Digital Twins and Platform Thinking can enable our cities to be Citizen Centric, Sustainable & Smart

The smart city concept was initiated by technology companies saying we have this technology so let’s use it. Then they partnered with cities and the focus was on efficiency and reducing costs. However, these days the focus... [ view full abstract ]

The smart city concept was initiated by technology companies saying we have this technology so let’s use it. Then they partnered with cities and the focus was on efficiency and reducing costs. However, these days the focus is shifting towards the citizen. The focus is no longer on efficiency. Instead of this it’s on making their life easier, saving them time, making them safer, helping them to be healthy or giving more choice of the services that are offered. If we solve the citizen’s problems first and if we do this with intuitive and easy to use tools then all of the data to make city more efficient and sustainable will be available by default. One of the questions that we often encounter is: “why does anyone care if a building is smart?” In other words “why should we invest in or why would I like to live, work, study or shop in a smart building?” The technology companies will tell you that it’s because it makes things more efficient. The thinking is that building owners or service providers can improve their operational efficiency by using smarter systems.

However, this logic relies on the cooperation of the stakeholders who use the buildings and services. This approach requires the stakeholders to do something new such as download the app and learn how to use it and often there is little incentive to do this. If we want stakeholders or citizens to get on board with new technologies then we have to add value beyond a nominal discount on their purchases. Air miles or loyalty card discount are no longer enough as user experience begins to compete with price and quality as the key driver for purchasing decisions. This is why our focus should be on citizen centric solutions that make our daily life easier, safer and healthier and services that save us time, are easier to use and provide us with more choice. The core concept of a citizen centric, smart and sustainable city is the optimised allocation of the assets with the city. This pool of shared assets could include buildings, outdoor spaces, vehicles and even equipment such as 3D printers or DIY tools.