SMART SOLUTIONS FOR SMART INFRASTRUCTURES
Globally, 'smart city' is the new buzzword as far as infrastructure development is concerned. In India, it is estimated that 70 per cent of its entire infrastructure that will exist in 2030 are yet to be built. With increased focus on reviving economy through infrastructure development, the Indian government has announced an ambitious plan to develop 100 smart cities having an aggressive spending of $7.27 billion over the next five years. However, the smartness in a city lies in integration of the core city subsystems and enabling seamless service delivery to improve quality of life by using urban informatics and technology. Therefore, to make cities in India smart, there is the need for an integrated approach to modernize city infrastructure, and leverage technology to improve efficiency and capacity of city services. The infrastructure overhaul would include creating intelligent transport systems, smart grids, smart waste management, and smart water management. Physical infrastructure, hardware and software serve as the building blocks of a smart infrastructure framework. Effective and intelligent management of energy, sewage, solid waste, water, transportation, and buildings would hold the keys for a successful smart city mission implementation. In a bid to manage a city's infrastructure assets, integration of multiple information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions in a secure fashion is essential. It will enable effective communication, smooth integration of different building blocks and real-time monitoring of services thereby offering a better quality of life. References: Presentation of smart cities and solution. Wikipedia smart city. Image Courtesy: Paulo Manuel Furtado Pires / Shutterstock.com