Page 546 - Shaping smarter and more sustainable cities - Striving for sustainable development goals

the ability of cities to achieve urban development, and to meet socio‐economic and environmental
goals. Therefore, it is crucial that traditional approaches are upgraded to enable smarter solutions,
which are more effective in mitigating these challenges and in reducing costs through the
optimization of existing and emerging infrastructures.
Smart water management (SWM) can play a key role in the transformation of cities of developed
and developing countries into smart and sustainable cities (SSC), if adequate policies, stern
governance, and broad stakeholder involvement are integrated into its planning and
implementation. Through real‐time monitoring, efficient operation, improved decision‐making, and
enhanced performance and service delivery, SWM can ensure that a city's growth is not achieved at
the expense of its water resources. Further advantages such as increased revenue in utilities,
reduced operational costs and increased public involvement place SWM as a viable, smart
sustainable solution to address urban water challenges.

As emerging experiences suggest, initiatives on smart water systems have been more effective when
implemented as part of broader strategic approaches to water management (i.e. water policy
development). Therefore, efforts in this field must be coordinated and synergies built across the
various sectors and stakeholders involved in water management. At the same time, experiences
have demonstrated that public‐private partnerships can be effective in fostering innovation. Further
efforts should be made to strengthen the linkages between the utilities, industries and universities,
in order to develop new research on smart water management, emerging challenges and
opportunities, as well as novel water enterprises.
Acknowledging that both technical and non‐technological innovations play a role in the effective
operation of smart water systems, it is important that ICT developments are accompanied by
innovations in the business models of water utilities, as well as by innovations in terms of water
usage at the end of the pipe, so as to maximize the contribution of ICTs in this field.
Appropriate policies and measures are key to support the development and deployment of smart
water systems (e.g. water pricing, education and information, competition for non‐domestic
consumers). Likewise, as smart water solutions continue to emerge and their integration to deepen
in urban environments, the importance of common standards for hardware and software will
continue to rise. These standards are key to encourage the international deployment of innovative
technologies, and thus continue progress in the smart water management field.

A successful implementation of SWM requires that further emphasis be placed on the development
of guidelines, best practices, standards and policies that are tailored to specific urban needs and
priorities. These will ensure integrity, compatibility and interoperability among protocols, and
promote accountability and security within the smart urban water management framework.

Through the work of ITU's Focus Group on Smart Water Management (FG‐SWM) and Smart
Sustainable Cities (FG‐SSC), as well as its continued efforts on ICTs and climate change adaptation,
ITU is contributing to the development of new standards and recommendations that will foster the
adoption of smarter solutions in the water sector around the globe.

536 ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications