Challenges To Overcome Before A City Can Become A Smart City
The world is progressing towards digitization in every aspect, with an ultimate goal of making every city a smart city. However, there are many hurdles along the way. Every city has its own deployment issues and unique innovative measures are needed to resolve them.
As a developing country, India faces socio-economic challenges that need to be solved before taking a step towards the smart city dream. These include:
The smart city concept emphasises the marriage of innovation and technology to make a city more environment-friendly while adding to the benefits of the residents. Cashless transactions are gaining a momentum in major cities, but there is still a long way to go.
Every technology brings with it immense possibilities which can be used in a number of ways to make a smart city. Traffic is a major issue that every big city faces. The absence of seamless transportation costs residents not only money, but also time and energy.
Power lies in the hands of city residents. Digitization of cities will not happen unless everyone can use and understand technology. For the most part, people are unwilling to adapt to new technologies and methods, preferring to stick to familiar methods.
Government offices like the tax office, electricity department, government banks etc, are slowly moving towards the digital platform that helps the customers in the easiest way. Technology giants like IBM, CISCO, have partnered with government to provide much-needed support on the road to making smart cities. With citizen cooperation and the proper research, it is only a matter of time before all cities are smart cities.
