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Vol. 001 FOREWORD: Brett Dixon, General Manager, Asia Pacific, Esri

6
Exclusive:
How Singapore's urban
planning agency uses 
data in design
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities // i
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities // ii
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities // 1

FOREWORD

JOSHUA CHAMBERS
Founder & Editor,  GovInsider

In the Marvel Movie ‘The Black
Panther’, the residents of Wakanda
live in the perfect city.
Lush green spaces are intersected by
high speed public transport; high
density housing enables optimum
use of limited space; high education
standards are clearly evidenced in
the population at large; and high
octane thrills are provided courtesy
of The Avengers.
While some of the movie’s technology
is evidently fictional, we are in a world
where urban planning is increasingly
high tech - and exciting!
In this guide, we have gathered up
gems that will inspire officials across
the world. From 3D mapping to new
methods of engagement, this guide
has something for experts and
enthusiasts alike. Popcorn at the
ready, folks.

BRETT DIXON
General Manager, Asia Pacific, Esri

It has been interesting to observe and
participate in the evolution of smart city
thinking in Asia over the past few years. I
believe we are at a point now where many
governments and businesses driving
these initiatives recognise the absolute
importance of inclusiveness and citizen-
centric initiatives. Smart cities are created
by continuously engaging and including
citizens in the decision-making process,
on all matters big and small.
Maps provide that common language of
space. Geospatial technology provides a
common framework by which
governments, businesses and
communities can engage and collaborate.
There are so many wonderful examples in
Asia where cities and their citizens are
using maps and spatial technology to
share ideas and solve some of our most
pressing problems.
This guide provides some extraordinary
examples from around the region and the
world on how GIS is supporting deeper
insights for governments and smarter
decision making, as well as enabling
citizens to participate in determining the
future of their home cities.
The beauty of this evolution is that it is
happening now.

03.
Smart cities at-a-glance
SMART &
GREEN CITIES
06.
How Singapore’s urban
planning agency uses data in
design
Interview with Hwang Yu Ning, Chief
Planner of the Urban Redevelopment
Authority of Singapore.
08.
Inside Singapore’s ‘city in a
garden’ vision
Data is key to conserving
Singapore’s greenery over the
decades, says assistant CEO of
the parks agency.
09.
Exclusive: Hong Kong’s vision
for Artificial Intelligence
Interview with Government CIO
Allen Yeung on his Smart City
plans.
CONTENTS
11.
3 Questions For… Jack
Dangermond, Founder &
President of Esri
Dangermond shares five ways that
location intelligence are benefitting
13.
smart cities.
Exclusive: How AI is powering
Dubai’s pursuit of happiness
HE Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director
General, Smart Dubai Office, on building
15.
‘the happiest city on Earth’.
Why geospatial tech is foundational
for Smart Nation
Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Esri
Singapore, shares how Singapore is
tackling key challenges to become a
Smart Nation.
CITIZEN
ENGAGEMENT
18.
Exclusive: Singapore’s ‘inclusion
first’ policy for digital
Interview with Dr Janil Puthucheary,
Minister-in-charge of GovTech and
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of
Communications and Information.
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities // 2
20.
6 questions with...
Ko Kyunghee, Director of the
Information System Division, Seoul
Metropolitan Government.
URBAN DESIGN
23.
Exclusive Interview: Mayor
of Brisbane
What are the top priorities for
this city?
25.
Exclusive: How Penang’s Mayor
plans to stop his population
leaving
Mayor Yew Tung Seang is leading an
initiative to refurbish Georgetown’s
iconic shophouses.
26.
Exclusive: How New York City used
analytics to solve urban challenges
Interview with Dr Amen Ra Mashariki,
former NYC Chief Analytics Officer, and
Urban Analytics Lead at Esri.
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 3

AT-A-GLANCE

The great wave of urbanisation

Two-thirds of the Asia will be home to 64% Africa and Asia will
world’s population will of the world’s urban be the fastest-
live in urban areas by population by 2050 growing continents
2050

Incheon in South Korea is gearing up to be the world’s most futuristic city. Multi-
lingual robots will guide visitors at the airport, while the city’s streets will be kept
spotless by using data on weather and dust to plan cleaning routes.
Its new business district, Songdo, is billed as the world’s first smart city, and has
been built from the ground up. Sensors monitor the district’s temperature, energy
use and traffic flow, as well as a vast network of underground tunnels that
automatically sort household trash.

INCHEON
Singapore’s planning agency, the Urban Redevelopment Authority, is designing
new business hubs closed to residential districts around the city, in a bid to cut
rush hour traffic. It will pilot building some underground infrastructure - like
bus interchanges and electric substations - to free up living spaces.
Local communities should have a say in the shaping of their own
neighbourhoods, the city’s Chief Urban Planner Hwang Yu Ning believes. “Such
experimentations are a good way of beta-testing the future, and being more
inclusive in designing our environments.”
SINGAPORE

As technology plays an increasing role in how cities are run, the Netherlands’
capital city wants to be more “digitally responsible” in its design. The city
wants to ensure that a smart city of the future is inclusive to all kinds of
residents.
It has created six key principles for urban design: New smart city services
should be available to everyone; people must stay in control of their own data;
technology should be tailored to the people; projects should be transparent in
how they are using data; citizens have control over the design of their city; and
AMSTERDAM data generated from the city is a common good.
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 4

Key challenges

Lack of Inadequate Climate Ageing

infrastructure public change populations
transport straining
healthcare
systems

Tips for smart city leaders

THINK BUILD IN EXECUTE

LONG-TERM. FLEXIBILITY. EFFECTIVELY.

Singapore has limited To encourage the use Singapore only began

land space, but an ever- of public transport, construction of the MRT
increasing population. Singapore has urban system ten years after it
The 1971 Concept Plan was proposed, due to the
design guidelines
called for an efficient hefty price tag. During that
public transport system that ensure there is
time, the government
- the rail-based Mass an option to integrate acquired land and put strict
Rapid Transit system - future developments safeguarding measures in
to address transport with main transport place so that construction
needs and avoid interchanges and could continue smoothly
congestion. stations. once the green light was
given.

