Learnings for Smart Cities while defining the role of ULBs

The 5th Annual Smart Cities International Virtual Symposium was held on February 23 and 24, 2021, to bring together practitioners and leaders from around the world to analyse the recent developments and technological advances in realising the goal of Smart Cities. It provided a platform for discussion on the new business models and discuss the lessons learned till now in the development of Smart Cities.

The speakers at the event discussed the experiences of municipal corporations who are doing exceptional jobs at pushing the envelope and moving towards the implementation of the Smart Cities mission. Emphasis was on implementation strategy, case studies, best practices, and the development of innovative business models.

On day one of the event, the session began with a discussion on ‘Envisioning the Smart City in Challenging Times”. Panelists suggested ways to adjust the Smart City vision with  respect  to the new challenges in the present world. They also talked about the key challenges and issues in the evolution of Smart City. The speakers of the session included Monali Shah, Head of Industry Solutions, Google; and Dan Hoffman, City Manager, City of Winchester, Virginia.

The Second session was conducted on ‘Smart City lessons learned till date and the directions forward’ which included the case studies of SmartCities, implementation strategies and best practices of various municipal corporations. David Graham, Chief Innovation Officer, City of Carlsbad; and Michael Hess, Director, Future Ready, City of Orlando were part of the session’s panel.

The next session discussed ‘Smart City Solutions for a Riskier World’ and the speakers discussed about the key findings from the study of ESI ThoughtLab examining the social, environmental and economic impact of investments in smart technologies. The goal was to provide an evidence-based roadmap to resilience and sustainability. The speakers of the session included Lou Celi, Chief Executive Officer, ESI ThoughtLab; and Rana Sen, Managing Director and Smart City Initiative Lead, Deloitte.

The last session on day one was on the ‘Future of Mobility’ as the success of Smart Cities relies on various factors including transportation, energy, communications and people. Moran, Founder, Moran Economic Development; and James Carlini, President, Carlini and Associates.

‘Leveraging Smart  City and Utility Infrastructure to Build Agile Communities’ was the theme of the next session for the day. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an example of the community challenge and the discussion was on the new arising situations to which communities should adapt quickly. The panellists discussed the role of smart infrastructures in creating agile communities that can adapt to quickly evolving situations. Jason Anderson, President, Cleantech San Diego; and Brian Dillard, Chief Innovation Officer, City of San Antonio, were part of the session’s panel.

The last session of the event was on ‘Adaptive Reuse and Renewable Energy Strategies’. The speakers discussed the need to have renewable sources of energy and how they can assist smart cities in their work towards a sustainable urban space. The speakers in the session included Erika Allen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Urban Growers Collective; and Sarah Coulter, Executive Director, Calumet Collaborative.

The 5th Annual Smart Cities International Virtual Symposium presented a platform for experts and researchers in the field to share the experiences and address the limitations in developing Smart Cities. The event was attended by industry experts from across the world and various deductions were made for municipal corporations to improve the strategy for implementation of policies.