SINGAPORE: Singapore was ranked the top performer in a global smart city ranking by Juniper Research.
The Global Smart City Performance Index 2017 released on Monday (Mar 12) modelled scenarios across four areas – mobility, health, safety and productivity – to examine the benefits of smart city initiatives for residents in 20 cities. Specifically, it aimed to measure how technology saved time for people and improved their quality of life.
Singapore topped the index in all four areas, ahead of other major cities like San Francisco, Seoul, London and New York in the study sponsored by tech firm Intel. It was conducted from July to September last year.
The report noted that in the area of mobility, Singapore has applied “smart, connected traffic solutions” together with a very strong policy curtailing car ownership in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles on its roads.
It also highlighted Singapore’s focus on addressing healthcare service provision for elderly citizens through a range of technologies, including digital service platforms as well as remote monitoring devices. In the area of safety, the report noted that Singapore has started trials using smart video surveillance to detect criminal activity.
In addition, Singapore is a leader in allowing citizens to access digital services and city information with its “large open data stores” and “strategies to encourage private innovation” through specialised test-bed environments, the report stated.
“Analysts tend to focus on the technical underpinnings of building a data-centric world,” said Mr Windsor Holden, head of forecasting and consultancy at Juniper Research. “We can’t overlook the importance of the real human benefits that smart cities have. Connected communities, municipal services and processes have a powerful impact on a citizen’s quality of life.”
According to Intel, “smart cities” employ Internet of Things technologies such as connected sensors, meters and lights to collect and analyse data to improve public infrastructure and services.
The study noted that Singapore’s “Smart Nation” initiative and its position as a city-state makes the country unique in its ability to execute its smart city vision.
“Singapore was lauded for its rapid transformation since independence into the world’s leading smart city and was held up as an example which other cities can learn from,” Intel said in a media release on Tuesday.