Sources: Centre for Liveable Cities, Economic Development Board of Singapore, GovInsider
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 5

SMART &
GREEN CITIES

How Singapore’s urban planning
agency uses data in design
Interview with Hwang Yu Ning, Chief Planner of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore.
By Chia Jie Lin
In Singapore, which has an extensive public transport system, rush
hour isn’t just on the streets: bustling metro stations and bus
interchanges are a common sight in the mornings.
But why commute an hour into the city if your office could be just
around the corner? The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is
looking at data from public transport fare cards to gain insights into
the populace’s travel patterns, which inform plans to develop more
spaces for employment near residential districts, according to Chief
Planner Hwang Yu Ning.
In an exclusive interview, she shares how the agency is tracking
commuters, engaging citizens, and relaxing regulations to enable
more holistic planning of neighbourhoods.
Public transport insights
Transport data from fare cards – called EZ link cards – reveals how
long it takes for people to travel to their workplaces, Hwang shares.
The agency analyses these travel data to gather insights into travel
patterns. Such insights can allow the agency to determine, for
example, if people would want to work in the same region if there are
good job offerings, as part of a strategy to “bring jobs closer to
homes”.
This is part of the decentralisation strategy that the agency is
undertaking to create more business hubs around Singapore.
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 6
 
For instance, the Woodlands Regional Centre in the north will soon
see greater connectivity to the rest of Singapore through a new MRT
line, and to Malaysia through a cross-border link. When fully
developed, this regional centre will offer approximately 100,000 new
jobs, according to the URA. Parts of Woodlands will also be set aside
for small and medium enterprises that may not need to be located
in the city, but need to be well-connected to it.
Burrowing underground
And as ground-level space becomes scarcer, Singapore is looking
for ways to make better use of space, including venturing
underground. This is an increasingly common challenge in
Southeast Asia, as developing cities are struggling with rapid
urbanisation and the problems that come along with it.
URA is using 3D modelling to visualise extensive and complex
underground building projects, before even breaking ground. “It can
help to ensure that the proposed design complies with underground
planning controls and requirements,” Hwang points out.
The authority is exploring a variety of underground infrastructure,
from electrical substations and ammunition stores to bus
interchanges, the Straits Times reported. In 2019, it will release an
underground master plan for pilot areas.

Meanwhile, URA has also launched URA SPACE v2, a one-stop online
geospatial mapping e-service. It collects information across various
government websites for the public to easily access anytime, says
Hwang.
For starters, URA SPACE v2 allows business operators who want to
open a new restaurant in a shophouse to instantly check if they are
allowed to do so. Previously, they had to write in to URA for such
queries, and were charged a search fee, she continues. Drivers can
find real-time parking availability in URA and Housing and
Development Board-managed car parks as well.
Inclusive environment design
Local communities should be able to have a say in the shaping of
their own neighbourhoods, Hwang notes. “Such experimentations are
a good way of beta-testing the future, and being more inclusive in
designing our environments.”
URA does this through community workshops, where agency officials
gather Singaporean citizens to deliberate on how public
infrastructure should be used. For instance, the authority invited
residents and local stakeholders living in the neighbourhoods near
the Rail Corridor to share their views on how the 24km-long stretch
can be used and adapted. Following public consultations, the Rail
Corridor is now being developed into a multi-use recreational corridor
where people can stroll, maintain urban farms, and other activities.
“Such experimentations
are a good way of beta-
testing the future.”
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 7
And in 2015, URA launched its Streets for People programme,
which allows local citizens to organise their own street closures to
temporarily transform roads into public social spaces, hosting
urban art festivals, open-air workouts and the like.
Planning flexibly
URA wants to make urban planning more flexible so that the
country can nimbly adapt to different future urban scenarios – by
relaxing its regulations. For one, URA has implemented “white
sites”, which are parcels of land that allow for a range of different
uses. In the past, URA had stricter stipulations on how land
parcels could only have specific uses.
URA has also relaxed its zoning regulations for developers, where
“land uses are controlled at the district level, rather than for
individual land parcels”, shares Hwang. This move allows
developers to develop entire districts holistically, rather than be
constrained by traditionally-imposed zoning rules on land use and
density.
For instance, the relaxing of URA’s regulations has allowed a local
developer to develop the Punggol Enterprise District more
comprehensively and integrate public facilities more closely.
Currently, the Singapore Institute of Technology is located right
next to Punggol’s business parks, allowing them to share public
amenities, the Straits Times reported.
As Singapore continues to develop and redevelop to make use of
the land it has got, planning for the next fifty years will require a
“sustainable, pragmatic, and disciplined approach”, as Hwang put
it. It also means a little less frustration in the mornings.
Images from URA and by Gramicidin on Flickr – CC by 2.0
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 8

Inside Singapore’s ‘city in a

garden’ vision
Data is key to conserving Singapore’s greenery over the decades, says assistant CEO of the parks agency.
By Medha Basu

“We have been using smart tools in the field to increase efficiency in
our operations and reduce reliance on manpower, and will continue
to do so,” Tan explains.

The city is starting to use robot lawn mowers to ensure that parks
and gardens are well-maintained through the year. It is also
installing sensors to track grass-cutting operations and detect the
height of grass. This will reduce the need for park officials to visit
sites for inspections.

Tracking corals
Advanced computer simulations were used to decide the location of
‘Supertrees’ as tall as 16-storey buildings, nestled in the heart of Singapore’s first marine park. NParks used “agent based modelling”
Singapore’s business district, are home to over 200 different species to see how coral larvae from surrounding reefs moved and predicted
of plants. where they would settle, Tan explains. The results showed that
Sisters’ Islands, off Singapore’s southern coast, was the ideal spot,
Across the city, there are trees sprouting from buildings, creepers on
and this was chosen as the marine park site.
towers, and parks on roofs. Singapore’s vision is to be a “city in a
garden”, says Tan Chong Lee, Assistant CEO of Corporate
The parks agency also looks after Singapore’s birds and animals. The
Development and Services at the National Parks Board (NParks).
agency makes habitats more conducive for migratory birds to feed
and roost using data. It places geolocators and satellite transmitters
The city’s conservationists and horticulturalists have been aided by
on the birds to collect data on their movements.
high-tech tools that track, map and predict changes in the island’s
flora and fauna, he tells GovInsider.
The agency also gets a little help from other nature enthusiasts to
collect data. Residents can share their insights on biodiversity and
Virtual trees in 3D
report wildlife sightings on an app provided by the agency.
Singapore is starting to build virtual 3D models of its trees. It will
help naturalists study the behaviour of trees under different weather
Singapore was once an island covered with tropical rainforests. With
conditions, like rain and wind, and adapt conservation and
a great deal of planning and technology, the city is preserving its
management to extreme climate. “This project has the potential to
lush green heritage.
fundamentally change the way in which we manage our greenery,”
Tan says.
Image by National Parks Board, Singapore
Such data is key to Singapore’s long-term conservation efforts, he

“This project has 

believes. The city has a “comprehensive tree management regime”
to ensure plants are healthy and safe.

the potential to
NParks extensively uses geospatial technologies to help field staff
monitor and inspect greenery. As different species require
unique types of care, every tree on the roadside and its biodata are

fundamentally
mapped. All park officials have access to this on their smartphones
and computers.
The app also pulls together data from other sources on park
planning, facilities, biodiversity, community gardens, skyrise
greenery, and satellite and vegetation maps. The centralised change the way in
which we manage
platform and maps have allowed NParks to better plan activities,
and help officials work more efficiently, Tan says.

our greenery.”
Robot mowers
Maintaining all of this greenery has required Singapore to import
labour over the years to prune trees and cut grass. NParks believes
this can be done more efficiently with technology.

