology and real time systems for different domains. While the implementing agencies need not get in to the details of these technologies, there is a need for them to at least know the nuances of these technologies. However, such working knowledge of these technologies is clearly missing from the smart City Practitioners in the field.
- Information Technology Project Implementation Expertise: City municipalities and the commissioners have historically been involved in implementing Urban infrastructure projects. The life cycle of implementing an Urban infrastructure project is very different from that of an advanced Information technology project. Lack of knowledge in implementing large Information Technology projects with their nuances and complexities, severely limits the ability of the municipalities in implementing such projects. Take for example detailed User acceptance testing is an integral part of any Information technology project. However, no such step exists in the implementation of an infrastructure project like building a bridge or a dam.
- Difficulties in The Procurement of large Smart City Projects. Usually a common man sees allocation of large sums of money to big projects announced by the Government of India. Smart City projects in India are no exception to this rule. Rs.1000 crore have been allocated to each of the designated smart city. However, spending this money is not an easy task. Detailed project reports, Developing voluminous Request for Proposal or Tender documents, lengthy and complicated tendering procedures, technical and financial negotiations, Putting in place a legally tenable contract for project implementation and finally implementing the project successfully is a long and complicated road to success. Add to this complicated procedure the ever-dangling sword of the Central Vigilance Commission, Auditor generals audit and the central Bureau of Investigations keep the senior bureaucrats on tender hooks while taking any big financial decisions in regard to these projects. From a career perspective, some of the Bureaucrats find it safe to not take decisions rather than take risky decisions to implement project.
- Financial Difficulties in Converting cities in to Smart Cities. It may seem that large sums of money have been allocated to implementing Smart Cities in India. However, reconstructing the old and dilapidated infrastructure in Indian cities requires far bigger budget allocations. Old and blocked drainage system, old and poorly constructed roads, inadequate power supplies to the municipalities, poor and inadequate city transportation system, poor health care and education institutions, all add up to requirements of much bigger budgets than what has been allocated for building the Indian smart cities. The newly created Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for implementation of smart cities are grappling with development of new financial instruments to raise adequate budgets for implementing all aspects of the Smart City.
- Overall Work Culture of City Municipalities: Traditionally the municipalities have been burdened with fire fighting of immediate problems on a daily basis. The lights on an important road are not functioning, the garbage collection trucks have broken down, a drainage is blocked or big gaping holes have appeared on a large arterial road. The municipal commissioner seems to be on his phone, speaking with different authorities all the time, in resolving these days to day problems. S/he just doesn’t have the time or the expertise that is required to implement large Information technology infrastructure projects. Also, poor working conditions, continuous pressure from the political bosses, low levels of pay scales etc, over a long period of time has created a work culture amongst the municipal employees that has no incentives for implementing some state-of-the-art modern systems in the municipality domain. As such these employees see these new age projects as an additional burden on their already burdened lifestyle.
- Social Fabric of Cities: It will be incorrect to blame only the civic authorities for the failure of development and sustainability of modern amenities in Indian cities. The citizens of the country are as much to be blamed for it. Poor social behaviour, poor habits of littering the roads, indifferent attitude towards anything that is in public good all add up to undermining any new infrastructure that has been put up in the smart cities. Strict laws and their implementation in the social sector are needed to ensure that the newly created smart city infrastructure is put to better use for the citizens of the city.
All the above issues require deft handling and leadership skills to implement smart city projects in Indian cities. There is a need to induct fresh and young professionals from the Privet sector to help implement the Smart City projects in the country. Young professionals with sound understating of the underlying Information and communication technology, effective management of such technology intensive projects, good procurement and financial acumen and great communication skills will alone be successful in implementing such projects in the chosen Indian cities. The recent experiment of the Government of India in inducting Joint Secretary Level officers in the government domain should be emulated in the smart city space for inducting young and effective professionals to head the Special Purpose Vehicles created for implementation of Smart Cities. Such professionals with energy and vigour and without the burden and fear of Indian bureaucracy will be best suited to implement such projects in India.
About the Author
Wg. Cdr. Pradeep Valsangkar is a postgraduate Engineer from the IAF. He completed his M.tech in Computer Science from IIT Powai , MBA from FMS Delhi and is also a graduate of Defence Services Staff College of India. After leaving service he has worked in various capacities across different IT services companies. He has been working as a a senior consultant of the world bank for last 15 years, a visiting faculty at Institute of Management technology and runs his consulting firm Global Consulting Solutions.
