Japanese funds seen supporting smart options for small cities
Global technology companies are ready with tech-savvy products and software solutions to help India’s small cities upgrade and align with the country’s multi-billion dollar Smart Cities Vision, especially with the endorsement by the World Economic Forum’s G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance.
Two networks in Mumbai and Medellín (Colombia) have been announced as part of the Forum’s G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance to help small cities implement new technology policies and source support from partners of the WEF and the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) Global Network. The WEF announced the networks in April 2021.
India’s small cities are likely to be based on smart city models used in the Japanese cities which were guided by the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Japan which were also part of the same WEF initiative.
Cities in India and Latin America will be invited to meet regularly to analyse smart city policies and will receive technical support from the Forum’s network of global experts, said the WEF.
India’s founding city members of the National Alliance, under the forum, are Bengaluru, Bhopal, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Kohima, Mangalore, Raipur, Shillong and Thane.
Founding city members of the Regional Alliance for Latin America, also under the forum, are Bogotá, Colombia; Brasília, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Córdoba, Argentina; Medellín, Colombia and Mexico City, Mexico.
This, said a source at a major technology group, would add the much awaited momentum to projects under India’s Smart Cities Mission which has been much slower than expected in progressing work in over 100 identified smart cities.
“Further, we see increasing collaborations between technology groups based in Singapore, Bangalore and Hyderabad to support the small cities in India which will face cash flow issues in implementing smart projects compared the larger cities,” said the source
Nevertheless, now there is a greater confidence in doing smart projects in the smaller Indian cities, especially if they link up with the Japanese smart city models that could bring along cheaper funding from Japan, the source pointed out. It is likewise with the Latin American cities, given the Japanese funds’ global interests, he said.
There is an urgency in implementing the smart projects, given each Indian’s appetite for being tech-savvy with the best in the world. With cyberattacks rising on the increasing number of digitalised municipalities and digital technologies becoming central to economic competitiveness, the small cities need to accelerate applications of latest technologies.
“We are looking at a dynamic change in the Indian market, as well as in the Latin American markets, resulting in ramp up of production of tech-hardwares and proliferation of softwares. If all go well as per stakeholders thinking after the WEF initiated the two networks in Mumbai and Medellín, we can see strong demand for smart city products and solutions,” the source said. #technology #investment #funding #manufacturing #exports /fiinews.com
