Page 56 - 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

Practical insights from ITU’s KPI process in Dubai

Smart Dubai has aligned its smart city vision with
the needs of its residents and the new digital
paradigm. One of Dubai’s most valuable assets
observed during the first year of the pilot project,
is the number of high-level professionals trained
in smart city concepts.

The Smart Dubai vision, together with different
technological and governance programs
implemented in the city, makes Dubai the ideal
laboratory to assess the impact of ICTs in cities that aim to be smart and sustainable. The first
year has presented ITU and Dubai with novel ideas on the planning for the second year of the
pilot project and has significantly boosted their learning curve. With the subsequent revision of
the KPIs, both ITU and Dubai will be better placed to cover the requirements for all the KPIs. The
second round of data collection and verification for the KPIs is also expected to provide a broad
baseline for the Global Smart Sustainable City Index for other cities. To this effect, Dubai can
also use the findings from the second year to expound on the strengths, monitor perceived
improvements and set the basis for future action within their Smart Dubai initiative.

Dubai`s experience based on this pilot project to test the KPIs should be given due consideration
for the future standardization efforts made for ITU’s Smart Sustainable City KPIs. Given the
significant strides Dubai has made in the smart city realm, Dubai could be invited to share their
expertise and experience on KPI assessment frameworks with other cities (especially in
developing countries).
As Dubai is one of the world’s first cities to assess its urban efficiency using the KPIs for Smart
Sustainable Cities included in Recommendations ITU-T Y.4901/L.1601 and ITU-T Y.4902/L.1602,
it would be advantageous to receive inputs from Dubai’s pilot project for the development of
the Global Smart Sustainable City Index, which will serve various other cities across the globe
with their smart city transitions. The work of the U4SSC will also greatly benefit from inputs
received from the Dubai pilot project. These inputs will also facilitate the standardization
process of the KPIs within ITU-T Study Group 20 “Internet of Things and Smart Cities and
Communities”.

To further the global smart city ambitions, the pilot project conducted by ITU and Smart Dubai
has identified a number of key aspects and actions that emerging smart cities can examine and
implement for the continuous improvement of their urban systems and the delivery of services
within their respective smart city visions.

Based on the first year of the pilot project, this section includes suggestion from ITU that will
shape the global smart sustainable cities agenda and will assist cities in starting their smart city
voyages.

 A major lesson learned from Dubai, is the importance of the leadership role of Smart
Dubai in ensuring that all entities work collaboratively on the smart city transition and
the data collection and subsequent verification process for the KPIs. In line with this,
aspiring smart cities and their entities should collaborate on the introduction of

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