Exclusive: Hong Kong’s vision
for Artificial Intelligence
Interview with Government CIO Allen Yeung on his Smart City plans.
By Medha Basu
In Hong Kong’s hospitals, tens of thousands of nurses are given
work schedules every week that were created by Artificial
Intelligence. The same is true for the metro system. And if you have
ever applied for a visa to visit, your application will have been
vetted by AI.
This technology is starting to underpin the Hong Kong Government,
augmenting everything from complaint responses to climate
change mitigation. Government Chief Information Officer Allen
Yeung is preparing a smart city strategy, and recently published
the results of a study commissioned by his office to find the way
best way forward.
Yeung tells GovInsider how Hong Kong will use data, IoT and AI to
tackle three key challenges – climate change, ageing population
and city management.
Climate change
Heavy rainfall has become more frequent in Hong Kong’s islands
and the sea level is rising in the Victoria Harbour. A typhoon in
2008 flooded low-lying parts of the city, and the frequency of such
disasters is increasing, according a government report on climate
change.
Hong Kong plans to use AI to ensure it is better prepared for
disasters and to monitor energy use. The city plans to “use big
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 9
data analytics and some sort of artificial intelligence to quickly
understand the trends, and also come up with more timely solutions
to respond”, Yeung says. The smart city study recommends that
Hong Kong should promote smart buildings and homes, develop a
smart electricity grid, and monitor pollution in 3D.
The city already has sensors collecting data on landslides, pollution,
energy and water levels, but may need even more data in the future,
the GCIO believes. “To gather more real-time city data, we should rely
on a wider deployment of IOT sensors,” he says.
This will be challenging in one of the most densely populated cities
in the world, he says. The city will look for technologies which can
integrate different kinds of sensors into one device and can be fixed
on existing infrastructure like street lights.
Ageing population
A third of Hong Kong’s population will be aged 65 or above in 20
years. “That has a lot of implications in terms of how to take care of
the elderly people, and also a slight change in the workforce,” Yeung
says.
The city plans to use robotics to support the elderly and assist
caregivers. For instance, “robotic assistance can help elderly
people to get up and off the bed, and get on to the wheelchair”, he

says. Or a stair-climbing wheelchair can help make accessibility
more “affordable”, he adds.
Sensors could be used to ensure senior citizens living alone are
connected with their loved ones and caregivers. Devices can
detect falls or a change in health statistics, Yeung says. “Elderly
people who sometimes live alone may require certain sensing
technologies to ensure their safety and continuous links with the
community,” he says.
City management
Another priority will be the “continuous improvement” of city
management and services, Yeung says.
For example, chatbots could use past data to respond to citizens’
complaints and answer questions, he adds. “Understanding what
sort of questions are asked most and what sort of concerns there
are from the general public can actually help us understand the
concerns of the day, and perhaps proactively, we can do
something about them,” he says.
Traffic is another area where Hong Kong intends to use AI to pre-
empt major concerns. “Those predictive models can allow us to
make certain changes in routing and diversion of traffic,” Yeung
says.
Hong Kong already collects real-time traffic data on speed and
volume via sensors across 80% of major routes. However, it has
been challenging to get public transport operators to share their
data with the government, according to the study commissioned
by Yeung. Hong Kong’s public transport is run by private
companies on commercial contracts, and without changes to
existing laws, the government has “no power to mandate such
sharing”, it says.
Payments and digital identity
Payments and digital identity platforms will be key parts of the
smart city vision. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is building a
platform that will allow people to pay with mobile phone numbers.
This is scheduled to be launched this year.
Hong Kong’s digital identity plans are at an earlier stage though.
The government is exploring a “digital persona” that could allow
people to access services across government and private sector.
“The idea is to provide 
e-ID for everyone in
Hong Kong.”
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 10
“The idea is to provide e-ID for everyone in Hong Kong, and so it
will become a trusted authentication for all kinds of public and
private online services,” Yeung says.
The smart city report commissioned by Yeung’s office
recommends trialling biometrics for mobile banking and
healthcare services, as part of the digital identity project.
The government has not yet decided how it plans to go forward
on digital identity, and is just concluding a two-month “public
engagement” exercise to gather residents’ views on this and all
the other ideas. “It would be something we would like the public
to come back and give us their view on, whether this is
something they consider useful,” he says.
How will Hong Kong do this?
The GCIO is building a “core team” of digital experts that will
initially advise departments on tech use. “We need to build out
the expertise gradually through some sort of centralised area
and that would become the go-to place for experience and
expertise sharing,” Yeung says.
But a small team will not be able to build services for the entire
government, and their job will be to train the government
departments. Each department will have their specific
challenges, and eventually, they will be trained to take the lead,
he says.
The core team will also be tasked to build certain government
platforms that can be reused across departments, such as for
bots, payments and digital identity.
The Hong Kong Development Bureau is already working on a
“common spatial data infrastructure” that will allow public and
private sector to share location data crucial for all public service
delivery. “Once we have such a standard, all land-related
applications can build upon it and data can be exchangeable
across all different departments,” Yeung says.
The government will select priority services to trial new
technologies, with the first pilot to launch this year. “Through a
pilot, we can actually learn about all the issues, with a view to
make improvements for wider and scalable deployments,” says
Yeung.
Shortlisted ideas for the first pilot include converting transport
interchanges and lampposts into data collection hubs;
upgrading traffic lights to use real-time demand; dynamically
adjusting parking prices; using tech for tourism; and a living lab
to trial driverless cars and e-payments.
For the past few years, Hong Kong has hidden its innovations
away from the world. But an ambitious GCIO; a new agenda; and
a willingness to experiment show a bright future for the SAR’s
smart city initiatives.
When it comes to gov tech: Hong Kong is back.

3 Questions For… Jack Dangermond,
Founder & President of Esri
Dangermond shares five ways that location intelligence is benefitting smart cities.
By GovInsider
This week, GovInsider talks to Jack Dangermond, Founder and
President of spatial analytics company Esri. He shares the five
trends he has observed in smart cities; the challenge of hiring
great talent; and how cities can foster collaboration at the
grassroots level.
1: What trends are you seeing in your area of work, and why
does it matter to governments?
There are five big trends in how forward-thinking smart cities are
applying location intelligence to decision-making.
i. Data from IOT
First, the data from IoT networks gives governments the ability to
understand the behavior of people as well as the condition of the
environments they live in, providing deeper insight into what is
going on in communities and where. Cities can use sensors to
mine data in everything from infrastructure to vehicles, and
enable deeply informed decision-making.
ii. Real-time insights
Second, real-time GIS has quickly taken hold in a wide range of
enterprise systems, brought on by the rise of sensors, nimble
drone platforms, and ubiquitous handheld devices. Location
intelligence is so much more effective if you can see what is
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 11
happening everywhere the instant it is occurring. For instance, if a
city’s utility departments can identify where power outages are
happening the instant they do, they can be more responsive.
iii. 3D maps
Third, 3D capabilities are increasingly allowing city planners and
developers to see how future structures will work in the physical
world. In cities especially, the vertical space is all-too-often
underrepresented on conventional maps. Today, 3D maps can show
us how the world really is, as well as proposing and forecasting what
will be—almost like a “digital twin”. As an example, builders and
planners can use this tool to visualise the floors of a proposed high-
rise in 3D, and how they each need to be zoned differently for
residential, retail, or commercial applications.
iv. Artificial intelligence
Fourth, Artificial Intelligence is a crucial tool in a smart city’s digital
transformation, helping governments to understand behavior and act
accordingly. Geospatial analysts work in concert with AI to automate
information processing and expand their understanding. In the case
of New York City’s Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak in the summer of
2015, AI helped humans make location-based predictions of where the
bacteria were likely spreading from.

