Page 16 - 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

Scope of work

In May 2015, Dubai, with the assistance of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),
became the world’s first city to assess the efficiency and sustainability of its urban services using
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) developed by the ITU in ITU-T Recommendation
Y.4901/L.1601 and Y.4902/L.1602.
Following the completion of the first year of Dubai’s smart city pilot project with ITU, this case
study documents and identifies the key findings for the initial year of collaboration between
Dubai and ITU. This case study has taken into consideration the results obtained during the
assessment and verification processes during the first year, as well as the in-depth research on
the Dubai smart-sustainable city activities carried out by different entities.
Accordingly, this case study includes:

1) A brief description of ITU’s work on smart sustainable cities.

2) A description of the vision, governance, and strategy adopted by Dubai to become
a smart and sustainable city.
3) A concise outline of the methodology used in Dubai for the first year of the pilot
project.
4) Overview of the smart city related activities carried out in Dubai under each ITU KPI
dimension.
5) Identification of the best practices related to the use and applicability of the ITU
Smart Sustainable Cities KPIs (ITU-T Recommendations Y.4901/L.1601 and
Y.4902/L.1602) for smart and sustainable initiatives based on the first year of the
pilot project in Dubai.
6) A list of key policy recommendations which can be implemented to bring about
methodological improvements in the data collection process in cities starting their
smart city expeditions.
7) Suggestions for improving the overall smart city experience for interested cities and
ITU.

History

Origin of the ITU-T Recommendations on Smart Sustainable Cities

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is committed to accelerating the development
of smart sustainable cities (SSC). In line with this, the ITU has been working on the development
of a framework of policies and standards to promote the use of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) for creating smart sustainable cities (SSC).

Together with United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), ITU has formulated an
international definition for smart sustainable cities (See Figure 1):

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