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Smart cities should focus on residents

Smart cities, such as Dubai, might boast a wealth of technological innovations, but at the core of the idea should be a focus on the citizens and their well being, experts at the Arab Future Cities Summit 2018 said.
"Smart cities are not about geographies, they are about the people that live in them," said Hanan Darwish, president for the Gulf and Pakistan region at Schneider Electric. 
The key in the whole journey towards becoming a smart city, she says, is data. 
"It is important for various entities to efficiently gather data and then analyse it, so that they can improve the lives of the residents. A careful analysis will show you various touch points that can be improved; for example, where are you losing energy in a building? All these are points that you have to keep in mind," she said.
Another important element, she noted, are partnerships, because "it is impossible to operate alone in a fast paced region such as Dubai."  Speaking about the various challenges that are being addressed, she pointed first and foremost to the decentralisation of data. 
"Data has to be easily accessible, and the government in Dubai is very much invested in this area," she said. "The second thing is proving that returns on investment exist so that more companies will be willing to take the leap. Another important challenge is security, specifically cybersecurity that will be increasingly crucial in an interconnected and digital world. Lastly, you will need to have the right talent to achieve the vision of a smart city. You need competent people who know how to leverage the power of the technology that they have."
Julien Bertin, SAP managing director - UAE and Oman, notes that citizens are already beginning to see the benefits of several smart city initiatives.
"You are starting to see the benefits of smart cities, the very first being the consolidated portal 'Dubai Now', where you can see all the different aspects of yourself as a citizen," he said. "We have opened a data centre here in the UAE to help support the government in their smart city initiatives. There has been rapid development in lots of different areas, ranging from smart lighting in buildings to autonomous vehicles. We are right now at a tipping point; if you look at self-driving cars for example, then you will see that there have been a lot of tests by various companies." - rohma@khaleejtimes.com