As LIFE turnsSMART...

Urbanisation is here to stay. The num-ber of people in our cities and thepeople who are dependent on urbanfacilities has been increasing acrossthe world. However, urbanisationhas given rise to many problems like

air pollution, traffic congestion, mental andphysical stress. The smart city project is be-ing projected as a solution to these problems.Smart Cities in fact, is fast becoming a buzzword. Of course, there are many opinions onwhat constitutes a smart city. Basically, thereis a need to look beyond proposed investmentsand professional opportunities and actuallystudy how a smart city would benefit the livesof its citizens.

However, the theory that technology alonecan contribute in making a city smart is amyth. The smart city concept should certainlymake use of technology. Today, internet-linkedfacilities can be used easily. The smart citieswill indeed use technology, but this alone willnot solve problems created by urbanization.The complexity in the lives of common peopleshould not be increased.

The people's lives will be much better if wecan link together the simplicity of Indian cul-

ture, the spirit of the universal family and be-come smart. We are looking beyond the con-cept of smart city to a perspective of people'sparticipation and engagement.

The work achieved in Tel Aviv in Israelwas noticed while studying the smart citieswhich has easily connected people. This cityhas achieved the distinction of being the num-ber one smart city in the world. The lessonsfrom Tel Aviv will be useful while shaping thesmart cities in Maharashtra. We have decid-ed to constructively participate in the processthrough the medium of Delivering ChangeFoundation in the initiative to build up smartcities in the state.

The factors that make cities ugly, the chal-lenges created by these issues and the networkof infrastructural facilities are important el-ements. Nonetheless, in the smart city con-cept, the people's participation and their easyaccessibility to each other and various estab-lishments is important. The Israeli govern-ment, the Tel Aviv municipal corporation andthe Maharashtra government will be support-ing the Sakal Media Group in this smart cityinitiative.

Abhijit PawarChairman and Founder,Delivering Change Foundation

PUNE THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2015 Pages 16 + 4 = 20 (Including Smart City & Plus 4 supplement) Price ` 3.00

‘Smart City’ is not just a technology innovation. It is a people solution, where digital devicesare just enablers. Technology can help us engage citizens, increase efficiency, empower sus-tainability, generate business and above all, improve the quality of life. Currently, there aremany core thoughts on making cities more liveable, sustainable and viable. Most of them areabout transforming our cities in the field of technology, energy, governance, sustainabilityand mobility. The source of all these inspirations is however two simple thoughts, making ourcity a better place and improving the quality of life for its citizens.

TRAITS OF A SMART CITY

GLOBAL THINKING GOVERNANCE SMARTCITY

AMETROPOLIS THAT IS HOME TOALL ITS RESIDENTSA city has to be appealing for residents of all ages, stratas and beliefs. Cities are not societ-ies if they do not bridge their social gaps. It cannot be identified as a city for the moneyedor retirees or labourers. This has to be ensured through a four cornered approach i.e.quality education, equal opportunities, social pluralism and communal solidarity. All otherproblems of a city are built over and above, if this foundation is not in order. Any city hasto ideally strive to be a city for a lifetime i.e. one should feel that they can spend their en-tire life there without missing out on anything in terms of opportunity or experience.

“Cities are not societies if they don’t bridge their social gaps.”NY City Marathon

New York

AGOVERNMENT THATWORKS BEST FOR ITS PEOPLEA city cannot be policy-oriented or belief-oriented, but rather has to be resident-oriented.A good city needs a municipal government that is increasingly efficient and collaborative,and with a high degree of autonomy in managing its internal municipal affairs. However,it cannot just be happy with a great working relationship between politicians, bureaucratsand employees. The Citizens are the clients of any municipality. So as consumers, citizensneed to be engaged and gratified. Additionally on matters of common concern, a goodmunicipality collaborates with authorities across municipal boundaries.

