With all the glitter and shine, India’s newly-found tech hub, Telangana, hosted the country’s smartest conclave ever – SMART URBANATION from March 22 to 23, 2018.
Being a two day convention-cum-exhibition, SM@RT URBNATION witnessed 50+ industry speakers, 1,500+ delegates from across the country, 40+ smart start-ups demonstrating their solutions and around 150 exhibitors from across the world, and importantly, 48 hours of networking. The speakers debated and deliberated on the various opportunities and pertinent solutions with regards to smart cities.
A The conference was inaugurated by R Roshan Baig, Minister for Infrastructure, Urban Development, Information and Haj, Government of Karnataka. During his address, he said, "Technology plays a major role in improving our lives. We need to build more roads and develop infrastructure to cater to the growing urban population." He feels that along with infrastructure, emphasis needs to be made on improving urban mobility and ensuring social safety.Pratap Padode, Founder and Director, Smart Cities Council India (SCCI), said, "SM@RT URBANATION has emerged as a platform for the government and various stakeholders to have dialogue and derive ways to strengthen urban infrastructure. In its fifth year, the summit showcases the latest technologies and real-world solutions that help transform cities into livable, workable and sustainable cities."
The keynote address was given by B Janardhan Reddy, Municipal Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
Product portfolio
The two-day convention and expo witnessed many startups and big players showcasing their ideas on sustainability, which can be used in a smart city ecosystem. Appliance maker Crompton showcased its smart streetlight solutions that allow intelligent dimming, ease of maintenance, energy monitoring and saving, real-time fault detection and many other features. All nodes on street light controllers will be able to communicate with each other wirelessly or through the power line communication. Lighting data for every fixture will be accessible through a web-based interface.
Mumbai-based Bigparkin, which offers smart parking consultation, parking management, smart parking app and other services, plans to introduce electric vehicles along the metro rail stations for last-mile connectivity. Similarly, Team-Up, a Karimnagar-based startup, which is into offering solutions for urban complexities, presented its smart city app. Last year, the company had signed an MoU with Karimnagar civic body.Panel discussions
Seven panel sessions spread across two days addressed some critical issues relevant to smart cities implementation. The discussions revolved around implementation of intelligent transportation system for smarter mobility; smart utilities, a new paradigm of city planning; financing smart city projects through bonds and PPP; e-governance empowering citizens; challenges in developing greenfield cities; energy storage and renewable energy integration along with energy-efficient lighting solutions and smart solar rooftop; and examining various alternatives available in water recycling and reuse. Amid the sessions, special addresses and keynote speeches were delivered from leading companies. These included Tomtom; Gensler, Chicago; Open Data Manchester, UK; NASSCOM; DMICDC; Mindteck; Fluentgrid; and Delta Power Solutions.Smart Cities Award
The first category – Best SPV CEO Award – recognised SPV CEOs who contributed to the successful transformation of cities. The winner of the ‘Best SPV CEO Award’ was based on popularity – the number of votes they received from citizens! A ‘Vote-for-your-SPV-CEO’ campaign was conducted and citizens voted enthusiastically based on their city’s progress and their own satisfaction quotient. Nagarajan, CEO, Surat Smart City SPV, who won the most popular SPV CEO award, wished that his entire team to be present and share the joy!"
In a quest to encourage urban local bodies, SCCI facilitates the Smart Project Awards. This award, backed by stringent methodology and well-qualified jury members, aimed at finding the Highest Citizen-Benefiting Project in India.
Taking into consideration the humungous task before city corporations of providing basic services such as water supply, sewerage, urban transport and other amenities, SCCI felt the need to recognize the corporations and their officials who work relentlessly towards the betterment of citizens’ lives, through the AMRUT Cities Awards.
The start-up wave is incredibly robust in India, with newer and more innovative offerings hitting the market, thanks to our creative geniuses! SCCI’s Start-Up Innovation Hub Awards is meant for those startups that have created the most innovative solutions for cities. Powered by NASSCOM 10000 Startups, this award was vetted by an eminent jury, to select the top three winners! Moreover, the best selected start-up company, Gayam Motor Works, now has the opportunity to present its Award Winning Solution at Smart Cities Week, Silicon Valley or CommunicAsia 2018 in Singapore!
At the occasion Padode stated, "The most popular City CEO award was a closely fought contest and Surat, Vadodara, Gwalior and Bhopal Smart City SPV CEOs have won this amidst tremendous competition. City development has to be a citizen-centric process and these awards help address the preference of citizens all over the country."
The awards were presented by Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Ministry of IT, Industries & Commerce, Government of Telangana, and Nalini Atul, Joint Managing Director, KUIDFC, Government of Karnataka. Speaking at the occasion Ranjan lauded the efforts of SCCI and said, "We would like to support all smart technologies, which offer efficient solutions for improving the lives of citizens and offer an ecosystem at areas such as Cyberabad, and we urge SCCI to set up a ‘Smart Area’ around Cyberabad with companies that demonstrate such solutions for city planners to visit and experience."