Page 22 - Enabling digital transformation in smart sustainable cities – Master plan

Enabling digital transformation in smart sustainable cities – Master plan

• Application layer: The application layer includes various applications that manage the SSC
and deliver SSC services.
• Operations, administration, maintenance and provisioning (OAM&P) and security
framework: This layer provides the operation, administration, maintenance and
provisioning and security function for the ICT systems of SSC.

The multitier SSC ICT architecture from a communications viewpoint, emphasizing the
information flow perspective contains the following layers:

• Users layer organizes the SSC service end-users into groups from the demand and the
supply sides.
• Presentations layer contains the user interfaces (web, apps, voice commands, etc.), which
stand between end-users and SSC services.
• Applications layer contains all corresponding software applications that realize SSC
services.
• Business layer consists of the business processes that lie behind each SSC service
execution.
• Communications layer contains the above-mentioned networks, over which the SSC
services are performed, and transactions and data flow are realized.
• Data layer contains the data and file repositories, where data are created or retrieved.
• Sensing layer consists of a terminal node and capillary network. The terminals (sensor,
transducer, actuator, camera, RFID tag, barcode symbols, etc.) sense the natural
environment where the SSC is located and the corresponding hard infrastructure and
utilities (water, transport, etc.). It provides the superior "environment-detecting" ability
and intelligence for monitoring and controlling the physical infrastructure within the city.
The capillary network connects various terminals to the communication layer, or directly
to the data layer or application layer providing ubiquitous and omnipotent information
and data.

Detailed discussions of the ICT architecture and security aspects of SSCs is available in ITU-T
Y-Sup.27 to ITU-T Y.4400 series - Smart sustainable cities - Setting the framework for an ICT
architecture and ITU-T FG-SSC Technical Report (2015), Cybersecurity, data protection and
cyber resilience in smart sustainable cities.

d) Smart infrastructure and integrated platform

Investing in ICT and digital infrastructure constitutes a critical component of a city's transformation
into an SSC. This technology can provide crucial information for city managers to increase the
efficiency of urban services, improve the quality of life of the inhabitants, ensure a tangible
economic growth, strengthen prevention and management of natural disasters, simplify physical
infrastructure used in some services (e.g., mobility, energy), and improve the city's sustainability.

To reduce this initial investment as much as possible, cities can adopt the notion of "convergence",
by using pre-existing networks to establish new ICT and digital infrastructure.

The first step for introducing ICT technologies in cities is to consider all stakeholders involved
in this process. In terms of interconnected infrastructure, the most relevant stakeholders will be
the telecom operators, ICT providers, financial institutions, utility providers, emergency services,
local institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), regulators, funding bodies and
universities, as well as research and development (R&D) institutes.

Two different aspects related to the strategic planning required for the national deployment of
ICT and digital infrastructure have been defined.

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