“Citizens are the clients of any municipality.”City Share BikesCopenhagen

AN ENVIRONMENT THAT APPEALS EVEN IF URBANA city has to co-create an appealing urban environment, incorporating the best of bothworlds. While it has to be progressive by being open to renewal (i.e. metro transport), butat the same time preserves its design heritage (i.e. historic architecture). Smart cities strikea balance between built fabric and open spaces. It maintains a prudent mix of land uses. Itacts to effectively reduce environmental hazards. And above all, it promotes an efficient,sustainable and multi-means transit system. It is within this fine balance that a city devel-ops an appealing image globally.

‘‘Smart cities strike a balance between built fabric and open spaces.’’Hyde Park View

London

AN IDENTITY THATDEFINES ITSOWNPROSPERITYA city has to have a fair dichotomy between its financial gains and cultural stand. Whilethe revenue of any city can be generated by its industries and businesses (they may be ofa single sector or many), the image of a city is only defined by the quality of life it offers.It has to be a hub not just of money, assets, trade or resources of a certain kind, but alsoneeds to have a positive identity. Something that makes it likeable, liveable and lasting!Often people complain of industrial towns and financials centers lacking ‘character’. Citiesare not just aligned, but rather alive with their own ‘joie de vivre’.

‘‘Cities are not just aligned, but rather alive.’’City Wide Wi-Fi

Tel Aviv

>>Contd on P-IV

Improving the condition of Indian cities tomake them more liveable and friendly. Thisincludes improving infrastructural facilities andcreate better environment for investments.

Turning cities into liveable spaces will mainlyfocus on cleanliness and 24-hours water sup-ply, treatment of sewage water, solid wastemanagement, strong public transport system,affordable housing for all, Internet connectivi-ty, easy and safe mobility for citizens.

There will be continuous dialogue with citi-zens using e-governance, taking into consid-eration the needs of the citizens.

The process to select 100 Indian cities underthe project has been completed. 20 cities willbe developed during the first year. These citieshave to send proposals to the Centre, which isyet to finalise the top 20 to be developed.

After identifying the cities for phase one, bothCentral and State governments will annuallyfund Rs 100 crore each to the respective mu-nicipal corporations. A total of Rs 1,000 crorewill be sanctioned during the five year period.In the course of time, the corporations will haveto undertake various projects under the PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) model. Governmentfunding will fund a new initiative which will belater run with aid from private entities.

For realising the various projects under theSmart City project, a new company will haveto be established for implementation. More-over, a dedicated Chief Executive Officer (CEO)needs to be appointed for this special purpose.This CEO will monitor the market situation andwill try to develop routes for investment.

For the Smart City project, a total of Rs48,000 crore has been reserved. A budget ofRs 50,000 crore will be utilised for the 476 cit-ies that have a population of over 1 lakh.

There will be special facilities provided overan area spanning 500 acres.

For better living, old building structures willbe demolished on 50 acres and based on therenewed layout, new housing facilities will beset up on an area. These houses will have latesthigh-end facilities.

Newer constructions will emerge on thoseunoccupied lands more than 250 acres. For,the poor, affordable housing will be available.

A standardised plan will be devised, to beimplemented in all the smart cities. For exam-ple: Plan to strengthen the public transporta-tion issue of Pune.

Public participation and citizen voices will bea part of the Smart City project.

SMART GOVERNANCE, SMART SOCIETY

Cities are engines of progress, but face many a challenge in achieving theirgoals. Some of the urban development schemes proposed by the centralgovernment were not always effective. But, this scenario is changing. Theformer Congress led government executed the ‘Jawaharlal Nehru NationalUrban Renewal Mission’ and the BJP government has launched the ‘SmartCity’ project.

WHAT IS A SMART CITY ?There are various initiatives and experiments undertaken theworld over under the title of ‘Smart City’. The Centre’s present,‘smart city’ definition focusses on the following...

Tel Aviv in Israel has bagged the ‘World's Smartest City’ award. Thesecitizens are leading a comfortable, high standard of life. DeliveringChange Foundation has resolved to make cities in Maharashtra 'smart'like Tel Aviv. However, it is not possible for a single individual to bringthis into reality. An active participation of all stakeholders is important.The administrative officers in various cities in the state and electedrepresentatives will need to be given training in this regard and aware-ness also needs to be created among the citizens. We hope this will tru-ly create smart cities and help find solutions to the problems in cities.

