IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Overcoming state dependence may be crucial for digital innovations to transform democracy by engaging more citizens in the political process.

Latin America has always been a region of deep contradictions, and this is especially true when one considers its politics and democracy. Despite its authoritarian past that continues to show through in some political practices and institutions, the region has experimented with democracy in very innovative ways in recent years. Likewise, whereas the region still suffers from deep social inequality and is not yet free from poverty and hunger, Latin America is the world’s third largest regional online market and its internet penetration rate is above the world’s average, half of which is due to intense smartphone usage.

Facial recognition cameras powered by Oosto software are being used to increase the safety of the Gindi TLV complex in Tel Aviv, Israel, just as survey results show Vsblty’s technology is helping smart city residents in Mexico feel safe, and a research report forecasts rapid growth in the smart cities market to over $870 million within five years.

The residential area in Tel Aviv includes four accommodation towers, restaurants, cafes, a country club and a mall, all of which use Oosto’s face biometrics to enable touchless and secure access for tenants.

The Mexican Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) has identified potential in 13 Mexican cities to implement a “smart cities” model.

Concamin has selected Aguascalientes, Cuernavaca, León and Pachuca (in the center), Coatzacoalcos, Chetumal, Mérida, Oaxaca, Salina Cruz and Tuxtla Gutiérrez (in the southeast), Xalapa (in the east), Morelia (in the west) and Mexicali (in the north).

In partnership with information systems company Portoss, Global Rainmakers Inc. (GRI), a biometrics research and development firm, looks to roll out iris recognition technology for national security, transportation and law enforcement projects in Leon, Mexico.

Die mexikanische Großstadt Leon will zur sichersten Metropole der Erde werden. Ein großes Netz aus Iris-Scannern, das Kriminelle, aber auch unbescholtene Bürger auf Schritt und Tritt verfolgt, soll dieses gewagte Unterfangen bewerkstelligen. In einer zentralen Datenbank werden zunächst nur Kriminelle automatisch erfasst. Alle anderen Bürger, die von Vorteilen wie bargeldlosem Bezahlen ohne Karte oder sonstigen identitätsbezogenen Services profitieren wollen, können sich freiwillig registrieren.

The government in Leon, in Guanajuato state, is aiming to create the most secure city in the world.

The country's sixth largest city has introduced scanners which can identify up to 50 people a minute without requiring them to stop and stand in front of them.

"The legal, technical and financial conditions are ready to start the process of issuing this identity document," Felipe Zamora, responsible for legal affairs at the Mexican Interior Ministry, told journalists Thursday.

The documents, which will include the eye's image as well as fingerprints, a photo and signature, will be 99 percent reliable, Zamora said.

Dies soll mit dem flächendeckenden Einsatz von Irisscannern geschehen. In einem ersten Schritt sollen Gerichtsgebäude, Polizeistationen und Sicherheitskontrollen mit den Scannern ausgestattet werden.

In den nächsten drei Jahren soll im Rahmen von Phase zwei die Ausstattung von Banken, öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln, Krankenhäusern und andere hoch frequentierten öffentlichen und privaten Orten folgen. Dies berichtet Fastcompany.com.

Italian architect Stefano Boeri has designed a green ‘smart forest city’ for Mexico’s resort destination of Cancun. In addition to being planted with millions of trees and shrubs to help reduce its carbon footprint, it will also be a hub for climate change innovation.

Nestled on the white sands of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Cancun appeals to several kinds of travellers. Families, honeymooners and “spring-breakers” from North America typically flock there for its its world-class beach resorts, Mayan ruins and hedonistic nightlife.

The children’s identity document is a free, official document with biometric elements, making it impossible to falsify, which also identifies the child’s parents or tutors, guaranteeing security and legal and juridical identity for those under 18.

Development has commenced on a 40-hectare area of downtown, to create a socially integrated urban environment that attracts and keeps some of the world’s brightest minds in advertising, gaming, film, TV and other areas of digital-media innovation. Eventually, Guadalajara’s CCD project would expand to cover 380 hectares and to leverage information and communications technologies in inventive ways to improve other areas of the city’s infrastructure and services.

Mexico City is the fifth most inhabited city in the world and, according to the United Nations (UN), the city with the highest percentage of traffic congestion. We are far from being a smart city or smart city. I’m not surprised that Mexicans spend an average of 432 hours a year in traffic — the equivalent of 18 days — according to a study conducted by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO). If we bring together all the users of public transport, just because they are stopped in traffic, they lose 69,000 million pesos a year in productivity; for those who use a car, the figure is 25,000 million pesos per year. I do not like to drive and I do not have a car, not only because of appointments for vehicular procedures, but it is a much more complex issue called mobility.

When I speak of mobility, I mean the ease with which people travel to meet their needs, taking into account all that this implies. The only thing that could solve mobility problems in Mexico would be to transform its cities into smart spaces.

'We’re going to digitize the whole government,' says Governor Ordaz

Bureaucratic paperwork is supposed to become a relic of the past in Sinaloa for dealings with the state government.

Governor Quirino Ordaz Coppel announced yesterday that all the government’s administrative services are going digital as part of a strategy to combat corruption and save people time.

A multi-agency group has been dispatched to Mexico and Colombia at their request for the transfer of the South Korean government's know-how on e-government, the Ministry of the Interior here said Tuesday.

The team, led by Vice Interior Minister Kim Sung-lyul, consists of officials from the interior ministry, the Ministry of Government Legislation, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission and the Korean National Police Agency, the ministry said.

TGI SOLAR POWER GROUP INC. (OTC PINK:TSPG) ("TGI"), a diversified technology company, announced today that it has initiated SMART CITY Pilot Project in Mexico and had a Groundbreaking and Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for a New TGI Community - Taak-Bal ADVENT CITY in Yucatan, Mexico. This project is going to be treated as a pilot project, where we can implement all the technologies available to TGI - either owned, acquired or outsourced. This project is going to take about 36 months to develop, and total estimated cost of is expected to be in excess $220MM, not including additional capital from affiliates and outsourced services, that should bring the total above $1B.

By the end of 2013, hundreds of thousands of companies are going to have to make significant changes in order to be compliant with the new legislation.

The mandate now impacts companies earning more than 250,000 Pesos annually (approximately $20,000 USD) which includes most of the companies that interact with shared services. The major burden of this legislation is on suppliers, so AR operations in Mexico have a lot of work ahead of them. But the buyer and AP side shouldn’t be overlooked.