INCOBRA - Increasing International Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Brazil and the European Union

The European Union conceptualizes smart cities as the incorporation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in urban management and uses them as tools to stimulate the formation of an effective government, with collaborative planning and citizen participation. Thus, they become more innovative, competitive, attractive and resilient, bringing a better life quality for its habitants.

Despite being a relatively new concept, smart cities have been consolidated as a key issue in the global discussion on integrated and sustainable development. Examples abound in the world, as Songdo, South Korea, and Copenhagen, Denmark, who have invested in technology and innovation to improve urban mobility. The projection of the international consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the smart cities will move a global market of technological solutions estimated at $ 2 trillion for the next decade.

To develop smart cities and profit from all its market, social and technological potential, Brazil needs to adopt some essential elements, in the view of industry experts. Experiences with smart cities in the country and reviews on how to implement the concept in other cities were presented on Wednesday (22) during the ICT Week, an event promoted under international cooperation Sector Dialogues EU-Brazil.

One of the iniatives is the project Smart Cities from the federal government that comprises the National Broadband Programme (PNBL). The expectation is to stimulate the creation of smart cities applications universalizing the use of the Internet in Brazil. According to the Digital Inclusion Secretary from the Ministry of Science substitute, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC), Américo Bernardes, up to date, 71 municipalities have been met. The goal is to reach 335 between 2018 and 2019.

Experimentation

According with Patrícia Ellen, specialista and partner of McKinsey & Company, one of the main elements to develop a Smart City is to identify the role of cities and their specific needs. Essentially, sectors such as security, transport and services are always the most benefit. “The focus is to find the solution of a problem. A smart solution for a problem very specific”. For this, the process of experimentation, based on trial and error is essential to find the answer to a problem of the city.

She also underlines that the Brazilian regulation is made to not allow the error. She understands that as a success factor for innovation is necessary to allow pilot projects and try out.

In the opinion of the business development manager for SAP Brasil´s Internet of Things, a safer way to "experience" the implementation of a smart city, to ascertain the real benefits brought by particular technology, would be the creation of excellence islands. “Each of them will have its excellence according to its need and characteristics. For instance, there is no use in trying to talk about security, traffic, lack of parking, if the greatest need for a city like Buenos Aires, was to guard against floods.

There were installed rainfall sensors that analyzed the water levels of rivers and rainfall. The collected data was used by the government to alert the population in new cases of floods. "They did analysis with the use of available technology, and in less than a year, they managed to create an entire infrastructure to make predictions for the next floods and thus evacuate people from risk areas and take measures."

For the manager, the idea of excellence islands adopted in Buenos Aires can be applied in Brazilian cities. In São Paulo, for instance, sensors and drones would be used to detect both floods and landslides.

Open Model

Despite the fact that the projects for Smart Cities integrate smart cities technology, welfare of the population and improvement of public management, they need, first of all, to take into consideration the dialogue with municipalities. However, according to the Digital Inclusion Secretary MCTIC, Américo Bernardes, one of the biggest challenges has been to transform the data collected by technologies and other innovations into useful information to create practical solutions.

"We started working and we are deepening it now, in partnership with industry, public entities, state-owned enterprises, putting together all of this stakeholders to create solutions. Not having a proper model has been a key element that allows freedom to build specific or elaborated models, according to our problems and the problems of the cities, "he said Bernardes.

(Leandro Cipriano, da ST&I Management Agency)