The smart city concept is very innovative. Thegovernment is also planning to implementthis concept in the State. We will definitelytake the good ideas that emerge fromthe Delivering Change Foundationʼs workin their smart city initiative. This will helpin creating better infrastructure in variouscities in the State. The State government, on

the lines of the Central government, is planning to develop tiertwo and tier three cities. This will be an ambitious project of thisgovernment and it will change the lifestyle of residents of smallcities in the State. The Delivering Change Foundation (DCF) hasdonemassive work in various fields. DCF is also working withthe State government onmany fronts. DCF has come up withnumerous unique concepts and they are implementing theseideas in innovative ways. The type of work they do can be aroadmap for development.

Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra

We are veryimpressed bythe work theDeliveringChangeFoundation(DCF) has done,whether it is

the work done to tackle the waterproblem in Maharashtra or thesmart cities initiative, DCF thrives bygetting all the stakeholders together,understanding the issues at handthoroughly and then implementingthe solution on the ground. This is avery goodmodel indeed.

David Akov,Consul General of Israel in Mumbai

IIThursday September 3, 2015TOWARDS SMARTNESS

SMARTVOICES

‘ENGAGEWITHCITIZENS TOMAKECITIES SMART’Zohar Sharon, Chief Knowledge Officer of Tel Aviv Municipality, was in the city to attend Sakal Media Group’s ‘Simply Smart’

RUJUTA PAREKHreporters@sakaaltimes.com

Pune: Zohar Sharon, Chief Knowledge Of-ficer of Tel Aviv Municipality, has stressedon the importance of engaging with citi-zens to make cities smart.

While addressing bureaucrats from var-ious municipal corporations in the State,Sharon said, “You must know your peopleas a municipality. The main reason Tel Avivwas named the smartest city in the world isbecause we have knowledge about the peo-ple of the city.”

Numerous politicians, bureaucrats, rep-resentatives of industries, NGOs and cit-izens from the city gathered for SimplySmart, an event organised by Sakal MediaGroup’s Delivering Change Foundation(DCF) at the Yashwantrao Chavan Acade-my for Development Administration (YA-SHADA) on Wednesday to learn about TelAviv’s success story and look at how Indiancities can be converted into Smart Cities.

Among those present at the event wereManaging Director of Sakal Media Group,Abhijit Pawar, Guardian Minister GirishBapat, Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan,several MLAs, Pune Municial Corpora-tion (PMC) Commissioner Kunal Kumar,Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corpora-tion Commissioner Rajeev Jadhav, PMRDA

CEO Mahesh Zagade, Amravati MunicipalCorporation Commissioner ChandrakantKurewar and several other bureaucrats.

Sharon, through the medium of a de-tailed power-point presentation, shed lighton various facilities and schemes madeavailable for the citizens which has enabledTel Aviv to become the smartest city in the

world. He also spoke at length about Digi-Tel club which has been formed by the mu-nicipality to provide the citizens with per-sonalised city information, specifically tai-lored to their needs.

While addressing the gathering, MPChavan said that Pune must learn from thebest practises in the world while embarking

on the journey to becoming a Smart City,which also emphasising on people’s partic-ipation.

Kumar said Pune has already seen anenormous response from the public interms of the suggestions PMC got as a partof the competition it had organised whenthe Smart City project was announced. Hesaid that Pune will be a model for other cit-ies by showing how enlightened citizenscan make a Smart City.

Bapat also spoke at length about theproject and laid more emphasis on takingup this project in a time-bound manner. “Itis noticed on several occasions that manygreat projects come our way and we wastetoo much time in discussions. Meanwhile,a new project comes up and the focus shifts.This should not be the case. We must workin a time-bound manner to make Pune aSmart City through active participationfrom all sections of society. There is a needof distribution of work through micro-levelplanning,” he said.

He also spoke about the need for peopleof the city to become smart and need for achange in mentality. “Manpower manage-ment in Pune is equally important as mate-rials management. We must start with em-powering school students followed by col-lege students to bring about a change in themindset of people,” he added.

