Dubai has been ranked among the top 20 smart cities as per the IMD Smart City Index 2023 that assessed smart infrastructure and services covering various aspects such as health and safety, mobility and governance.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai were the only two cities from the Asia region which made it to the coveted list while the rest were from Europe or Asia-Pacific.
The ranking by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), a renowned global business school, provided a more realistic vision of the socio-economic environment in Dubai and its human-centric approach to the citizens. The IMD earlier used country-level Human Development Index data from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
As the IMD report highlights that city-level changes are an important indicator of what the future may hold, Dubai’s consistent place in the top 20 smart cities showcases the various initiatives taken to improve the ease of living for residents.
The city scores high on parameters such as health and safety, mobility, opportunities like work and education, and governance.
People see improved public transport and basic sanitation even in the poorest of areas. Cultural activities, medical services and information on local government are some of the best aspects in the region.
Adoption of new-age technology
According to Deloitte’s Centre for Government Insights, a smart city strives to improve its citizens’ quality of life, meet their needs, enhance economic competitiveness and offer a sustainable environment.
Sameer Nawani, Chief Representative of Dubai Chambers in India, states that the emirate has been a leading destination in the MENA region for trade, tourism, infrastructure development and civil aviation.
Dubai in recent years has catapulted itself to be among the top global smart cities by rapidly adopting new-age technology and solutions.
Nawani highlights that though a number of stakeholders and initiatives contributed towards the emirate’s smart city journey, five key initiatives of Smart Dubai transformed the way government entities function. It has created a deep impact on people and businesses across sectors.
Digitization of government institutions, Dubai Paperless Strategy, the Invest in Dubai platform, Cashless and Data initiatives catapulted Dubai as a leading smart city.
Rahul Duragkar, the Founder and Managing Director of Emitech Group, says that Dubai is a shining hub of innovation in the Middle East and has always led the way in technology and ambition.
With its Vision 2033, the city plans to keep growing by focusing on advanced transportation like the Hyperloop and self-driving cars.
The focus is on making the city smart with clever tech, being eco-friendly, helping startups, celebrating different cultures, offering new tourist experiences, and improving healthcare with advanced tools.
According to Sambhav Gupta, Senior Luxury Investment Consultant at F&C Properties LLC, Dubai's real estate landscape continues to evolve, driven by technological innovations, sustainability initiatives, and changing market dynamics.
Experts also attribute sourcing of sufficient funds for technology infrastructure for making Dubai a smart city.
Dubai’s Journey To Become A Top Smart City
The journey to become a smart city started in 2013 when HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the development of the smart Dubai government with the main goal of offering unified and seamless services to residents.
Dubai implemented several initiatives covering sectors such as infrastructure, transportation, economic services, urban planning, electricity and communications to make the emirate a smart and sustainable city.
A dedicated Smart Dubai government office was set up to facilitate city-wide smart transformation. As part of Smart Dubai, the Government Resources Planning Systems was launched for managing government functions of Finance, Human Resources, Supply Chain Assets and Payroll.
The GRPS, which caters to over 71,000 employees across 71 government entities, became the strong foundation of smart city initiatives.
The initiatives also witnessed nearly 100% digitalization of government services. Around 87% of total government service transactions are digital as more than 120 government mobile applications have been developed.
Dubai Paperless Strategy, announced in February 2018 by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, led to 82% reduction in paper consumption.
The emirate also set up an Invest in Dubai platform to provide a one-stop solution to businesses. It provides solutions from starting a business to opening a bank account thus helping in making informed decisions.
Another pillar of the smart city journey was Dubai Data, which was established to lead Smart Dubai’s data efforts. A Digital Cloud and Smart Ecosystem was also launched last year to transform the government into a unified, smart ecosystem, offering cloud services to government entities.
Expansion of public internet networks like Wi-Fi provides people with a wide network. The city boasts of more than 23,000 Wi-Fi hotspots.
The smart city journey of Dubai is now centred on one goal -making the emirate the happiest city on earth.
By addressing the fundamental needs of its residents and visitors, Dubai looks to enhance everybody’s short- and long-term happiness and wellbeing, and create a global benchmark for other cities, according to Digital Dubai.
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Quelle/Source: Times Now News, 22.01.2024
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