v. Shared content for collaboration
And finally, large organisations have begun to adopt distributed GIS.
Interactions in distributed GIS revolve around shared items – web
maps, web scenes, layers, and apps, to name a few. Shared content
becomes discoverable for each participant in the collaboration, and
workers from local to a worldwide scale can gain unprecedented
access to data and applications from anywhere, and on any device.
2: What is one key challenge that your organisation is facing, and
how are you helping to overcome it?
One key challenge our organisation and others are facing is
developing a trained workforce. As in the past, we desperately need to
add more modern web GIS practitioners, spatial data scientists, app
programmers, and software engineers for all of us to collectively
achieve our shared geospatial vision.
“It is a clear example of
GIS technology being used
to make the world a better
place.”
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 12
3: What are you most inspired by right now, and why?
The most inspiring thing that we have seen over the past few
years is governments using location intelligence to engage their
communities in building smarter cities. They are achieving this
through data-driven grass-roots solutions and apps.
Population increases, climate change, income inequality,
housing shortages – governments are now using solutions like
ArcGIS Hub to communicate key challenges to citizens. Hubs
bring together a city’s data, visualisation, analytics, and
collaboration technology, and support data-driven work on policy
initiatives and the measurement and prediction of outcomes.
Citizens can join Hubs in their communities and contribute data,
provide feedback, attend events, follow initiatives they care
about, and create and share analyses. It places GIS tools and
practices into the hands of the people who are directly affected
by these global and local issues.
It’s inspiring to see location intelligence used in this way,
because it is a clear example of GIS technology being used to
make the world a better place from the bottom-up.
Images by Esri and Joost Rooijmans – CC BY 2.0
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 13

Exclusive: How AI is powering

Dubai’s pursuit of happiness
HE Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director General, Smart Dubai Office, on building ‘the happiest city on Earth’.
By Nurfilzah Rohaidi

Dubai is a city of superlatives. The Burj Khalifa skyscraper is the
tallest building in the world, at a staggering 828 metres; the
sprawling Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in the world, with
over 1,200 shops.
Fittingly, the city also wants to be “the happiest city on Earth”, says
the Director General of the Smart Dubai Office. Feedback sessions
with people revealed that they were “frustrated” with their dealings
with government, Her Excellency Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr tells
GovInsider. “When they do their government transactions, they
have to visit different websites.”
Her agency has launched several strategies to harness AI and
Blockchain to improve government services, and has set up an
With these moves, the UAE wants to harness AI to solve key
problems: reduce traffic accidents, minimise chronic diseases, and
increase productivity across sectors, for example. “We truly believe
that AI is going to be a significant problem solver for the future,”
says HE Aisha.
In Dubai, the local government has also launched its own roadmap
for artificial intelligence. A key project is an intelligent assistant
called Rashid, launched in 2016 and built on IBM Watson
technology. It was the first Dubai government service using AI,
using natural language to understand citizens’ requests for
information.

“We truly believe that

“experience lab”, a dedicated team that gathers feedback from
citizens to redesign and transform city experiences, she says.

Delivering seamless services

Dubai is delving into AI for government services in a big way, with
AI is going to be a
the intent of making everyday life “much more seamless and
impactful”. In October last year, the United Arab Emirates launched significant problem
solver for the future.”
the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, and appointed the
world’s first Minister for Artificial Intelligence.

It is first being used to make it easier to set up businesses in the
city. Entrepreneurs can ask Rashid questions on business licensing
requirements and regulation processes, for instance, and get
responses in real-time, HE Aisha says.
The Office is now exploring the possibility of Rashid working across
public and private sector services. It will become a “personal
concierge” for people living in Dubai, she adds: “helping us book
flights, tickets, cabs, or even find the best schools for our children.”
AI across government
An important consideration for Dubai is that these rapid
technological changes are tempered by its citizens, and how they
wish to interact with government. The government launched a
unified platform for service delivery in response to citizens’
frustrations with having to scour through a myriad of websites to get
information.
Dubai Now, launched in 2015, allows residents to access services
from different departments on one platform – whether that may be
paying utility bills, police fines or parking tickets; renewing trade
licenses; or even making appointments with public hospitals.
“Now, we are also introducing AI on top of this app,” says HE Aisha,
adding that this predictive feature will be able to “understand” each
user’s monthly transactions and interest in services, and
recommend similar services to them in the future. “We work closely
with different segments of life in Dubai to make sure that we take
their feedback in all these experiences,” she explains.
Boosting skills
All these efforts are part of Dubai’s bid to be ten years ahead of all
other cities – an initiative announced by the Ruler of Dubai last year.
As part of this 10X initiative, each government agency now has its
own innovation unit which must come up with ways to disrupt the
government.
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 14
HE Aisha’s agency, in particular, is developing a Smart City
University, an online learning platform for anyone to learn about the
impact of technology. It will “help train all those interested to
implement emerging technology in their specific industries”, she
says, such as the impact of Blockchain in healthcare or AI in
construction.
Students have autonomy to shape their own curriculums, and
choose non-traditional learning methods via work projects, reading
materials, conferences, workshops and online courses. This is
possible because the platform sits on decentralised Blockchain
technology. “Typically, we don’t go to classes to learn anymore. We
open a Youtube channel and learn many things; we listen to Ted
Talks; we attend conferences,” HE Aisha points out.
The initiative was launched this week, and Dubai hopes that it will
help achieve a 2020 target to have 10% of UAE’s talent digitally
skilled.
Alongside this, the government itself needs to be skilled in
understanding the use of technology. In 2017, Dubai launched an AI
lab to provide skills training for both government and private sector
employees, along with local students. Since then, more than 250
government employees have been trained in AI programming
languages, she says.
Executive diploma courses on using and managing data are also
available, she continues, and almost 300 civil servants have
benefited from these courses. “Even government entities need to
understand the new way of handling data,” HE Aisha remarks.
UAE’s largest city, a vision of futuristic skyscrapers rising starkly out
of sand dunes, is constantly striving to achieve firsts and world’s
bests. Dubai believes that AI is the next big thing – a digital
manifestation of its impressive physical presence.
Image from Smart Dubai
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 15

