Page 6 - Implementing ITU-T International Standards to Shape Smart Sustainable Cities: The Case of Dubai

Foreword

Dubai is a city that has transformed rapidly in the past several
decades: emerging from a small trading village to an
international business hub in the span of just 40 years. The Dubai
government has been continually committed to adopting the
latest technology innovations to deliver opportunities for
enhanced quality of life for all citizens, residents and visitors to
Dubai.

The Smart Dubai initiative was launched in March 2014 to unify
and enhance existing ICT initiatives from the government; enable
and deliver a citywide platform for the exchange of information
and transaction of daily services; and work together between the
public and private sector to share the benefits of a smart city,
defined as the efficient use of resources; seamless service
delivery; safely protected people and information; and impactful
business and life experiences.

Carrying forward the commitment of our leadership, to prioritise resident and visitor experience
in Dubai, our end goal has consistently been to positively impact people’s happiness. The vision
of Smart Dubai is to make Dubai the happiest city on Earth; and smart technology, with the
resulting benefits of collaboration, time saving, efficiency and sustainability, provides the tools
to achieve this.
But we do not undertake this transformation for ourselves alone. Smart Dubai aims to become
a global leader among smart cities, in order to share our experiences and become a benchmark
to smart city transformation for the emerging world.

Dubai is proud to be the first pilot partner to implement the ITU-standardised Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) for Smart Sustainable Cities. With the support of our strategic partners, we have
tested 108 KPIs that became a global standard to smart city achievements, and we are sharing
our experiences from this process with the world.
In the first year of the program, we have already seen a significant response to the ITU-Dubai
pilot program, and leading cities including Valencia, Singapore, Buenos Aires, and Montevideo
have signed up for similar pilot projects. Furthermore, recommendations from the first year of
the pilot program led to establishment of the United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC), the
first global initiative exclusively for smart sustainable cities.
For Dubai, the second year of the pilot program will be an opportunity to focus our efforts to
delivering measurable impact for Dubai. Globally, we will continue our work with the ITU to
bolster a new, rigorous standard for smart cities that prioritises access to opportunity,
sustainability, and quality of life benefiting all global citizens.

I take this opportunity to congratulate all of our strategic partners, the members of the Smart
Dubai team, and the ITU Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities, for their hard work and
commitments which are evidenced in this report.

Thank you and we look forward to our continued collaboration.

Her Excellency Dr Aisha Bin Bishr
Director General, Smart Dubai