Page 56 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Executive Summary

1 Introduction

The Smart Nation initiative was officially launched in Singapore in November 2014. This initiative aims to
enrich citizens’ lives by capitalizing on the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs)
to improve environment sustainability, resilience and equitable social and economic growth. After launching
this ambitious Smart Nation Singapore initiative, Singapore joined a two-year pilot project to assess the
smartness and sustainability of their smart city operations using the key performance indicators developed
by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for smart sustainable cities. This collaboration with ITU
will help Singapore to measure its progress vis-à-vis its smart city goals.

The results from this pilot project will also contribute to the international standardization process and the
subsequent development of a ‘Global Smart Sustainable Cities Index’, derived from the existing set of ITU
indicators.

Increasingly governments across the globe are recognizing the opportunities and benefits associated with
smart city initiatives as a means to address denser, more diverse and growing urban populations. Singapore
is unique as it has been engaged in what could be considered ‘smart city activities’ as early as the 1980s. As
such, the Smart Nation model places people at the centre of four enablers; governance, manpower,
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partnership and technology.
Singapore is known to be a technology-savvy city-state, which is now implementing a plan to be the world’s
first Smart Nation, underpinning the use of data and analytics to improve people’s lives. The country is also
carrying out various other activities in this domain, which complement its Smart Nation vision.

Currently, Singapore is engaged in the following activities:
(i) leveraging the capabilities of its leading open access fibre networks;
(ii) expanding the intelligent urban infrastructure to improve street level coverage; and
(iii) exploring a new heterogeneous network across fixed and mobile infrastructures.
Singapore’s existing urban operating system enables the government and city service providers to quickly
address urban challenges and empower citizens with data insights to improve their lives.

There are five key domains that will have a significant impact on citizens and society as well as Singapore’s
overall smart city vision. In each of these key domains, digital technologies can have “a needle moving”
impact. These key domains are as follows:
• Transport
• Home & Environment
• Business productivity

• Health and enabled ageing; and
• Public sector services.
With the assistance of its partnership with ITU, Singapore hopes to disperse the lessons learned along with
their best practices in national ICT planning. These best practices and lessons based on the ITU key
performance indicators will serve as important guidelines for urban policymakers and practitioners in
countries and cities around the world. This case study will examine a few aspects of the smart nation vision
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and will explore a few existing elements and initiatives which could complement this vision.

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9 ITU has been closely involved in a pilot project to assess the smartness and sustainability of Singapore. This model
has been derived from ITU’s work during the pilot project.
10 Please note that this Case Study does not intend do provide an extensive overview of Singapore’s activities within
the Smart Nation Singapore vision. The main features and analysis on the Smart Nation Singapore initiatives will be
examined in the ITU case study on Singapore, which will be published following the pilot project in Singapore.

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