Why geospatial tech is

foundational for Smart Nation
Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Esri Singapore, shares how Singapore is tackling key challenges to become a Smart Nation.
By Esri

Any ecosystem requires a delicate balance to flourish and grow,
with flora and fauna co-existing in harmony. But it just takes one
species to go extinct, and the balance is disrupted forever.
Similarly, governments need to consider how various decisions
and policies can have that ripple effect on communities,
infrastructure and environments. Here, geospatial technology can
provide a bird’s-eye view of entire cities, allowing agencies to
“simulate how growth in the city would impact surroundings”,
says Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Esri Singapore.
As Singapore forges ahead with its Smart Nation vision, it is
crucial to design digital services and policies “based on where
things are and how they relate to each other”, Pramotedham says.
elements that operate in this world that we live in,” he explains.
URA’s planners harness geospatial technology to analyse the
interdependent relationships between residents, jobs, and transport
on particular plots of land.
This way, they will be able to have a deeper understanding of the
impact of population growth, for example, Pramotedham says. “The
conversation of ‘where’ is a key component in answering some of
these questions.”
Understanding future needs
Second, geospatial insights are key to addressing citizens’ needs. A
dense country such as Singapore needs public transport systems

“You are able to bring

“It starts with geospatial being a foundational platform where IoT
and sensors and big data analysis happen.”

Planning for 2050

Broadly, there are four ways that geospatial technology is an
in the other elements
essential tool for smart city development. First, it enables policy
development and long-term planning, as it is allowing Singapore’s that operate in this
world that we live in.”
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to think decades ahead and
develop integrated plans for land use policies.

“You model a world, you look at it, you are able to bring in the other

to be as efficient as possible; the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is
using spatial analytics to manage commuter load.
The agency uses a platform called PLANET to map and analyse
hotspots of passenger crowding on public buses during peak hours;
study commuter travel patterns; and delve into public transport
accessibility and capacity planning, Pramotedham says. By
understanding the geographical aspects of commuter trends and
patterns, LTA can develop effective policies to improve transport
programmes.
Next, a Smart Nation must also look to build communities that are
inclusive. For example, Singapore is planning how housing estates of
the future can cater for both young families and a rapidly growing
elderly population. The Housing Development Board can “determine
if you should have more child care centres within the public system,
or should you have secondary care centres in order to support the
ageing population”, Pramotedham explains.
Skills for a Smart Nation
Finally, developing talent and skills are crucial for a smart
community. Geography can help people understand and solve the
“worst problems” they face, he says. “Spatial thinking” is a critical
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 16
community. Geography can help people understand and solve the
“worst problems” they face, he says. “Spatial thinking” is a critical
skill, he adds, because it can “change the way we look at a
problem”.
Esri is working with the Ministry of Education to introduce spatial
thinking in secondary school curriculums. “When we start teaching
spatial problem-solving early to the younger generation, they grow
up knowing that spatial thinking can be a way to solve their
problems,” he says.
Students will have access to a “much lighter version” of Esri’s
geospatial tool, which is more accessible and easily understood, to
help them understand concepts and how it can be used for
problem-solving, Pramotedham says.
Singapore has ‘big picture’ ambitions to achieve its Smart Nation
vision. But it takes a keen eye to zoom in closer and examine the
subtle ways that any one decision can influence whole
communities, systems and environments. A key takeaway for
governments is this: the ‘where’ can answer the ‘why’ or ‘how’.
Main image by Bernard Spragg – CCO 1.0
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 17

CITIZEN
ENGAGEMENT

Photo: Participate in Design Singapore Facebook Page

 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 18

Exclusive: Singapore’s
‘inclusion first’ policy for digital
Interview with Dr Janil Puthucheary, Minister-in-charge of GovTech and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of
Communications and Information.
By Nurfilzah Rohaidi and Joshua Chambers

Singapore’s busy MRT train stations echo with the beeps of A representative from the agency in question will call or meet these
entryways, the bustle of people with someplace to go, and the odd residents to explain in the language or dialect of their choice, but
announcement – always in the four official languages: English, this means that “they have to take an extra step to bring this
Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. person into that ecosystem”, Dr Puthucheary notes.

The country has to strike a balance in a multi-ethnic society, where “a For MCI’s Digital Readiness Workgroup, which includes private and
significant number of our population do not have enough familiarity social sector players, it is crucial to identify such people who are
in English”, says Dr Janil Puthucheary, Minister-in-charge of GovTech digitally excluded – and often, it is “purely about the language or
and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and content”. Smart Nation initiatives must be designed in such a way
Information. This presents a challenge when it comes to digital that “we can anticipate everybody getting involved”. “The design,
inclusion, as government digital services are in English. content, language, and the applicability to people’s lives are going
to go a long way to making sure we have that inclusion by design,”
One of MCI’s key areas for this year is “designing our approach for he says.
inclusion, right from the get-go”, Dr Puthucheary says. “Why would
you go online if you are not able to have an experience that is relevant
to your life, in a language that you can understand and access?” he
tells GovInsider.
“Is it user-friendly
for an elderly person
The language of inclusion
he communication gap becomes apparent when Dr Puthucheary runs
Meet the People sessions in his constituency. “We write the letters in

with arthritis?”
English and the agencies reply in English, but sometimes the
residents that I met will come back to us just to have the letter
translated or explained to them,” he says.

