Promote smart technologies in cities: ITU

The 8th ITU Symposium on ICT and Environment Change held in Turin concluded with a new roadmap calling on ITU to promote the use of smart technologies in cities.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have a crucial role to play in tackling the developmental challenges facing the cities that are becoming our primary choice of habitation in the 21st century, concluded participants attending ITU Symposium.

An estimated 65 percent of the world's population now lives in cities. With an additional 1.3 million people moving from rural to urban areas every week, by 2050 more than six billion people will be living in urban agglomerations. In addition, the size of conurbations continues to grow, with the number of mega-cities of over 10 million inhabitants growing from just two in 1950 to 22 by 2015, 17 of which will be located in the developing world.

The symposium highlighted the importance of a globally coordinated approach and internationally standardized technologies in the creation of new ‘smart sustainable cities'. Greater integration of ICTs into urban planning will greatly facilitate opportunities for economic growth and social well-being, from better access to education and healthcare through to improved prospects of employment and living standards.

The symposium concluded by issuing a call for stronger advocacy at the international level and for ICT policies to be integrated into the ongoing dialogues on urban development within the UN and other organizations.

Dr Hamadoun I Toure, secretary-general, ITU said, "Rapid urbanization and high-density populations foment innovation and economic growth but also give rise to social, economic and environmental challenges, as cities' infrastructures develop slower than the influx of new inhabitants. ICTs can make our cities safer, cleaner, and more convenient places to live."

The event, which was hosted by Telecom Italia, supported by Huawei and co-organized by ITU and Italy's Ministry for Economic Development, wrapped-up with a new roadmap calling on ITU to promote the use of ‘smart' technologies in cities and tasking it with developing a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the impact of ICTs in cities and countries.

Speaking at the close of the event, Malcolm Johnson, director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU said, "The potential of ICTs in urban development can only be achieved if applications seamlessly interoperate, regardless of service provider or vendor. This will require the development of international standards, harmonized frequency spectrum, and the application of enabling policies and best practices.

Participants at the two-day workshop submitted their conclusions to the Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities (SSC). The Focus Group, which is open to all interested stakeholders, will work towards fulfilling the actions in the roadmap and report to its parent group, ITU-T Study Group 5 on Environment and Climate Change, with a view to promoting adoption of international standards that will provide the foundation for SSC around the world.