IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Planning a smart city is not simply an exercise in deploying the most wondrous new technology. If the Philippines’ planners have their way, future city architecture will serve as a tool for making prosperity more broad-based, and attractiveness to investors more sustained. In other words, the building works may be critically important on the surface, but the social engineering may matter more in the long run.

According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the whole point of smart cities is to create a “high trust” society that is globally competitive and knowledge-based. Practically speaking, that means a city of fewer metal detectors and a lower expectation of street crime, leaving residents free to pursue their own prosperity in an increasingly connected world, untroubled by the usual urban inconveniences.

The lone story on page 5 of a major daily last Monday had this headline: Phl affirms support for Asean Smart Cities Network. On page 4 of that same issue, the lone story had this headline: DOJ denies harassment in P108-M tax raps vs Rappler.

Even if your level of discernment were just the size of a mustard seed, you would readily scream “What?” Given that there is no way of reconciling the two, I will explain.

Pursuing a smart city status wherever in the Philippines is not only the sole responsibility of the government (both from local and national), it can only work if all sectors collaborate to invest in making a city smarter.

A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. This data is used to improve the city government’s operations to make it more efficient in meeting the needs of its residents. This also ensures a better quality of government service and citizen welfare. Examples of smart cities around the world are Singapore, Dubai, Amsterdam, New York, and London, among others.

High-rise smart buildings with energy-efficient designs; residential houses with solar panels and green roofs; and electric vehicles, including buses and cars, are among the common representations of a smart city.

But what does a smart city really look like, based on the designated smart communities in the country?

The advent of technology can no longer be undermined, specifically its major impact on various societies. To further elucidate this phenomenon, the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge and the Harvard Business School Executive Education have curated some of the basic output of their study, aptly themed "Leading in the Digital Era." It is very easy to just quote its findings in a Western context, which is constantly bolstered by the First World economy, which I do not intend to do in this column.

But what I hope to convey and provoke in the minds of institutional heads and executives in this column is how to come up with a digital leadership framework based on our very own context as a developing country, and to muster every effort to climb from the bottom to a realistic level of advancement.

In Central Luzon, some 100 kilometers from Metro Manila, construction is in full swing on the Philippines’ very first ‘smart city’. New Clark City is a 9,450-hectare mixed-use development within the Clark Special Economic Zone masterplanned to address the pain points that make many of our big cities nearly unlivable: the congested roads, the pollution, the high cost of utilities, the inability to weather natural disasters. Like all smart cities around the world, New Clark City is a chance to get it right.

Besides their heavy reliance on technology, smart cities are distinguished by their people-centered focus and sustainable practices. There is emphasis on carving out wide, open, pedestrian-friendly spaces and making mass transit easily accessible to discourage the use of private vehicles. Some have gone a step further and are already powered by renewable energy (RE) and are looking at further deployment of these sources as part of their smart city plans. These are what Deloitte calls smart renewable cities (SRC).

Both national and local governments should adopt smart solutions and invest in emerging technologies to deal with risks such as climate change, natural hazards, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The rising population and rapid urbanization demand the adoption of more process, product, organizational, and communication innovations, and smart reforms to address environmental concerns, socioeconomic problems, and other related issues.

For local governments, the provision of critical services to the public, particularly in the sectors of public health, agriculture, and social welfare, requires smart solutions that can provide digital avenues for health consultation, agricultural extension and research, and social protection and monitoring. While there has been progress in the country’s digital governance indices in recent years, particularly on e-participation, e-government, online service, and e-infrastructure, human capital index is an area for improvement.

Known as GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System or G-W@PS, members can readily apply for loans, check membership status and loan accounts through the G-W@PS kiosk. Pensioners can also renew their active status through the kiosk.

SSS president and chief executive officer Emilio de Quiros Jr. said they are rushing the release of the new ID cards so as not to further cause undue inconvenience to members.

“We are already working on that,” De Quiros said.

A measure filed in the House of Representatives seeks to facilitate the digital transformation of students’ textbooks.

“It is no secret that textbooks in public elementary and high schools are limited in number and, as result, our students are forced to share or borrow from one another,” said Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, author of House Bill (HB) No.8020.

Two South Korean companies have expressed interest to partner with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) for infrastructure and smart city development projects in New Clark City in Tarlac and Poro Point in La Union.

In a statement yesterday, the state-run firm said BCDA president and CEO Joshua Bingcang and officer-in-charge senior vice president Mark Torres met with engineering and consulting firm Moon Engineering Co. Ltd. to discuss the conduct of a feasibility study for the upgrade of the San Fernando Airport in the Poro Point Freeport Zone.

The Maasin City government in Southern Leyte has received PHP500,000 in assistance from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to digitalize local government services.

DOST Eastern Visayas Regional Director Ernesto Granada said in a phone interview Thursday they handed over the assistance to Mayor Nacional Mercado to carry out the “Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Ecosystem Development Toward Smart and Sustainable Maasin City” project.

“Through eHealth Room Reservation, St. Luke’s patients will be able to explore their room and price options online and reserve their preferred rooms in advance. This makes the admission process more convenient for our patients,” says Luis P. Sayo, St. Luke’s VP for Information Management.

This city is gearing up to become a smart city following a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) on the Smart City Assessment and Roadmap Development plan.

The Sangguniang Panglungsod headed by presiding officer and Vice Mayor Arnold Arcillas has passed Resolution No. 162, Series of 2021, authorizing Mayor Arlene B. Arcillas here to enter into and sign the MOA for the implementation of the smart city project.

The project is part of the e-Government Master Plan program.

In an interview, Engr. Ernie Vargas, a member of the DOST- Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO), said the project aims to provide every national government office a bandwidth of one gigabyte by September 2014.

In an assembly meeting of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia expressed optimism that Subic Bay will become the next place to be for information and communication technology (ICT) businesses in the country.

“Our efforts to adapt technology in our changing times have paid off. Technology is an effective tool in our campaign for faster and more efficient delivery of services,” said Mayor Lani Cayetano.

Future transactions in this city will soon be conducted online using a web portal and mobile telephone applications, under an initiative to become Central Luzon’s first “smart city.”

Given the demands for automation and cashless transactions because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Tarlac has partnered with private developer Information Technology Business Solutions Corp. (ITBS) to develop the “Angel Portal Ecosystem Project” in order to improve the delivery of services in a shorter time and without generating huge crowds.

New Clark City was cited during a recent Japan forum for utilizing best practices centered on improving its future residents’ health and wellbeing, and in promoting smart city features.

SCI-Japan, a private sector-led, non-profit organization founded by think tank Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consulting, as well as media group Nikkei, in July 2023 congregated smart city champions across the globe, through a forum titled: “Challenge of Japan’s Smart City Initiative Improving Citizen’s Well-being,” to introduce some of best practices and discuss how to utilize well-being indicators for policy design toward sustainable smart city business.

State-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has partnered with the Korean government agency National Agency for Administrative City Construction (NAACC) for New Clark City’s (NCC) urban planning, smart city development, green energy, and smart administrative systems.

In a statement, the BCDA said it signed a memorandum of agreement (MOU) with NAACC to further develop the 9,450 hectares of land in NCC in Capas, Tarlac.