The future vision of sustainable and citizen centric smart cities in India and create a platform for future collaborations

The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) is pleased to present SmartTech for SmartCities Convention highlighting the theme “Digital Transformation of Smart Cities in India: The Path Ahead” scheduled to be organised virtually on September 2, 2020, as one of the pioneer sector of the SMARTecIndia 2020 initiative – India’s first and largest exhibition on smart technologies.Smart Cities are at a unique juncture in India. The current pandemic has showcased the effectiveness of smart cities in leveraging technologies implemented under the Smart Cities Mission to effectively manage emergency response efforts. The pandemic has highlighted the need for digitally enabled citizen centric services to improve quality of life supported by remote, contactless city operations and focus on indicators such as public health and education.

The Smart Cities Mission has completed five years, and the technologies, infrastructure and urban development initiatives implemented in several cities have come in sharp focus during the pandemic. Several cities have leveraged implemented technological solutions to deliver collective, coordinated, and tech-driven response to the emergency needs of the city and its citizens. Covid19 has brought to fore the need for cities to look beyond the infrastructure resilience and focus on social determinants of citizen “Ease of Living” such as Healthcare, Education, Environment, and Access. Each of these elements offers scope for the next phase of digitalization and optimization within city ecosystems.

The next phase of the Smart Cities Mission will continue to build on this vision to deepen the initiatives and efforts to create new urban-tech infrastructure, and cascade it down from other cities to urban local bodies. However, the pandemic has also sharply highlighted the need for a deeper and systemic Digital Transformation of cities, along with all the supporting functions and departments. Cities need to further push the boundaries of innovation to increase their resilience and sustainability metrics, improve operational efficiency, and create safer and healthier spaces for citizens to live, work, and play. This hyper-connected and collaborative city will focus on efficient city teams that leverage technologies, tools, systems, data, and insights to improve management of infrastructure and services.

This conclave will focus on what next in designing, implementing, and managing Smart City solutions, and the core technologies that will create this new vision. This platform will bring together regulators and policy makers and city government officials, along with experts in technology, governance, urban design, and systems thinking to discuss and debate the path ahead.