Page 29 - Implementing ITU-T International Standards to Shape Smart Sustainable Cities: The Case of Singapore

Implementing ITU-T International Standards to Shape Smart Sustainable Cities –
The Case of Singapore

Other initiatives for consideration:

Wireless@SG
To complement Singapore’s high broadband penetration, Wireless@SG is a nationwide free
Wi-Fi network established by IMDA, with a total of 14,000 free hotspots. IMDA’s goal is to
increase the total number of hotspots to 20,000 by 2018. Currently, the hotspots are in places
such as community centres, train stations, shopping malls and libraries, in order to provide the
general public with free internet access.
Cross-border connectivity

Singapore is also rapidly expanding its submarine cable infrastructure. In June 2016, a
consortium consisting of Singtel, China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global
Transit, Google and KDDI started a service for a new trans-Pacific submarine cable system. A
new submarine system, Super Sea Cable Networks (SEAX), was launched in October 2016,
further boosting the speed of internet connections in Singapore. Singtel also announced plans
to build a submarine cable linking Singapore and Perth by 2018.

Government ICT Infrastructure
The Singapore Government is building a robust data architecture, with consolidated data hubs
and information platforms which serve a range of data analytics and service delivery purposes.
The objective is to make it easy for agencies to pull the accurate and timely information they
need, and to allow citizens to enjoy seamless transactions. MyInfo is one such data hub, which
contains personal data from which various government digital services can immediately draw,
thus saving citizens the trouble of manually keying in personal details that the government
already has. The MyInfo function is also in the process of expanding to private sector services
such as the opening of bank accounts.

3.2. Environmental sustainability dimension

The second dimension of ITU SSC KPIs relates to environmental sustainability and the
environmental impact of a city on the environment (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions) and the
impact of various factors (e.g. noise, smog) on its citizens. The KPIs also look at the use of ICTs
in monitoring various environmental factors and ensuring the efficiency of utility networks.
Singapore has recognized that a smart city must also be sustainable and consequently has
included sustainability-related activities in its Smart Nation vision.

Singapore has implemented ICTs in the monitoring of air quality to help compliance with quality
standards and in the water distribution network to improve the efficiency of delivery.

The launch of the OneService app (Figure 3) is another step forward for Singapore in this domain.
To ensure that municipal services are delivered more effectively and to enhance interactions
between residents and government agencies on local issues, the Municipal Services Office (MSO)
and NEA have each developed a mobile app that offers the public a convenient means to receive
environmental news updates or report municipal issues. The OneService mobile app adopts an
issue-based approach where reported cases are routed to relevant agencies in a more efficient
and coordinated manner than previous non-ICT based approaches.

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