The Workgroup is actively rethinking assumptions of “who needs to
have the help targeted to”. The elderly and the disabled often come
to mind, but in Singapore, the former are “very naturally included”,
while the latter are “very significant technology users”, Dr
Puthucheary points out.
That is why, for example, Singapore is exploring the use of chatbots
in a project called Conversations As A Platform, which will help users
navigate government services.
What are the barriers?
The barriers to access and adoption may not be obvious right away.
Smartphone penetration in Singapore is at 160%, and most
government services are available through smartphones. One of the
things to consider, then, is whether there are people who do not
smartphones to begin with, according to Dr Puthucheary. For this
group of people, governments need to identify, “Is it an issue of cost,
familiarity or smartphone design? Is it user-friendly for an elderly
person with arthritis?”
“Is it user-friendly for an elderly person with arthritis?”
Another barrier may be people who own traditional hardcopy bank
books. It will be difficult for these individuals to access online
payment services, Dr Puthucheary continues.
These factors would mean that government services should be
available on desktop and mobile, but also in libraries and
community centres, where people may access them through public
computers, he adds.
Ultimately, Singapore’s Smart Nation push cannot “sub-segment
our population”, or be “geographically selective”, Dr Puthucheary
notes. “Our solutions and execution cannot be predicated on the
basis of ‘the top 30% of earners would be able to access this, and
that’ll get us going’, or ‘80% of our population will eventually come
on board and that will be sufficient,” he emphasises.
‘Re-engineer and re-architect’ services
It was announced last year that anticipatory services, or Moments
of Life, would be one of five immediate areas of focus for Singapore.
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 19
Personalised services will be ‘pushed’ to people at key events
during their lives – births and kindergarten registrations, for
example. These services from separate ministries will be
accessible on one handy platform.
On the citizen side of things, this would mean “re-imagining the
experience and the interface, improving convenience and reducing
the time burden for individual families”, Dr Puthucheary says.
When registering a new baby, the platform will suggest to the
parents four or five other things that they also need done, and
they’ll be able to do so right away, he explains.
It also means an opportunity for his Ministry to “re-engineer and
re-architect” how services are packaged, which in today’s context,
means “designing our systems to be modular rather than
monolithic”.
Real personalisation
But “real personalisation” will only be a reality when various Smart
Nation components are fully developed, which may take a few
more years, according to Dr Puthucheary.
How will personalisation look like when this day comes? It will be
when services are interoperable: Singaporeans have full control
over their national digital identity, which is in turn linked to
epayments and Moments of Life services.
Interoperability is just as important as ‘inclusion by design’. Users
will be able to customise their interfaces to say, “I want do XYZ on
my phone, I want to do ABC through push emails with a response,
and I am reserving 123 on behalf of my parents”, says Dr
Puthucheary.
In particular, he is grateful for the “strong element of trust” that
Singaporeans have had in digital services and online interactions
with government. This, despite recent high-profile cyber attacks
and data breaches around the world.
Trust is the foundation to everything that his Ministry is trying to
do, Dr Puthucheary concludes. “If we lose that, everything else is
not going to go very well. We won’t get very far in this Smart Nation
vision.”
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 20

6 questions with... Ko Kyunghee

Interview with the Director of the Information System Division, Seoul Metropolitan Government, South Korea.

By Charlene Chin

What has been the most exciting thing that you worked on in
2016?
Seoul has the world’s best ICT infrastructure and professional
manpower. In 2016, Seoul is pursuing many crucial digital projects
in various fields. One of the most important projects is providing
free WiFi in public places throughout Seoul to make access to
information as citizens’ right. We aim to set up 10,000 APs
(Wireless Access Point) in major public places such as streets,
tourist attractions, markets and parks by 2017.

We will provide free WiFi in 7,500 city buses and on subway line #8
in 2017 and then expand the free WiFi service to the entire subway
from line #1 to #9 by 2018.
How do you use technology to improve citizens’ lives? Tell us about
your role or organisation.
What tool or technique particularly interests you?
Artificial intelligence, internet of things, big data and automation are
I would like to use high tech in the field of welfare to provide
the trends of the era which cannot be stopped and will further affect
customised welfare services to our citizens. Currently, about 10
our lives. Now, it seems like digital technology defines our future. We
million citizens are living in Seoul, and effective and evidence-
should be the ones driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industrial
based policies are required in various fields such as
4.0). The cooperation and sharing centered on the people should be the
transportation, housing, economy, culture, tourism, safety, and
core of the Industrial 4.0.
welfare. The most important factor to consider when setting
policies are the citizens, because the ultimate goal of policy-
In order for Seoul be in the forefront of the Industry 4.0, the Seoul
making is to achieve “citizens’ happiness”.
Metropolitan Government announced the digital master plan called
“Global Digital Seoul 2020” in February, and plans to spend US$460
With the limited budget and resources, it is hard for us to satisfy
million in digital projects over the next few years. The most important
our citizens while providing the same services for all. Every citizen
thing that we consider when it comes to implementing the master
has different priorities and needs and therefore, it is important to
plan is our citizens. We focus on making Seoul a safer and more
provide customised and preemptive welfare services to each
pleasant place to live through new connections and experiences.
individual, especially to the underprivileged citizens by utilising
advanced technology.
The new connections that we are trying to provide to our citizens only
matter when they help make the lives of our citizens better. Therefore,
Seoul plans to establish the “Integrated Life & Welfare
Seoul established the IoT Incubation Center to resolve urban problems,
Information System (BigCare)”, which integrates and manages the
the Gaepo Digital Innovation Park, a 24/7 open place to support
welfare information separately provided by public and private
creative minds for their communication and development and the
institutions by 2017. By integrating the welfare information
Fintech Dual Cluster, a base to support the Fintech industry.
scattered across each organisation into one system, Seoul will
provide one-stop welfare services tailored for each citizen.
We also plan to train 100,000 citizens – 1% of Seoul citizens – as safe
watchmen, and install a traffic signal control system to improve
the dispatch route of fire trucks, achieving a 97% arrival rate at rescue
scenes within 5 minutes.

For digital welfare, information must be accessible to all citizens.

“We plan to create the

Seoul is making the access to information is citizens’ right by
providing free WiFi throughout the city. Citizens and tourists can use

Digital Mayor’s office to

free WiFi everywhere in public places.

In particular, we plan to create the Digital Mayor’s office to publish

data on departments’ progress, to help our citizens understand the
work of the Seoul Metropolitan Government better. We expect to get publish data on
departments’ progress.”
better and more accurate feedback from our citizens and increase its
transparency and accountability through the Digital Mayor’s Office.

If you were to share one piece of advice that you learned in 2016,
what would it be?
There has been a great deal of attention on big data over the past few
years. Seoul has been addressing urban problems by applying digital
technologies such as big data to the administration. For example,
Seoul has worked together with a Korean private telecommunication
company to analyse over 30 billion phones calls to match callers’
dial-in locations with their billing addresses. Based on the analysis,
Seoul could find out where citizens travel patterns late at night and
set optimal bus routes that would meet the needs of the citizens.
In addition, Seoul has analysed big data to find out proper locations
of publicity materials, consumption patterns of foreign tourists,
traffic accident prone areas and effects of regional festivals on the
economy.
Seoul has created the homepage called, the Business Analysis in My
Neighborhood (golmok.seoul.go.kr) which provides analysis reports of
the business situations in each district including the information
about sales revenue per month, types of business, floating population
and survival rate of business based on big data.
In July 2016, Seoul also opened Big Data Campus where CSOs and
experts can integrate and analyze the big data owned by the
public and private sector and civil society to resolve various urban
problems. Seoul ultimately aims to establish a data-driven social
innovation ecosystem by leveraging the collective intelligence of its
citizens.
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 21
Who is your hero and why?
There have a few role models that I admire and I want to be like
including my parents and my bosses. As I have studied
engineering and IT and worked as a public servant for 26 years, I
sometimes feel that I lack humanistic thinking, creativity and
imagination. For that reason, I get a lot of inspiration from J. K.
Rowling, the writer of Harry Potter, and I deeply admire her.
Although I haven’t read all of her books, I saw most of the
movies based on her original work. The recently released movie
based on her novel, “Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them”
also showed a story that surpassed all that I had imagined.
Personally, I thought it would bring back the J.K. Rowling
Syndrome. I feel awe at writers who show fantasy, adventure and
creativity in a way that is unpredictable through a mesmerising
story.
If you could recommend us one place to eat, where would it
be?
If you have an opportunity to visit Korea, I would like to
recommend visiting the beauty Jeju Island which is also my
hometown, located at the southernmost tip of Korea. Jeju has
great local food such as black pork, sashimi, seafood pot, and
tangerine pancake. You can get to see these foods anywhere in
Jeju Island, so you don’t have to worry about where to find them
in Jeju.
Main image from Seoul Metropolitan Government
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 22