HOWWE DID IT: Zohar Sharon, Chief Knowledge Officer of Tel Aviv Municipality, (holding the mic) during an interactive session at the Simply Smart event at the YashwantraoChavan Academy for Development Administration (YASHADA) on Wednesday. Also present were Abhijit Pawar, MD of Sakal Media Group (extreme left), Nimrod Assouline, DeputyChief of Mission, Govt of Israel, Mumbai (second from left), Guardian Minister Girish Bapat (second from right) and PMRDA CEO Mahesh Zagade (extreme right) among others.

‘AN EFFORT TO MAKE PUNE A SMART CITY’While speaking at the Simply Smart event, MD of Sakal MediaGroup, Abhijit Pawar said that the event which was organisedto get a better idea of Smart Cities is not just a platform madeavailable by the Sakal Media Group. “This is an effort to trans-form Pune into a Smart City. The main purpose of this event isto bring all practically implementable practices from across theworld to Pune. Sakal organised the Pune Bus Day with supportfrom the people of Pune. Even though, the problem of traffic inPune was not permanently solved, we found an implementablesolution through it,” he said. He also spoke at length about thevarious initiatives of the Delivering Change Foundation at thestate, national and international level including Tanishka Wom-en’s Dignity Forum, Water For All and Young Inspirators Network.

Pic: Parag Jadhav

Tel Aviv has set an example for all the other cities and countries. They have shownthe way for what needs to be done to make a city smart. Everyone has to cometogether without any discrimination to achieve the goal. Also, it is necessary towork in a time-bound manner to make Pune a smart city. Even the people need tobecome smart during this process of transforming Pune into a smart city.

—Girish Bapat, Pune District GuardianMinister

It is necessary to provide basic amenities first, tomake a city smart. Information technology must beemployed for the same reason as well. A smart citymust also have an efficient public transport system.

—ChandrakantGundewar,Municipal Commissioner, Amravati

Every Indian city is in the race to bag a place in the Smart Cityproject. We must learn from the best practises across the worldwhile embarking on the journey of making Pune a smart city.While technology plays an important role in making of a smartcity, people’s participation is equally important.

—VandanaChavan,MP

Smart city is a topic being discussed across India. Our city can prove to bea model for others as to how public participation can make a smart city. Wehave to work along with all sections of the society and need to develop smartsolutions to create maximum impact fromminimum funds. We can achieve thisby keeping in mind the example set by cities like Tel Aviv.

—Kunal Kumar, PMCCommissioner

A city can be made smart if it uses a citizen-centric approach. We need to first improve theinfrastructure followed by proper utilisation oftechnology to make the city smarter. This puttogether will lead to smarter living.

—Rajendra Jagtap,Dy Commissioner, PMC

This event organised by Sakal Media Group to shed light on smart city ispraiseworthy. PCMC should have been selected for the project. However, withoutany further delays, we have already undertaken initiatives that will make Pimpri-Chinchwad a smart city. Only improving the quality of services provided does notmake any city a smart city, there must be efforts to also reduce the crime rate. It isnecessary that people feel safe in the city.

—Rajeev Jadhav, Pimpri ChinchwadMunicipal Commissioner

For making Pune a smart city it is important that we focus on providing the basicamenities to all the citizens. As part of the smart city project, making the industryworkers smart would also be important. The industries would also contribute inmaking the city more liveable by taking efforts in conserving the environment. Forthe same industries must treat their effluents before releasing them.

—Anant Sardeshmukh,Director General Mahratta Chamber of Commerce,Industries and Agriculture

With rapid urbanisation, it is necessary for citizens to make themselvessmart as well. Public transport, means of communication and bankingmust be given utmost importance. The smart city must ensure that eachcitizen gets all the facilities easily. Likewise, even citizens must becomesmart and accept their responsibility.

—Harshavardhan Patil, formerminister

A smart city is a city where senior citizens, children, youth and professionalsvoluntarily choose to stay in. We have a long way to go before we can callPune a smart city. For this, we need a planned vision and solve the problemsrelated to public transport and solid waste management. For this, we needconstant support from the citizens of Pune.

