Page 41 - 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

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) are used in various hospitals to transport items ranging from
medication to linen to meals, around the hospital, saving on manpower. The AGVs, fitted with
sensors to navigate amidst human movement, will work non-stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a
week and are usually used in "back-of-house" areas. With AGVs, such transportation will be pre-
determined, programmed and automated to ensure efficient day-to-day hospital operations.

Other initiatives for consideration:

School Picker
To help students and parents choose the most suitable school, GovTech has also launched
School Picker, an app which shortlists schools that students might be interested in based on a
set of criteria such as distance, co-curricular activities and special programmes. This is much
more effective than simply listing information in a table format, which would be hard for users
to use to make informed decisions.

Security

To strengthen security in our public spaces, we have installed more than 62,000 police cameras
in public housing blocks and multi-storey carparks. As of May 2016, 2,300 pieces of video footage
from cameras have provided useful leads which helped the police solve more than 1,100 cases.
The next phase of police camera installation, named PolCam 2.0, will involve more sophisticated
features such as pan-tilt-zoom and 360 degree fields of view, allowing police to automatically
analyse closed-circuit television footage to detect unusual activities.

3.6. Physical infrastructure

The final dimension of ITU SSC KPIs focuses on the physical infrastructure of the city as it relates
in particular to the delivery of basic utilities and public transportation facilities. These KPIs also
measure the use and effectiveness of ICTs in monitoring these services, how this monitored
information is communicated to the citizens and how governments can potentially use this
information to provide better utility and transport services.

Singapore is a high-density nation that faces planning and infrastructure challenges given its
limited land mass of about 710 square kilometres for its more than 5 million residents. As such,
Singapore must balance the needs of a city – such as housing and commercial spaces – with
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national, suburban infrastructure needs – such as seaports, airports, utilities and military sites.
Singapore has grown significantly over the past few decades due, in part, to strategic physical
infrastructure projects and the country’s embrace of new technology that allows Singapore to
innovate, collect better and more granular data and develop smarter tools. Recent
improvements in ICT have allowed the country to make significant improvements to its traffic
management, land-use planning, physical infrastructure, public transportation networks and
hubs.
Singapore’s infrastructure is governed by the Ministry of National Development and the Ministry
of Transport.

With help from ITU, Singapore uses a set of indicators to measure the effectiveness of its smart
and/or sustainable initiatives in transportation and urban development.

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Basu, 2016.

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