URBAN
DESIGN

Exclusive: Interview with the
Mayor of Brisbane
What are the top priorities for Queensland's capital city?
By Charlene Chin
China famously uses “panda diplomacy” to win countries over –
gifting the cuddly bears to countries it favours.
Australia is now getting in on the act, with “koala diplomacy”
providing an antipodean twist. Brisbane’s G20 summit saw Vladimir
Putin, Barack Obama and Angela Merkel all cuddling with the
continent’s favourite furry-eared critter.
The event was also strategically placed, launching Brisbane onto the
world stage. As a city that was previously somewhat overlooked
compared with its more famous sisters – Sydney and Melbourne –
Brisbane has been undergoing a rapid transformation in recent years.
GovInsider caught up with Graham Quirk, Mayor of Brisbane, to
discuss this transformation, and his three priorities for the city in the
years ahead.
1. Attracting businesses
First, the Mayor is focused on attracting businesses in digital and
creative sectors to spur job growth. The city has plans for A$5m new
innovation hub – The Capital – in its central business district, “set
aside for 200 startup businesses”, Quirk says.
The hub will house co-working spaces and gather startups and
industry, providing entrepreneurs access to expertise, capital, and
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 23
networks. “The idea of the Capital is to scale them up, where
applicable, to internationalise them, and to give them that boost to
make sure that they continue to grow as many jobs as possible
within the city”, he explains. Quirk’s team has also slashed rent for
budding startups, subsidising the cost for the next five years to help
them ease their initial burden.
So far, take up of the facility has been positive. It’s now launched for
a month, Quirk says, and there are already 100 startups working
there, half of the intended target.
This approach is similar to one taken in other cities. For example,
Fukuoka city in Japan has launched a “startup cafe” initiative. This
facility organises networking sessions for entrepreneurs to connect
with venture capitalists and professionals like lawyers and
accountants. Meanwhile, the Jakarta Government shares office
space with local startups.
Going digital is also part of the Mayor’s plan. The council has shifted
transaction services online to increase the ease of doing business in
the city. “Everything through from development applications right
through to business registrations”, Quirk says.
The council has taken its plan to attract businesses one step further
– setting up a 24 hour business telephone line that operates
throughout the week. Quirk believes that this will help attract both

and international players, providing a “one stop shop” for them. Staff
will “act as a coordinating facility, they will assist new businesses to
get the approvals that they need, and give them all of the appropriate
contacts” required, he explains.
The idea for a round-the-clock service first happened when a 24 hour
complaint hotline was launched for residents. The service covered
“every part of city government activity”, where citizens, for instance,
could lodge reports on fallen trees, Quirk says. “Because that was so
successful, we then set up the business hotline.”
2. Improving connectivity
The Mayor’s second priority is connectivity. This ties in with his first
priority as it increases the ease of doing business in the city. Brisbane
used the 2014 G20 Summit as an opportunity to upgrade its service
delivery.
“We commenced a significant programme of creating free wifi in
certain parts of our city and our South Bank area where the G20
Summit was held”, he says, and “we’ve now extended that to include
all of our CBD”. Citizens can now enjoy free wifi in the city’s libraries,
parks, and even on public ferries.
3. Infrastructure
Quirk’s top priority is building infrastructure for its residents. He
aims to roll out smart services that are energy-efficient and
sustainable; part of this involves replacing city lights with smart
lighting to cut power usage. “In 2016, we became a 100 percent carbon
neutral city”, and these initiatives “will add to the picture”, he says.
The council is also looking to improve its public transportation,
focusing on driverless and electric vehicles and charging stations.
Quirk plans to roll these out gradually, catering to the demand of
residents, he says. “What we want to do is create enough quantum to
make it possible to encourage people to transfer to electric vehicles.”
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 24
The Mayor will also focus on building a metro subway system to
help citizens move about. “We are a very mobile city, compared to
many cities”, and “more liveable in that context”, he says. “But the
biggest challenge always is growing population, and making sure
you keep up with the infrastructure built.”
The council gathers feedback on citizens’, and incorporates these
into the city’s development plan, prioritising projects that are in
popular demand. Among these are plans for aged care and
retirement living, and financial incentives for student
accommodation.
Looking overseas
The Mayor looks to Singapore for inspiration, admiring the
Government’s long-term vision. “The country has no economy
production, no mining resources and yet, has used their knowledge
[and] intellectual power to create a leading economy”, he says.
Similarly, he is “making sure that we understand the sorts of
change that’s likely to occur” so that public money will be spent
wisely, and infrastructures built “will be relevant into the future”.
The Mayor recalls meeting Liu Thai Ker – one of the urban architects
of Singapore – on several occasions.“He’s an old man now, but he
was very much one of the inspirations behind modern Singapore.”
Brisbane itself is reshaping, gearing up to be an international hub.
It hosts global events and gathers innovative ideas from industry
and governments.
For overseas tourists, the Mayor recommends a visit to the South
Bank; a stroll on the beach, and ride on a ferry, or cycle along bike
paths. The koala factor is also killer: “This is the only place in the
world where you can hold and cuddle a koala.” Just ask Vladimir
Putin.
Main image from the Mayor's Office
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 25

Exclusive: How Penang’s Mayor plans

to stop his population leaving
Mayor Yew Tung Seang is leading an initiative to refurbish Georgetown’s iconic shophouses.
By Varissara Charassangsomboon
Mayor says. “We experience the effects of climate change quite
rampantly lately.”

Under the Green Agenda, Georgetown aims to become a low carbon

city. One of the biggest issues it must tackle is traffic: Mayor Yew
believes a solution is to reduce the need for travelling. He hopes to
develop a compact city planning concept to “try to put most things in
one [place]”.

Additionally, he is currently working on an online smart planning

system to process documents such as building permissions and
license applications so that these procedures can be done online.

The thought of Penang conjures up images of iconic street art,

Mayor Yew wants to digitise services, including meetings, so people
delicious food, and rows of quaint and colourful shophouses. Its
can avoid travel and work from home. “We can use the conventional
intangible charm has attracted tourists from all over the world, and
way of teleconference meetings, instead of calling twenty people
tourism is a major source of income, especially since its capital
together in one place. That will bring maybe twenty cars moving
Georgetown became a World Heritage in 2008.
around the city,” he explains.