—Medha Kulkarni, MLA

Pune currently has 50 per cent of its population livingin a poor state. To make Pune a smart city firstly we willhave to address the issue of poverty. Only then can wethink about making the city smart. The city must primarilyensure that all its citizens get the basic amenities.

—Anita Benninger, Activist

The community of businessmen is all in favour of Pune becominga smart city. If Pune becomes a smart city then entrepreneursin the city will also grow which in turn would increase thegovernment revenue. At present our city lacks in providing us thenecessary infrastructural facilities. This issue must be addressed.

—FatehchandRanka, President of the Pune Saraf Association

The experiences shared by the representatives of Tel Aviv municipality willprove useful for the development of Pune city. Pune Metropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority will constantly strive to provide the city with thenecessary and improved services. Modern technology will be used to improvethe quality of life of Pune’s residents.

—Mahesh Zagade,CEO, PuneMetropolitan Region Development Authority

Watch the special programme onSmart City on SAAM TV at 6 pm today

TELAVIV - THESMARTREALITYOF ISRAELIn November 2014, the city of Tel Aviv was awarded the title of the ‘World’s Smartest City’ at the Smart City ExpoWorld Congress in Barcelona,Spain. Tel Aviv came up tops among 250 competing cities among which were London, New York, and Amsterdam. TheWall Street Journal hasalso ranked it as one of the twomost innovative cities in the world. No wonder that the start-up phenomenon is an integral aspect of the smartTel Aviv city. Here is a look at how a forward lookingmunicipal corporation along with its citizen community harnessed technology andmadea name for itself. Here are the ten salient features that make the capital of Israel, the world’s smartest city.

Digi-Tel NetworkDiti-Tel is a personalised digitalcommunications network that isin many ways situation based. Itrolls off information after consid-ering a user’s unique profile. Forinstance, if a user is accustomedto using a particular bridge and itis to remain closed for repairs, he/she is notified via text message.

Public ParticipationTel Aviv Yafo Municipalitydirectly allows the publicto speak on infrastructuraldevelopments. The wholeprocess of seeking opin-ion is digital. For instance,it involves residents in adialogue about the designof a beach strip or makinga master plan for address-ing the common issues ofyoung adults.

Digi-Tel AppThe app brings all the happenings of thecity on to your palm. The application is a‘virtual city center’ that connects its citi-zens to facilities. Be it public transporta-tion, common recreation or keeping intouch with other like-minded citizens, theapp connects residents to the city’s spirit.

Omnipresent Wi-FiThe frustration of no internet connectivityis unknown in Tel Aviv. The city has estab-lished Wi-Fi zones across the city at thebeaches, markets and streets. The networkcan be availed free of cost by residents andtourists alike. No signing up is required, ex-cept that there is a vigilance mechanismthat secures it.

Community CentresFinding a skills class or a fami-ly service to suit your purposeis not difficult in the city. FromEnglish speaking to daycareservices, local communitycentres give out details ofactivities being undertaken inthe local area. Tel Aviv city of-ficials are working at enablingdigital registration and onlinepayment for these communi-ty services.

Going SocialThe municipality makes its presence felt where mostof its citizens converge i.e. on social media! It interactswith thousands of Facebook and Twitter users, whileencouraging user-generated content. Moreover, it

uses social media as a platform for municipal deci-sion-making, where citizens actively contribute to

the process.

Open DataThe municipality has opened many of itsnon-confidential databases to public. Themove is directed to aid the common pub-lic and application developers to make thebest use of data that deals with culture,health, budgets among others. Almostseventy new applications were createdduring the Tel Aviv App2you contest.

Online ServicesHow about the city’s mayorbeing just a click away? Notjust that, today Tel Aviv res-idents can order a residentparking permit online andreceive through courier. Onecan appeal a parking ticket,examine the status a build-ing permit application andregister their children forkindergarten. All of this andmore is virtually executed.

Tel Aviv Start-up CityThe ever-growing start-ups at Tel Aviv are next to those at Silicon Val-ley. The city of ‘innovative incubation’ hosts a thriving startup ecosys-tem including venture capital firms, seed funds, co-working spaces,global events, leading research and academic institutions, major inter-national hi-tech firms, and over 700 start-ups!

