IET Smart Cities Series

As we are not on track to meet the Paris targets of 1.5 degrees C of limiting global warming, it seems increasingly likely that we will need to take systemic approaches to build resilience to the vulnerabilities induced by a changing climate. With 50 percent of the world’s population (80 percent in the developed world), accounting for 75 percent of overall GHG emissions, cities provide a key arena for identifying building climate-resilience. This podcast examines the role that emerging technologies in data-driven smart cities around the world have in building such resilience.

India is one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. What are the socio-technical and policy roadmaps we can consider to pivot our Smart Cities towards climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience - especially based on data, emerging technologies such as AI and machine-learning, and blockchain etc? A podcast interview with Dr Jai Asundi, Executive Director of CSTEP- Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy

AI as a technology can help make the process of water management much easier with the volumes of data that it can make sense of, which in turn helps in building efficient water systems and networks. What is the current state of water contamination of water borne diseases and how the pandemic has spurred this? How do tools like AI and ML help in detecting and preventing water borne diseases? How are AI based local predictions of Water contaminants useful? What is the current state of India in putting AI tools to work? What are the challenges and opportunities that can/ need to be leveraged? Find out in this episode of IET India Smart Cities Podcast series.

The concept of sustainable urban development encompasses an equitable and holistic approach of development of cities and when we talk about holistic development, lakes and water bodies as such form an is an important feature in the landscape. The importance of green infrastructure includes conservation and restoration of lakes, environmental benefits of which can enhance and influence the quality of life and economy of any city. What is actually the significance of lakes in building sustainable cities? What are the various technologies that can be used to safeguard lakes in cities and how could these be included in the Smart Cities Mission? What policies need to be introduced or changed to safeguard lakes and bring about an ecological balance? Find out in this episode of IET India Smart Cities podcast series.

Rapid urbanisation puts alot of pressure on city infrastructure whether it is transport, health, emergency services or utilities. Geospatial technology has become the most critical element of any smart city implementation with its variety of use cases. How can technology can help the government in streamlining urban planning process and what is the role of GIS in preparation of master plans for the cities? How does it help in conceptualising, planning and building urban infrastructure? Find out in this episode of IET India's Smart Cities podcast series.

Smart infrastructure is a critical component of the Smart Cities Mission. The right set of tools and technologies are critical to success of large infra projects like geospatial technologies. Geospatial tools play a major role in different types of infrastructure development as most of the decision making at various levels by urban local bodies are dependent on geographical and spatial analysis.  How can geospatial technologies help in design, development and construction of infrastructure projects in our cities? What are the current trends in this space and how do they help? What are some of the examples of adoption of GIS in urban infrastructure projects in India? Find out more in this episode of IET India Smart Cities Podcast series!

A smart water network provides enhanced automated process control, helps process data in real time to yield the meaningful information that can be put to work to save water and optimise costs. Geospatial technologies play an important role in end to end water management. GIS coupled with other futuristic technologies is becoming a game changer in the water sector. How do geospatial technologies help in water management? What are the current opportunities and challenges of GIS technology applications? Find out more here!

Geospatial technologies play an important role in smarter and safer transportation networks. They help design, build and operate intelligent transportation systems supporting mobility and accessibility to improve human lives. What is the role of GIS in traffic and transport asset management? What could be the futuristic applications of GIS in transportation? Find out more here!

The healthcare sector has evolved drastically in the last few months. Geospatial technologies plays a critical role in analysing complex information to tackle health issues and hence aid the transformation of digital health landscape of a city. What are the current trends in digital health and how can GIS technologies help cities to bounce back in the post-COVID world? Find out more here!

Geospatial technologies play and instrumental role in furthering the sustainable development goals(SGDs) created by United Nations. Focus on data integration and analysis of geospatial data can fulfill and monitor SDG needs. To find out more, check out this episode!

In this podcast, VSR, Chair, Smart Cities WG, IET Future Tech Panel; Chairman & MD, BT&BT shares insights on how authorities and city administrations can add a digital layer on conventional cities to enable sustainable urban development. 

Tune into the podcast to learn how digitalisation can enable creation of green and brown living spaces in cities, towns and villages. 

#IETIndia #SmartCities #Cities #Smart #Digital #Greenfield #Brownfield #India

In this podcast our expert panel talks about how technologies like IoT, AR, VR, ML and block chain are changing the landscape of Indian cities, towns and villages. They also discuss the potential of these technologies to improve the healthcare, education, environment and biodiversity related aspects in the cities, towns and in the era of Industry 4.0 and Digitalisation.

