Page 54 - 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

The United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) collaborative initiative has provided new expert
guidance for the transition to more efficient, sustainable urban environments –in the form of a
collection methodology. Sixteen United Nations bodies and over 50 cities, including Singapore,
contributed to the further improvement of the KPIs, a process coordinated by ITU and the UN
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

The U4SSC Collection methodology for the Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable
Cities provides cities with a methodology to collect core data and information necessary to the
assessment of their progress in implementing smart city strategies. The collection methodology
developed by U4SSC complements the three sets of KPIs for smart sustainable cities developed
by ITU and UNECE that have been implemented in Singapore.

4.3. Improvement areas for KPIs
Following the completion of the first year of the pilot project in Singapore, some indicators that
would measure “e-government activities” have been suggested by the country.

Some efforts – including the conversion of documents into an electronic format and encouraging
digital communications between citizens and government – have been priorities for the city-
state since the 1980s. Since that time, Singapore has integrated data, processes and IT systems
across most government agencies, deploying more than 300 mobile government services. These
actions indicate the country’s commitment to collaborate with its citizens.
As such, Singapore suggested that certain e-government indicators be measured. Some of these
suggested indicators include:

1) Top 10 public services available electronically.
2) Percentage of citizens transacting online with the government via e-services.
3) Percentage of public sector procurement conducted electronically.
4) Percentage of public sector invoicing completed electronically.

At the end of the first year of the pilot project with ITU, Singapore found that it was already
tracking most of the KPIs in each dimension. However, the Singapore Government noted that
there were more efficient methods for tracking and collecting the data for the existing KPIs
(see Box 7).

Box 7 – Tracking of broadband subscriptions in Singapore

Tracking of broadband subscriptions in Singapore

Singapore was previously tracking fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. However, only
one fibre subscription is needed per household. In general, Asian households tend to have more
family members under one roof than European households. Therefore, if Singapore were to measure
fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, their results would typically be below 30 per cent,
while most European countries could achieve results above 30 per cent. Through this exercise,
Singapore realized that fixed-broadband subscriptions should be measured per 100 households
instead of 100 inhabitants.

44