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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Smart City plan gathers pace

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Oman’s Smart City plan is gaining momentum. Muttrah will be the first city to be transformed into a ‘Smart City’ in the coming years. The Smart City initiative will see the harbour city bringing technology, government and society to enable a smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, smart living and smart governance, according to The Research Council (TRC) spearheading the ‘smart move’. “Oman’s Smart City initiative was started as a virtual platform to bring different stakeholders together. Now, we have Muttrah as an example,” says HH Sayyid Fahad bin Julanda al Said, Assistant Secretary-General for Innovation Support, TRC.


“Transforming the old, traditional city of Muttrah into a smart city fits very well into the ‘Muttrah Master Plan’ announced last year.


Such a smart initiative will help achieve our long-term national goals.”


He said the process will take time because it requires efforts from all the stakeholders.


The first step towards the national initiative is to launch the virtual platform, from where it will be taken forward with a blend of both private and public support.


‘Hackathon’, the first move towards making a smart city, is currently in the pipeline and will see some talented researchers and IT wizards joining hands for exploring technological solutions to issues.


“Hackathon envisages bringing together people with different backgrounds and asking them to come up with solutions within a timeframe,” Dr Ali Amur al Shaidani, Director of Research Centers at TRC, told the Observer.


The TRC will give the tech experts 36 hours to develop smart solutions for transforming the city into a smart city.


It has developed a sustainability plan for winners whose ideas would be incorporated in the master plan.


Winners will be given technology and business and asked to develop solutions within the stipulated time.


“In the smart city platform, our role is to integrate ideas and put them in the market for the overall project.


They will be creating solutions with the help of apps and we will encourage them to come up with more solutions.


We will not ask them to develop solutions for challenges that require substantial infrastructure intervention.


It’s neither in their capacity nor in ours.


So, we will only be showing challenges that can be solved using mobile apps and software,” Al Shaidani added.


TRC will open the registration process with focus on group registration and put all of them on the ‘Muttrah Sabla’ (Sabla is a hall attached to a mosque traditionally used for judiciary, education and development programmes).


“We are supporting the Muscat Municipality for achieving the smart city initiative in a city that is well-studied and documented.


We will bring the Sabla concept again and conduct orientation workshops followed by a tour of Muttrah.”


“However, the plan is not without any challenges,” says Al Shaidani.“Most importantly, preserving and retaining the true essence of Muttrah is of prime focus.


We shouldn’t lose the charm and traditional values of the historic Muttrah in the run towards becoming smart city,” Al Shaidani.


Various agencies have proposed diverse ideas with the Information Technology Authority (ITA) spearheading the Digital Oman strategy encompassing E-transformation initiatives, E-Payment gateway, eHealth portal, educational portal and Open Data initiatives.


The Oman Echo House Design Competition – Phase 2 will focus on challenging the teams to validate the long-term performance of the existing ECHO houses while introducing five houses to the community and taking important steps towards transforming the mainstream housing market in Oman.


Oman Broadband Company (OBC), as part of its national broadband strategy, has made substantial strides towards achieving the smart city initiative.


“We are working to integrate the ICT with the telecommunications sector and the broadband strategy is one such programmes.


The Ministry of Transport and Communications has a role in the smart city and we are providing strategic support to the national initiative,” said Rashid bin Abdullah al Alawi, Acting Director, Communications and Postal Affairs.


KABEER YOUSUF


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