3 Indian cities in IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge

Global technology major IBM has chosen Vizag, Surat and Allahabad among 16 global locations for its smarter cities programme to help them address challenges like waste management, disaster management and citizen services.

The Smarter Cities Challenge deploys top IBM experts to help cities around the world address their most critical challenges. Under this programme the company will deploy a team of experts to each of the chosen cities for a period of three weeks to work closely with city leaders and deliver recommendations on how to make the city smarter and more effective.

The other cities also making the cut include Amsterdam (Netherlands), Athens (Greece), Denver, Detroit, Memphis, Rochester (New York) in the US, Melbourne (Australia), San Isidro (Peru), Santiago (Chile), Sekondi (Ghana), Taichung (Taiwan), Xuzhou and Huizhou (China). Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune and Chennai have in the past received the Smart Cities Challenge grant in India.

The Smarter Cities Challenge is IBM's largest philanthropic initiative, with contributions to date valued at more than US$50mn. Since 2010, IBM has deployed 700 top experts to help 116 cities around the world. In 2015, the program was extended for a fifth year, with additional projects to be deployed through 2016.

With the global economy going through a difficult phase, municipal governments across the world are struggling with rising demands from citizens to increase and improve basic civic services and to do so with fewer available resources.

Smarter Cities Challenge teams from Newark to Mecklenburg County in the US have delivered recommendations that are helping these cities make smarter, more strategic investments in their communities, maximizing value in the long term.

Smarter Cities Challenge engagements all over the world are demonstrating how the right investments in infrastructure can introduce long-term efficiencies and dramatically transform a city's prospects for growth.

Sharing her perspective on the challenge in the Indian context, Mamtha Sharma, IBM India Head Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs says," The initiative gives us the opportunity to work with the relevant city municipal corporations on diverse societal issues ranging from transportation to disaster management, healthcare to waste management and share recommendations to become more effective in transforming citizen services."

Each consulting engagement under the 'Smarter Cities Challenge' has a commercial value of US$500,000. The timing of the challenge fits in perfectly with the Indian government much-hyped plans to develop 100 smart cities by 2022, as outlined in the budget wherein the finance ministry had allocated funds to the tune INR 7,060cr to finance this ambitious initiative.

More recently the plan took yet another step towards realisation with the Union Cabinet giving its go-ahead as part of its new urban renewal mission, allotting a total outlay of approx INR 1 lakh crore. As per existing plans, 20 cities will be selected for the smart cities programme this year, followed by 40 each over the next two year period.

According to informed sources in the urban development ministry, a minimum investment of approx INR 2 lakh crore is expected to accrue for the development of urban areas pan-India, with various state and local bodies expected to contribute about half the amount.

With India's Smart City ambitions slowly coming together, governments across the globe have expressed a desire to develop smart cities enlisting the aid of technology to improve key infrastructure services like traffic, parking, lighting, and water supply in real time.

Technology solutions are also expected to assist city administrators to improve infrastructure operations by sharing information in real time across relevant agencies and systems.

The 16 cities for the 2015-16 edition of the IBM Smart Cities Challenge programme were selected from more than 100 cities that had applied for a grant of consulting services from the company.

By the end of 2016, IBM estimates to make such grants to more than 130 cities, with nearly 800 of IBM top experts delivering pro bono services valued at more than US$ 66mn.

Interestingly further to providing pro bono consulting services, IBM will for the very first time be using its IBM Watson Analytics Professional Edition to help take the city's pulse, as outlined on various social media platforms.

"This might include studying travel patterns, public health, or the effects of man-made and weather events," said Sharma adding that, "The tool can understand questions posed in natural, non-technical language, and help its users collaborate, predict and plan."