Page 17 - 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

Figure 1 – ITU and UNECE’s definition for smart, sustainable cities

“A smart sustainable city is an innovative city that uses information and communication
technologies (ICTs) and other means to improve quality of life, efficiency of urban operation and
services, and competitiveness, while ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future
generations with respect to economic, social, environmental as well as cultural aspects”.

Through its telecommunication standardization sector (ITU-T) Study Groups, ITU has developed
a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to facilitate the integration of ICT services in smart
sustainable cities. These indicators are contained in Recommendation ITU-T Y.4901/L.1601: Key
performance indicators related to the use of information and communication technology in
smart sustainable cities, and in Recommendation ITU-T Y.4902/L.1602: Key performance
indicators related to the sustainability impacts of information and communication technology in
smart sustainable cities. Both Recommendations ITU-T Y.4901/L.1601 and ITU-T Y.4902/L.1602
were approved as international standards (ITU-T Recommendations) on 5 June 2016.

These Recommendations (ITU-T Y.4901/L.1601 and ITU-T Y.4902/L.1602) are being utilized to
assist Dubai and other cities to evaluate ICT´s contributions in making cities smarter and more
sustainable.

In May 2015, Dubai offered to pilot these KPIs to evaluate their city’s performance and also
agreed to assist the ITU in laying the foundation for a Global Smart Sustainable City Index, which
can be used by emerging cities in the future to ascertain their “smartness” and “sustainability”.
The Dubai pilot project aims to test and verify the KPIs contained in ITU-T Recommendations
ITU-T Y.4901/L.1601 and ITU-T Y.4902/L.1602 for the years 2014 to 2016. This pilot project will
demonstrate the replicability and scalability of similar projects to other cities and will enable
them to annually evaluate their smart city progress based on city performance indicators and
metrics.

The results of this project will also facilitate the improvement and implementation of these KPIs
on a global scale and contribute to the ITU standardization process for the establishment of a
Global Smart Sustainable Cities Index. These ITU-T Recommendations not only provide the cities
with a self-assessment tool but also support benchmarking studies, intercity comparisons and
city learning.

Following the announcement of the implementation of the Dubai and ITU’s smart city pilot
project, various other cities including Valencia, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Manizales, Wuxi,
Montevideo and many more have signed up for similar pilot projects.

ITU intends to use the results of these pilot projects to refine, update and modify, where
required, the existing KPIs. ITU’s pilot projects in Dubai (and other cities) has also helped set
credible baselines and thresholds for each KPI allowing urban stakeholders to determine
accurately whether their city is “smart” and “sustainable”. The baselines for the KPIs will also be
appropriately included in the Global Smart Sustainable Cities index.

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