Page 107 - Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals
P. 107
United for Smart Sustainable Cities
Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals
partnership (PPP) model was adopted for implementation. The partnership also addressed financing, skills,
platform development and commercialization issues jointly through the selection of an appropriate private
sector partner. Hence, SDP was an innovative initiative both in terms of its scope and also in terms of its
financing.
Dubai Data initiative: Data in Dubai, as in every city around the world, has not necessarily been managed as
a strategic asset for the city in its own right, but has:
existed as an ‘afterthought’, often in an ad-hoc manner as a result of each entity’s activities;
been locked away within individual entities, limiting the ability for collaboration and
innovation with external stakeholders and organizations;
been limited in terms of value created directly from it, and the restricted value created was
confined in most cases to a single entity.
This traditional operating model rendered it challenging to join up data and services around city needs, and
limited the innovation potential to drive citywide change at speed. And it became clear that it would hamper
sustaining city needs in the future, as Dubai embraced its citywide digital transformation and adopted the
Internet of Things (IoT), among others. As city assets and infrastructures such as buildings, roads, places and
a huge range of things and devices are becoming smart and Internet-connected, the number of Dubai data
sources is also multiplying exponentially, as will the potential for inefficiency, duplication and lack of “citizen-
centricity” if that data is not effectively managed.
Dubai therefore needed to establish a radically different operating model for its data. Hence, Smart Dubai
has launched the Dubai Data initiative to address and mitigate these impediments. Drawing on the
45
“transformational operating model for Smart Cities” recommended in the relevant international standards ,
the Dubai Data initiative established a new Modus Operandi based on:
clear governance frameworks to ensure data is managed as a strategic asset, with clear
accountabilities for maintaining and exploiting data sets, supported by clear, principle-based rules
for promoting reuse and innovation with data sets;
use of open standards to ensure that data sets can easily be leveraged by various city constituents
inside and, where appropriate, outside the Dubai Government;
nurturing the development of a flourishing ‘data market place’ in Dubai, in which city entities, public
and private sector organizations, voluntary sector and community organizations and individual
citizens are enabled to use Dubai Data to create new sorts of social and economic value.
2 The smart project(s)
2.1 Vision and content
Smart Dubai has embarked on implementing a comprehensive citywide digital platform, namely the Smart
Dubai Platform (SDP), to unite all layers of the city’s ICT architecture, from connected infrastructure, to data
orchestration, to enabling services such as Digital IDs and payments, IoT and data management, to personal
dashboards and applications. SDP is one of the key enablers for the smart-city transformation of Dubai and
smart leading edge ICT technologies were embedded in SDP as key enablers.
SDP is the digital backbone fuelling the smart and sustainable city transformation of Dubai. This innovative
platform represents a shift away from models where city infrastructures are built independently, operating
in parallel silos with providers merely supplying point solutions. Instead, this unique platform applies a
horizontal and collaborative approach that integrates the city’s information technology and services.
45 See Section 2.3 and Footnote 1 on the OASIS Transformational Government Framework and BSI Smart City
Framework.
U4SSC series 101