But rapid transformation and development to cater to tourism has

Another solution is cycling. An enthusiastic cyclist, Mayor Yew says
had an impact on the city’s livability. “Our UNESCO World Heritage
that Georgetown is in the process of transforming into a bicycle-
status indirectly draws the tourists to come in, but at the same
friendly city. The city currently has 25 bike stations and 180 km of
time, there are people moving out,” Yew Tung Seang, Mayor of the
cycling lanes, and is in the process of opening up more paths for
Penang Island City Council, tells GovInsider.
cyclists.

He shares how the city wants to prioritise sustainable development

Over two years ago, the government initiated the ‘Bike on Fridays’
to encourage residents to stay.
campaign to encourage people to cycle to work. The Council now
requires larger commercial buildings to have facilities to
Repopulating Georgetown
accommodate cyclists, including parking spaces and shower rooms.
A micro-housing project will refurbish dilapidated shophouses to
increase housing. Developers have converted many former
Although the effects of these projects may take years to fully show,
residences into Instagram-worthy cafes and hotels, pushing up
changes can already be felt within the city. “We can start seeing
rent and driving out locals.
people cycling,” the Mayor comments. “Of course, not like Amsterdam
yet. But people are cycling.”
“In what used to be a residential street, 10 shophouses used to be
residences, and now nine are cafes and hotels,” Joann Khaw, George
Clean and safe
Town Heritage Action’s co-founder, was quoted as saying by
Although it welcomes an increasing number of visitors every year,
Channel News Asia. “We may have the physical buildings but
Georgetown wants to maintain its status as one of the cleanest cities
we lose the tenants and their culture. Instead, we have the trinket
in Southeast Asia. The city uses IoT networks to deploy machinery
shops, cafes and hotels, and to me, that’s not a real city.”
and staff for routine work, the Mayor says, putting “the right people
at the right place, doing the right thing”.
The RM3.6 million (US$878,850) refurbishment project will begin
with six shophouses in Kimberly Street as the model. Ground floors
Safety is another area the city council wants to improve. It has plans
will be kept as shop fronts for local artisans, while the upper floors
to increase the number of CCTV units from 550 to 900 by the end of
will become housing units. Mayor Yew hopes that this will provide
2018, the Mayor says. It is also developing an Intelligent Operations
affordable co-living options to encourage more people to stay in the
Centre, which would have video analytics capabilities to monitor
city.
traffic, illegal dumping, and littering.

The green agenda

The Mayor hopes that this raft of measures to improve the city’s
The environment is also a big issue for the city. A disastrous flood
infrastructure and environment will entice residents to come back to
in November last year affected thousands of people’s homes and
their hometown.
livelihoods. “Penang Island is just a very tiny coastal island,” the

Image from Mohd Fazlin Mohd Effendy Ooi on Flickr – CC BY 2.0


Exclusive: How New York City used
analytics to solve urban challenges
Interview with Dr Amen Ra Mashariki, former NYC Chief Analytics Officer, and Urban Analytics Lead at Esri.
By Esri
How do you protect housing renters from discrimination; engage
parents in the education system; and preventing a large-scale
epidemic of a deadly disease? For Dr Amen Ra Mashariki, the
answer is always the same: data.
Mashariki was the city’s second Chief Analytics Officer, leading
the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics from 2014 to May 2017. His job
was to translate the city’s challenges into questions that could be
answered using analytics, and get agencies to use their data in
new ways. “Whenever the Mayor ran into a complex problem, he
called on my team,” Mashariki says.
Mashariki now heads up urban analytics at Esri, the GIS company.
He talked with GovInsider about how tech has transformed his
city, and could transform yours too.
Preventing housing discrimination
New York’s Human Rights Law prohibits landlords from
discriminating against tenants. Yet income discrimination is one
of the top housing-related complaints received by the city’s
Commission on Human Rights. It had “years upon years” of data
from calls made by victims, Mashariki says, including the
landlords’ names and addresses.
In 2016, the city’s analytics team worked with the commission to
“predictively identify where and which landlords are likely to
GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 26
 
discriminate”. The team combined complaints data with crime,
education, city planning and housing data, turning it into a
“map that geographically identified where these occurrences
were likely to happen”.
The commission then sent in actors and actresses posing as
tenants to identify landlords who were discriminating. Some
had housing vouchers and others didn’t, to test how they were
received by landlords and building management companies. In
total, it conducted over 300 such tests.
Within two months, the commission charged five landlords and
housing brokers – which together control about 20,000 units
across the city – for repeatedly discriminating against tenants
based on their income. The commission has also stepped up
efforts to file investigations on behalf of the city, with 120 cases
filed in 2016, from just 22 in 2014.
Preventing a legionnaires epidemic
In 2015, 128 people were infected and 12 people died as a deadly
disease spread across the city. Legionnaires bacteria was
being spread through untreated water in cooling towers on
buildings. With over 1 million buildings in the city, tens and
thousands of lives at risk, and limited resources for inspection,
Mashariki and his team were asked to use data to identify
locations with the biggest risks.
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 25

The city, however, had no existing list of all cooling tower locations.
The team worked round-the-clock for weeks, pulling in fragments of
data from multiple agencies. They built a machine learning algorithm
to identify buildings likely to have contaminated cooling towers.
The team raised the hit rate for identifying cooling tower locations
from 10% to 80% with data, Mashariki says. 8 in every 10 attempts to
identify buildings with cooling towers was successful, allowing
inspectors to identify contaminated cooling towers faster.
Targeting communications
In 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new scheme offering free
pre-kindergarten for all three-year-olds in the city. To be a success,
however, the scheme had to be inclusive of all people and have a high
enrollment. The government launched a citywide campaign, sending
officials door-to-door to tell people about the new scheme.
The data accuracy also ensured residents had a “strong customer
experience” with the government. People weren’t being repeatedly
bothered by different city officials and canvassers did not go
knocking on the wrong doors. “We changed how government was
perceived by a lot of New Yorkers through that effort”, Mashariki
believes.
These case studies all show how vital analytics can be for a modern
city. And, when it comes to killer apps, location is the missing link. It
brings the data together, helping officials “identify process,
methodologies, capabilities and strategic ways for urban centres to
solve complex problems”.
“One of the things I’ve learnt is that everything in a city happens
somewhere, so location is of utmost importance,” he says.

“Everything in a city
But with close to 9 million people living in the city, officials had to be
micro-targeted to ensure all eligible children had a chance to enroll.
“We needed to give every New Yorker the opportunity to know about
and enroll in this programme,” Mashariki says. “We used data to
identify parents who were likely to need and want free pre-
happens somewhere, so
kindergarten.”
location is of utmost
importance.”
His team increased enrollment by 117% using analytics. With targeted
and accurate information, frontline officials were able to better
engage and educate parents about the programme. This allowed
people to pre-enroll before the start of the scheme.
 GovInsider Guide to Smart Cities// 27

All images from Pexels and Pixabay unless otherwise stated.

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September 2018
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