Page 11 - Implementing ITU-T International Standards to Shape Smart Sustainable Cities: The Case of Dubai

Implementing ITU-T International Standards to Shape Smart Sustainable Cities – The Case of Dubai

Executive Summary

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has been at the forefront of fostering the
development of Smart Sustainable Cities worldwide through its close involvement in multiple
initiatives. The ITU Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities (FG-SSC) established the
groundwork and enunciated the fundamentals for transforming the vision of cities through the
systematic inclusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the core of the
sustainability considerations for smart cities.

During the time that FG-SSC was undertaking its work, Dubai and ITU signed a cooperation
agreement in May 2015 whereby Dubai committed to become the first city to pilot the Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to city smartness and sustainability that were formulated
by the FG-SSC. This example is one of the pioneering actions undertaken by Dubai, which is the
second largest emirate of the United Arab Emirates, to reach their goal of becoming the happiest
and smartest city in the world.

Following the work of FG-SSC and the ITU-T Study Group 5 on “Environment Climate Change and
circular economy”, a new ITU-T Study Group 20 entitled “Internet of things and Smart Cities and
Communities” was created in June 2015. This work is being done in coordination with other
study groups and in alignment with the global sustainability agenda articulated in the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In this endeavour, ITU highlighted the actions needed to create conducive conditions to make
modern cities better places to live and to do business in, while at the same time reducing energy
use, carbon emissions and congestion.

As a result of the work of the FG-SSC (mentioned above) and with the knowledge that Dubai was
prepared to initiate a pilot project, ITU-T completed a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
to assess the impact of the use of ICTs in the sustainability of smart cities. These KPIs are now
included in Recommendations ITU-T Y.4901/L.1601, Key performance indicators related to the
use of information and communication technology in smart sustainable cities and ITU-T
Y.4902/L.1602, Key performance indicators related to the sustainability impacts of information
and communication technology in smart sustainable cities.
The pilot project undertaken by Dubai (based on the cooperation agreement mentioned above),
tested the KPIs included in both Recommendations and also provided inputs to ITU-T Study
Group 5 on how ITU-T Y.4901/L.1601 and ITU-T Y.4902/L.1602 could be improved. The first
phase also included a KPI assessment and verification process conducted during the last quarter
of 2015 to allow for an accurate indication of the current performance of Dubai.
While the pilot project was underway in Dubai, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
were approved and as such the process to improve ITU-T Y.4901/L.1601 and ITU-T
Y.4902/L.1602 was modified to include a goal of supporting the UN SDGs.
With the knowledge gained through the Dubai pilot project, in July 2016, ITU in conjunction with
UNECE launched the United for Smart Sustainable Cities Initiative (U4SSC) in partnership with
14 other UN Agencies and Programmes. One of the goals of the initiative is to update the KPIs
contained in ITU-T Y.4901/L.1601, ITU-T Y.4902/L.1602 and ITU-T Y.4903/L.1603 to foster
support the realization of the UN SDGs and the development of a Smart Sustainable City Index
to which the improved KPIs will be a key input.

The pilot project undertaken by Dubai demonstrates beyond doubt their steadfast resolve to
speedily join the ranks of internationally recognized smart cities and lead the global process to
transform the current urban environments. The experiences related to the first year of Dubai
pilot project are reflected in this case study. This case study will provide other smart city
practitioners with an in-depth view of the processes implemented during this pilot project,

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