Digital Tools Can Foster Citizen Experience and Re-Imagine Cities
Worldwide, Smart Cities present a market opportunity of USD 1.6 trillion by 2020, according to Frost & Sullivan, with a recent report by Smart Dubai predicting the city’s value at stake could reach nearly USD 5 billion by 2020. However, Dr Chakib Bouhdary, Digital Transformation Officer at SAP, a technology leader in Smart Cities, argued that without a senior government official leading Smart City efforts, they will not reach their full potential.
“Chief Smart City Officers can make governments more efficient and responsive to citizen demands by breaking down agency silos, forging public-private partnerships, and providing the digital tools to manage population growth, citizen services, and climate resiliency,” added Dr Chakib Bouhdary.
Leading global Smart Cities have hired Chief Information Officers, Chief Innovation Officers, or Chief Technology Officers to guide efforts, including Barcelona, Spain; Boston, United States; and Cape Town, South Africa.
To further drive city-wide and nationwide digitization, Dr Chakib Bouhdary also called on governments, educational institutions, and the private sector to partner on supporting local talent in learning technology skills.
Dr Chakib Bouhdary also praised Dubai as one of the region’s leading Smart Cities, with the Smart Dubai government agency aiming for Dubai to become the world’s smartest city by 2017.
“Dubai’s Smart City success is thanks to of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s visionary leadership, and Smart Dubai’s drive for innovation with clear and achievable goals,” concluded Dr Chakib Bouhdary.
Supporting government innovation, SAP’s Future Cities platform co-innovates with more than 4,500 governments worldwide, using the power of the SAP HANA real-time analytics platform for services such as government-wide dashboards of citizen services, smart traffic management, and smart tourism mobile apps.