Page 117 - Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals
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United for Smart Sustainable Cities
Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals
- ffr a mother, checking health data from her child’s school to determine if a flu vaccination
is required;
- for a father, reviewing household energy consumption to conserve resources and save
money for a family vacation;
- for a tourist, utilizing the live public transportation data to make the most out of time spent
in the city;
- for all commuters, enjoying reduced traffic congestion as more services are provided online;
- for an urban planner and developer, achieving operational cost savings into data-driven
research and development about Dubai through the data available in SDP.
Several social services in Dubai will be made available enabling the public to benefit from it
immensely.
Environmental impact
SDP is designed to collect citywide environmental data from various points across Dubai. SDP will
contain air quality, noise, pollution, energy, water and land-related data, among others.
SDP will contain enablers to achieve city resources efficiencies and related consumption reduction
tools which will positively impact the environment; these efficiencies will be captured by using
city-related data.
Digital adoption of various SDP-related economic and social services in Dubai will circumvent the
need for conducting city services through traditional means by physically visiting service providers.
Hence, a significant number of road trips will be avoided which in turn reduces GHG (greenhouse
gas) emissions and will also reduce the stress on city infrastructure such as roads.
Urban planning will be significantly enhanced by utilizing citywide data available from different public
sector organizations.
Hence, Smart Dubai through its flagship Smart Dubai Platform and Dubai Data initiatives, is bringing about
radical enhancements to city-leadership decision making, operational efficiencies and the daily quality of life.
3 Conclusions
Some of the critical success factors and lessons learnt for Smart Dubai Platform and Dubai Data initiative
include:
Leadership
The ambitious vision and strong drive for the achievement of the goals of the Smart Dubai initiative
comes from the very top of Government with H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum UAE’s
Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai leading the way. Publishing and exchanging data
on a shared platform is seen by top leadership as the key to creating seamless city experiences,
enhancing the happiness of residents and building the innovation economy. Eager to speed up the
process of opening and sharing data, a central entity, the Dubai Data Establishment, was created
under the umbrella of the Smart Dubai Office to drive this initiative and work hand in hand with data
providers to ensure its success. Top level leadership of strategic data providers are actively engaged
in developing policies, standards and data release plans to ensure their buy-in, support and
implementation of these policies and plans. In addition, Smart Dubai leadership has played a key
role in formulating and overseeing the implementation of the SDP as well as the PPP building process
(leaders of partners and their senior management teams were highly engaged, in addition to the
leadership of various stakeholders involved in this citywide project).
Governance
SDP governance and strategic monitoring were put in place early on and have been instrumental in
overseeing different aspects of SDP implementation. On the other hand, the Dubai Data Law defines
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