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Persistent Systems Limited
Annual Report 2015-16
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The “How” of transformation is equally applicable in the Indian context.
The ambitious vision of “100 smart cities by 2030” requires a well-thought-out
strategy for creating self-sustaining cities. Such cities, powered by digital
technology, will generate economic opportunities and provide quality of life to its
citizens .
Indian cities are growing at an exponential rate. It is estimated that approximately
600 million Indians will be living in cities by 2030. This growth requires the
orchestration of complex administrative machinery wherein city administrators
can efficiently manage cities using actionable insights. This is possible via
deployment of connected devices in a city's infrastructure and enormous amount
of data exchange in real-time. e.g. various city indicators like water purification
system's quality levels, open parking spaces and waste containers' filling level
can be managed remotely. On the other hand, smart citizens would expect
efficient experiences to interact with the city officials and citizen services.
Thus, digital transformation plays a pivotal role in building a Smart City.
Smart Cities
A smart transformative solution will be based on a paradigm of software-driven
cities enabled via data, APIs and experiences for its administrators and citizens.
However, cities are struggling with the “how” of continuous transformation.
While smart solutions are available aplenty, factors like Indian society, diversity,
history, political influences, regional alignments and resource availability pose
different challenges in the adoption of such solutions. As a result, cities, too need
a framework of quick experimentation, prototype deployment and feedback
loop from citizens. In order to transform themselves truly, India's Smart Cities,
too will need a Software 4.0 based approach.