The smart city is fast becoming the norm, and the GCC is leading the way

The Fourth industrial Revolution is driving a massive change in society. Governments and organizations across the globe are seen adopting now-proven technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, and renewable energies, to galvanise our cities and suburbs into a race to become smarter.

Enterprises, cities and nations can fall into decline if they fail to sense the change in the air. After all, they compete with other countries for resources and influence, just as companies compete with one another for market share and revenues. Former empire builders can fall into obsolescence and emerging innovators can become global hubs.

The emergence scenario has been the story for many cities in the GCC that have dared to dream big. While many of their global peers stand still, they edge forward, confident in their visions for a future urban paradigm that bears little or no resemblance to the one we experience even now. Automation and other intelligent technologies are bringing the retro-futuristic dream cities of the atomic age into our current reality, as we design and build the cities of the future. The public and private sectors are both embroiled in digital transformation, using technology to achieve more – to engage consumers and citizens, to empower workforces, to optimise operations, and to reinvent business models.

Automation

Automation is truly the stuff of sci-fi. The intelligent solution, blending software and robotics, taking care of the humdrum, workaday tasks to free up humans for more creative endeavours; or performing dangerous activities, leading to a safer workforce. The United Arab Emirates is adopting a blockchain-based solution to automate and streamline documentation (as well as increase its security), potentially saving 77 million man hours a year. Dubai wants to roboticise its police force, aiming to have machines make up 25% of law-enforcement personnel by 2030. Dubai is similarly exploring an ambitious plan to automate the city’s transportation. 

Intelligence

Future cities will collect and act upon data from a network of sensors, using the Internet of Things to monitor and govern street lights, traffic, parking spaces, utilities and more. Intelligent software can be used to help ease congestion, improve safety, increase efficiency, and lower costs. Where previous projects have had to start from scratch, the imminent arrival of 5G means installing such a network of sensors will be significantly easier and cheaper. 

Innovation

Not all improvements can be made from the top down. City authorities that work with private firms can uncover new ideas. Many of these ideas will inevitably involve AI, as so much of the solutions offered by this field are now service-ready. 

Human involvement

The principle driving force in the development of smart cities is the needs of their citizens. Technological changes are enacted to deliver safer, cleaner, more comfortable and more convenient societies. The UAE, which recently appointed the world’s first minister of state for artificial intelligence, has excelled in this regard, streamlining courts, delivering slick e- and m-services, and constantly brainstorming for the future.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has established a Smart Grid, supported by mixed-reality Microsoft HoloLens headsets, so that field engineers and control-centre overseers can gain a shared, real-time view of infrastructure. And the utility also introduced its customers to the Rammas chatbot, a completely autonomous agent – built using Microsoft’s Cognitive Services Platform – that engages with customers across multiple communication channels. 

The future workforce

Preparing for this futures cape will be a challenge. Cities will need to not only consider future infrastructure, but the future workforce. Who are they? What do they do? What are their skills?

Education needs to adapt now to these needs, or cities risk lagging behind the rest of the world. The World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs” report, released in January 2018, predicts that two thirds of children starting school this year will find themselves in jobs that have not been invented yet. These are jobs being created by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The leaders of cities and nations should keep that front of mind as they ponder whether to allocate more resources to education.

Earlier this year, Microsoft signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) to support the “One Million Arab Coders” initiative. This move aims at bridging the skills gap amongst youth to build a future-ready workforce, accelerate innovation, economic competitiveness, and smart initiatives in the country as well as in the wider region. These much-needed trainings will include Cloud Application Development, Artificial Intelligence and designing cloud solutions, as well as hands-on opportunities to apply new knowledge. In addition to that, Microsoft is also supporting the AI Summer Camp initiative by DFF that focuses on training students on Artificial intelligence. This will support the country’s AI strategy that focuses on core industries such as transportation, healthcare, space, renewable energy, technology and education.

Where do we go from here?

Soon, cities will rely on technology, rather than resources or infrastructure, for their prosperity. Early adopters stand to benefit multiple times over by becoming hotbeds of innovation.

The promise of intelligent, data-driven cities is too great to ignore, and there is reason to expect notable successes in the near future. It is up to the city planners to craft the right strategies, and to adopt and take advantage of these new capabilities to ensure their cities stay relevant and competitive. With the right policies and strategies, every individual and organization on the planet can achieve more.