IIIThursday September 3, 2015

Tel Aviv’s public engagementmodelis the right fit for Indian citiesD

avid Akov, Consul General ofIsrael in Mumbai, believesthat a progressive smart citystems from maximising pub-

lic engagement. In an interviewwith Sakal Times, he talked of howpublic engagement in governmen-tal decision-making is essential fora smart city.

Israel’s capital Tel Aviv uses tech-nology to engage its citizens in a di-alogue when it comes to infrastruc-ture development. “The goal is en-gagement and technology is justa tool,” he said. He added that thesmart city concept needs to be un-derstood before implementation andthat each city in India needs an indi-vidual plan. However, the primarygoal remains engagement, he said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadna-vis met officials from the Tel Avivmunicipality during his visit to Is-rael in April this year. It was decid-ed that information exchange wouldcontinue in an effort to find ways toreplicate the concept in India. Boththe parties would continue dialogueover best practices and the technolo-gy that make for a smart city.

The Delivering Change Founda-

“Israel’s capital Tel Aviv uses technology toengage its citizens in a dialogue when it comesto infrastructure development. The goal isengagement and technology is just a tool. “

“The smart city concept needs to beunderstood before implementation andthat each city in India needs an individualplan. However, the primary goal remainsengagement.“

—David Akov,Consul General of Israel in Mumbai

Pune: Engaging citizens andensuring public participationin the city’s developmentis at the core of the smartcity project implementedin Tel Aviv, said ChiefKnowledge Officer of Tel AvivMunicipality, Zohar Sharonon Wednesday.Sharon was in the city

to address bureaucrats,politicians and otherprominent personalities atthe ‘Simply Smart’ eventorganised by DeliveringChange Foundation. Duringan interaction sessionorganised ahead of theprogramme, Sharon spoke at

length about the initiativestaken by the Tel Avivmunicipality to engage withcitizens with a view to ensuretheir active participation indeveloping the city.Sharon stressed that Tel

Aviv was awarded the titleof ‘World’s Smartest City’recently because of itsunique initiatives to connectwith citizens. “We conducteda survey in which we realisedthat the people liked thecity but were not positiveabout the municipality. Tobridge this gap between thecitizens and the municipalityit was important to engage

PUBLICPARTICIPATIONKEYTOASMARTCITYPROJECT

Zohar Sharon,Chief KnowledgeOfficer, Tel Aviv Municipality

Persistent Systems and i4c in asso-ciation with the Sakal Media Grouphave organised ‘Digital Pune Hack-athon 2015’ to seek digital innova-tive ideas for better civic ameni-ties for smart cities. The initiativehas received an overwhelming re-sponse. The aim ofHackathon is to finddigital solutions tothe civic problemsthrough the mediumof web and mobile ap-plications. The studentwith best digital solu-tions in the Hackathoncontest will be award-ed Rs 1 lakh.

Pune MunicipalCorporation (PMC),Pune Mahanagar Pari-vahan MahamandalLtd(PMPML), Pune MetropolitanRegion Development Authority(PMRDA), Maharashtra State Elec-tricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL), Pune Police and Nation-al Institute for Research in Tuber-culosis have supported the Hack-athon.

Computer Science students(Graduate and Post-Graduate) fromover 60 Engineering colleges fromin and around Pune will come to-

gether to build solutions for Pune’scivic issues. Their creative expres-sions are expected to provide reme-dial measures for the Smart City.

The Centre has declared to de-velop 100 Smart Cities in the coun-try. Pune has been included in the

project. Prime Min-ister NarendraModi has also an-nounced the DigitalIndia project. Punehas earned the dis-tinction of being theOxford of the Eastand Silicon Valleyof Maharashtra andtherefore has the po-tential of being aModel Smart City.Pune has a largenumber of creative

and innovative, students. Howev-er, on the downside, Pune is sad-dled with challenges such as pub-lic transportation, communication,healthcare, security, education, wa-ter supply, waste management andpower. The objective of the Hack-athon therefore is to develop cre-ative and innovative web and mo-bile applications in an effort tosolve the challenges faced by futureSmart Cities.

