Change Is In The Offing

This is an exciting time for discussions on India’s urban transformation, involving various stakeholders. When it comes to citizens’ attitude to security, have you noticed specific trends in India that set it apart from other countries? With over half the global residents today living in urban areas, a ‘safe city’ is progressively being consid­ered essential to ensure prosperity. Violence, crime and fear in cities pose important challenges. Good gover­nance must find a direct function in any urban safety strategy. India, like Indonesia (where I have worked previously) has a big population necessitating government focus and priority on security but, in the end, society itself becomes responsible for following rules and regulations. It is a humongous task to mobilise a huge population but I am convinced that India will change gradually as the government focuses more on security. Countries tend to spend a lot on national defence, but internal security is a different matter altogether. Do you think city and state governments are looking to change that? Yes, we are highlighting and discuss­ing this with many cities directly. In India, cities, states or the central gov­ernment wish to focus on attracting investments, to expand businesses for bigger and better growth opportuni­ties. For this, authorities must assure investors that their investments will be protected, with physical secu­rity being as important as financial. Awareness about cyber security is increasing as well, not only in the public sector but also in other sectors like BFSI. What are some of the core objectives of NEC in India and what are some of the sectors that you would like to focus on in the future? In addition to security solutions, we are trying to expand our offerings to areas like BRT, along with public safety. This requires large invest­ments. We are also participating in a project for the train system in India, details of which I cannot reveal yet. In addition to that, we are also focusing on cyber security, given the various e-governance initiatives, e-commerce and mobile payments that are grow­ing rapidly and where confidentiality and personal information must be secured. What are some of the safe and smart city initiatives that you are collaborating with the government on? We launched the first safe city project using Facial Recognition Solution (FRS) technologies in Surat as a part of our Safe City initiative in India. This is still at the experimental stage, we will identify the best fit as we go forward. Secondly, we have already collaborated with KEONICS in Karnataka to expand the Safe City project. Thirdly, we have an agree­ment with Andhra Pradesh to start the Safe City initiative in Tirupati. India has been witness to a lot of good initiatives that have failed to replicate or scale up successfully. Where do you think the problem lies, for example, when it comes to security? A city’s security challenges and, hence, its needs, will be different since some cities are already devel­oped while others are developing. These challenges may also differ as the population in metros and mega cities like Mumbai and Delhi has increased due to migration from smaller towns. Response may also differ from city to city and this needs to be taken note of. What do you see as the four or five key trends in the years ahead, with regard to smart technologies? Smart technologies refer to smart buildings, transport and energy, among other things. The sequence flow from smart buildings, for example, provides an outline of the status of current utility usage and any discrepancy in the flow of informa­tion can generate an alarm for first responders. Smart transport delivers information from the field and can generate an alert to traffic officials for reporting problems and trigger immediate surveillance comeback for response. Smart energy and smart grids are an important element in the surveillance of critical infrastructure and may lessen the risk of power break­down. About 30 percent efficiency is lost during transmission. Power generation, transmission and distri­bution need to be better managed to bridge this gap between generation and transmission. Storage of power will further ensure smooth and stable distribution in times of scarcity. NEC does not handle the power generation unit but we are developing Energy Management Solutions (EMS) that will automatically identify the most economic power sources. What are two or three key areas where technological interventions can help cities? Transportation is one of the major issues. Apart from that, financial services and also cyber security need greater attention. Personal informa­tion is getting digitalised as are pay­ments that are increasingly becoming mobile based. India is consuming global ICT services where third-party ICT knowhow necessitates the protection of confidential informa­tion and improved response to cyber threats. Successfully combining old data with the new is also a challenge, where technology can help. Your thoughts on India’s 100 Smart Cities Mission? It should be achieved in stages. If the target is 100, then starting with even ten is fine. What is important is design. Otherwise the government is trying to do too many things with too many stakeholders, simultaneously, making co-ordination both time con­suming and difficult in an area where investments take time. I do hope the government will take concrete steps to gradually streamline processes.