Smart Cities – The Future Convenience, Happiness, and Technology

With every passing day, Dubai becomes smarter than ever. With a multitude, the number is devices being connected, and government, making attempts to upgrade the old-school practices to fit in the technology-led society, there is no doubt that Dubai has turned into a tech hub in no time. Our lives are being more dependent on smart solutions that save a considerable amount of time and effort on the administrative chores, enabling us to concentrate on things that keep us happy and bring convenience. Undoubtedly, the smarter a city is, happier will be its inhabitants.

With top web development companies emerging at every nook and corner of the region over the past 10 years, we have witnessed the proliferation of digital connectivity accompanied by the IoT (Internet of Things) — both of which have provided smart cities an entirely new meaning, creating limitless possibilities for citizens to embrace a more convenient life. As stated by a research, smartphones and tablets constitute over 80% of connected devices in Africa and the Middle East and their acceptance is expected to grow from 133 million smartphones in 2014 to 598 million devices in 2018, a noteworthy upsurge in just 4 years.

The Gulf nations are constantly acquiring increased visibility in the establishment of smart cities worldwide, with Dubai developing as the most prominent smart city. The region has acquired great strides in a shorter period of around 10 years since the establishment of its e Government in the year 1999.

In simple words, a smart city is like a playing field where authorities can link individuals to the public organizations via online and mobile governments. Smart cities facilitate the revolution of public services and sequentially improve the convenience for inhabitants. One of the crucial consequences of cities getting smarter is the digitization of governments that allow for the provision of services to people in a citizen-friendly way. e Government and m Government services are making services less seamed and available to the public – particularly for the people isolated or have decreased mobility. Although citizens are always the players in the digital system, and thus, new technology is more centered around involving people and taking control.

Consequently, smart governments simplify the life, making things more citizen-centrist, and residents more appreciative that authorities are not requesting for data already in their possession. In smart cities, the personal data is securer, as it ensures transparency and privacy; and can be accessed public services round-the-clock.

As Dubai’s population is expected to get double over the next decade, approaching five million by 2030, an effective and friction less city is important for a prosperous future and explicates why turning into a smart city is important on the national agenda. Considering that improved services make life more simplified and in turn easier, securer and more impactful for the public, smart technology is a great tool to capitalize on the happiness and convenience — where people can spend time in another task they love doing, ultimately leading to increased happiness.

With that said, the expediency of smart cities poses risks, as data security has become a concern. Security and trust are main factors that interwoven into the idea of smart cities for residents to be able to get the best out of it. Security consequently must be kept in the vanguard of everyone’s minds if the smart cities are actually bringing long-term suitability. There are three pillars we should remember if they wish to work for attaining full power of Dubai Smart City initiative:

Tangible benefits:

The main aim of smart technology is to drive benefits in the form of time, energy and expenses for its citizens, and thus it must live up these benefits.

Seamless experience:

Smart city should be created and implemented to work smoothly, with the end-goal of turning the inhabitants’ lives more friction-less.

Data protection and privacy:

It is important that nobody else, excepting the people who the data belongs to can access– it can be attained by securing the networks through authentication.

Dubai has already turned out as a global hub roaming on the horizons of the intersection of urban development, data, technology, and mobility. Its success is clear; from the launch of RTA (2006) to how it multiplied the entire share of public transport from six percent to sixteen, due to its advanced and integrated network, and has already executed 29 smart mobility related projects.