with citizens and encouragetheir active participation indeveloping the city “ saidSharon. Sharon emphasizedthat Smart is not just aboutupgrading technology butabout using technology toengage with citizens.“ For engaging more and

more citizens we startedthe initiative ‘DigiTel Club’where citizens can registerto be part of the club. Asmembers of the club, citizensget access to various servicesand information relevantto them. Through DigiTelin case of emergency wecan send alert messages to

all the residents just by asingle click. Also residentscan communicate with usabout various happenings inthe city thus increasing theirparticipation in the wholeprocess,” Sharon said.Sharon added that in

Tel Aviv citizens are alsoencouraged to give theirsuggestions about using theavailable budget to developtheir own neighbourhood.“ A lot of creative ideas to

develop the city came fromcitizens which we are nowtrying to implement,” saidSharon.

— Jui Dharwadkar

tion (DCF), an independent organiza-tion that partners with governmentsand communities to accomplish nationtransformation, also asserted its pres-ence during these talks. DCF’s ChiefManager Vaibhav Saraf was a part ofthe negotiations.

In an effort to preserve the dialogue,

a delegation will visit Israel next week.The delegation will comprise officialsfrom the State government, municipalcommissioners from across Maharash-tra along with officials from the UrbanDevelopment Ministry. The delegationwill participate in the Cities Summitand the DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Fes-

tival 2015. They will also visit a watertreatment plant, a sewage treatmentplant, hold meeting with smart trans-port companies, visit integrated com-munity farms and so on.

As far as the progress of smart cit-ies here in India is concerned, the DCFis in the process of rolling out detailedpointers for the development of cities.Akov said that his team was in the ear-ly stage of talks with the DCF.

“We appreciate their (DCF’s) smartcities initiative and hope to eventual-ly partner the Foundation in bringingforth Israeli technology, knowhow andculture through the smart cities proj-ect,” Akov said. He also praised thework undertaken by DCF and laudedtheir model which involves bringingtogether different sections of peopleinvolved to solve issues on the ground.

“We are very impressed by the workDCF has done, whether it is the workdone to tackle the water problem inMaharashtra or the smart cities ini-tiative, DCF thrives by getting all thestakeholders together, understand-ing the issues at hand thoroughly andthen implementing the solution on theground. This is a very good model in-deed,” Akov said.

Tel Aviv

ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE TO‘DIGITAL PUNE HACKATHON 2015’

Public hospitalscan create a unifiedrepository of patientrecords for quickresponse.

PUBLIC HEALTHANDHYGIENE

SMARTCITIZENSMAKE SMARTCITIES!

TECHNOLOGYTOSIMPLICITYOnce we view technology as an enabler, it starts to become a saviour. When civic bodydomains are assisted by clear digital solutions, the process is a quick resolution of issues.

The result? A better quality of life!

SOCIALMEDIA

CLOUDCOMPUTING

INTERACTIVEKIOSKS

DIGITALPROJECTION

MOBILE APPLICATION

DATA ANALYTICS

GEOTARGETTING

>>Contd from PI

A study of Tel Aviv has revealed that the city has achieved excel-lence on various fronts.

As a precursor to the efforts of improving the standard of livingof the people in Maharashtra, we invited a few important officialsof the Tel Aviv municipality to brief a selected group of Puneites.Puneites responded enthusiastically to this programme which washeld in the city on Wednesday. Of course, we do not intend to copythe Tel Aviv model in toto. Some changes will have to be made keep-ing local situations in mind.

The present era is one of urban participation. The days of ‘Wewill tell and you will obey’ is no longer valid. The people today haveaccess to the power of social media. The concept of ‘Rule of peopleand run by people’ is being practised.

Social media has been instrumental in overthrowing many re-gimes. Bloody revolutions have been replaced by digital revolu-tions. The common people have realised their strength and are ableto share their thoughts and ideas with millions in a jiffy across thecountry.

We intend to use all the facilities at our disposal, from news-papers to the digital medium, to emulate the Tel Aviv smart citymodel and fine-tune it to local conditions. Through our Pune BusDay movement, we had prepared a three-year-plan to strengthenthe public transport system in Pune to make the lives of Puneitesmore comfortable. This was attempted with the active participa-tion of Puneites.