Speakes include:

- Sunil David, Regional Director - IoT (India & ASEAN region), AT&T

- JVS Ramakrishna, Head- Solution Delivery and Platform Development, L&T

- Amrita Chowdhury, Director, Gaia Smart cities

- VSR, Chair, Smart Cities Working Group, IET Future Tech Panel; Chairman, Managing Director & Chief Digital Consultant, BT & BT

Key takeaways from the podcast:

-In the education system, teacher and student connectivity is extremely important. Teachers cannot be replaced by robots. Education is about holistic development of students which is possible through a personal connect.

-Robots might not take over and replace teachers but it will definitely enable knowledge grasping, help in monitoring students, tracking the attention span of students, changing course content etc and in turn helping teacher deliver better.

-Technology is going to improve and create opportunities in healthcare, education and environment. It is giving life to things today. People to people, people to things, things to things are being able to connect better.

#IETIndia #SmartCities #SmartLiving

In this podcast, Rakhee Chachra, VP Mergers & Acquisitions- Integration, Genpact and Bhushan Gaonkar, Senior Manager, Information Services Group discuss how smart connectivity and smart living infrastructure have changed in the current scenario in the midst of the pandemic. They discuss the power of a robust connectivity backbone in driving the country's digital economy. Both also commend the role telco operators have played in the last 3 months to ensure seamless connectivity to manage the additional spike and data consumption in residential settings of the country.

Tune into the podcast to learn how technology can drive seamless connectivity to make cities and homes smarter, efficient and safe.

#IETIndia #SmartCities #SmartConnectivity 

In this podcast, Ali Hosseini, Founder & CEO of SenRa, a PAN India LoRaWAN network operator breaks down the concept of hyperconnectivity and throws light on the key areas that smart cities should focus on for successful implementation of hyperconnected city initiatives. He further explains how hyperconnected smart cities are different from the 'smart cities' and the advantages and challenges that cities might face while striving for hyperconnectivity.

Tune into the podcast to learn how connectivity and technology is re-shaping the cities that we know today and enabling them to be smarter, efficient and green.

#IETIndia #SmartCities

In this podcast, Ganesh Shankar, Founder and CEO of FluxGen Technologies gives an overview of the current water situation in India. He further explains the concept of smart meters and their application in enabling responsible consumption of water in towns and cities. He then highlights the role technologies like IoT and AI can play to build efficient and smart blue cities in India. 

Tune into the podcast to learn best practices and engineering solutions to consumer water more efficiently, smartly and consciously.

In this episode, VSR breaks down the concept of #DigitalTwins and shares his views on how this exponential technology can help in effective and efficient city management,

Top 5 Skills of a Digital Age Business Leader 

In this Podcast, V Srinivasa Rao, also known as VSR discusses why smart cities are a focus area for the Government of India and the challenges software defined smart cities can solve for the country. He then moves on to share insights on how India's engineering excellence can propel and transform the future of Indian cities, making them citizen inclusive and leverage the power of mobile, social and digital media, data analytics and technologies such as AI, ML, IoT, etc. 

Further, VSR provides suggestions on how to create 'happiness centers' in the country that are smart, innovative, sustainable and efficient.  The podcast ends with what the Smart Cities working group of the IET IoT Panel is doing to advocate smart living technologies, engineering solutions and best practices to reach the wider set of stakeholders. 

If you want to join the vision of the working group in bringing the smart cities ecosystem together, reach out to Ujani at sectors@theiet.in.

About VSR: VSR is the Chairman of the Smart Cities Working Group of the IET IoT Panel and the Chairman and MD for BT&BT. He is also the Chief Digital Consultant and advisor for many organisations and helps them prepare for the digital future.

The episode starts with Dhaval Doshi, CEO, Smarthome NX giving an introduction about IET's Smart Cities Working Group. Further he defines and explains the concept of smart living and the IoT solutions available  in the market to make homes and spaces smarter and sustainable. He then highlights the role of the industry to create smart living spaces using technologies such as AI and IoT.

The podcast ends with what the Smart Cities working group of the IET IoT Panel is doing to advocate smart living technologies, engineering solutions and best practices to reach the wider set of stakeholders.