While executing this initiative, we realised difficulties. It wasthe responsibility of the elected representatives and the adminis-tration to find solutions to these issues. While implementing thesmart city project in 10 cities of Maharashtra, the local bureau-crats, the state capital administration, elected representatives andthe Centre would need to work closely together.

We are committed to taking up our own responsibility in im-proving the quality of life of the citizens in these selected smartcities.

We have simultaneously mooted the concept of smart villages,as creating smart cities alone is not adequate. The planners of ourproposed smart cities need to be acquainted with best practices inTel Aviv, the world’s best smart city. This is why we have arrangeda tour of Tel Aviv for the municipal commissioners and represen-tatives of the 10 cities of Maharashtra.

In the future too, we will take up various projects to make thelarger cities in our state more liveable. We are confident that thebureaucracy, elected representatives and citizens will support thisinitiative to make our cities more liveable and smart.

HEALTHY

Prioritise nutrition,vivacity, hygiene,fitness and health, thuspromoting well beingamong their peers

POLITE

Refrain from verbalabuse, serious threats orgrievous hurt (physicalor emotional) to fellowcitizens

HONEST

Never deceive, cheator steal from their owncity and build their citya nationally acclaimedreputation

VIRTUOUS

Oppose immoralconduct in public andunethical practicesin society and theymobilise others against it

SOCIAL

Obey rules (e.g.hygiene), respectlaws (e.g. traffic) andactively participate incommunity services

People bind togetherto save and care fortheir greens and theirsocial centre-points.

GARDENS ANDOPEN SPACES

Billing and redressalfor all utilities inthe city at yourfingertips, literally ‘inyour hands’.

Sensors across thecity map sources,trends and outputs ofpollution for precisealerts.

ENVIRONMENTRESPONSIBILITY

Commuters andmotorists areupdated real-time onglitches in their dailycommon routes.

TRANSPORTATION(PUBLIC & TRAFFIC )

Celebrations that arecentral to the citiesculture, beamedacross to reducecongestion.

FESTIVALS ANDOCCASIONS

Local citizens get toselect plans, chooseart, create signagethrough digitalinstallations.

DESIGN ANDAESTHETICS

PUBLIC UTILITIES(WATER, POWER, ETC)

Eliminate paper (e.g.digitizes bank and bills)and conserve energy(e.g. utilizes solar andwind) in life

BRIGHT

Segregate their homewaste, avoid marketplastic and storepersonal trash until theyfind a dustbin

GREEN

‘SIMPLY SMART’ CITIZENS.WHAT ARE THEIR THOUGHTS?

‘SIMPLY SMART’ CITIZENS.WHAT ARE THEIR ACTIONS?

IVThursday September 3, 2015

As LIFE turnsSMART...

#3 BE THE CHANGE

If your city is deficient, youare its EFFICIENCY. Youstart the fire and good timesare up to what you do

Be human enough to holdon to true EMOTION.A great city needs goodhumans who feel for it

#1 FEEL THENEEDTurn thewheels of lifethrough the courseof time. All the goodyou gather is a gift forDELIVERY ahead

#7PASS ITON

Make the ECOSPHERE youroyster, your canvas, yourconcourse. Get over theslots of race, caste, state

#6MEET THEWORLD

#4 YEARN TO LEARN

Keep collecting andexperimenting withnew ideas, conceptsand experiences. KeepLEARNING lifelong!

#5 FOLLOWTHE SUN

Find the right mentor thatmotivates you, the rightidea that captivates you.We all need a CATALYST

Live life with a sense ofBALANCE and conscience.May it be work-life, career-interest, self-society etc

#2 STAYONCOURSE

The concept of Smart City demands varied skillsand promises emergence of many innovativeemployment opportunities. Sakal InternationalLearning Centre (SILC) has now undertaken thetask of creating the required smart resources forthis purpose. SILC will soon be launching variousopen enrollment short and long term Smart Skillcourses in this regard.

SMART CITY,SMART SKILLS

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