Muscat: Due to constant efforts of the government as Oman Vision 2040, the capital, Muscat, along with its other GCC counterparts, has been performing well in the rankings for smart cities.
Muscat improved its performance in the recent World's Smart City Index by moving up eight points to 88 from 96 in the previous year, which was prepared by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
The Index takes into account the economic and technological aspects of smart cities on the one hand and the “humane dimensions” of smart cities (quality of life, environment, and inclusiveness) on the other.
A Smart City system is about the integration of all the utilities, infrastructure, and citizen services on a single platform and a unified dashboard for the efficient, reliable, and resilient operation of the city.
According to Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), "There is no limit on how this concept of smart cities will evolve. It is based on guidelines, including that from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the ISO standard. There is a national effort regarding the smart city and this is a good example of a collaborative regulation."
It has been prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (MoHUP) and the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MoTCIT).
The regulatory framework for smart cities is likely to be ready by the end of this year, according to a top official of the TRA.
The Oman Vision 2040 strategy has made it clear that Smart Cities are a national ambition, a source for growth, and jobs, and a tool to diversify its economy away from oil exports. As such, the government developed the Oman National Spatial Strategy to guide progress in line with Oman Vision 2040 and has been deploying several pilots and tools to support the development of the Smart City sector throughout the country, while increasing opportunities for collaboration with the private sector and academia. The launch of the national Smart City Platform underscored the importance of this sector for the country.
The IMD, which surveyed and data collected in 142 cities, seeks to help policymakers and media illustrate various stages of development and diverse experiences in each, to show the relevance of the index to the real world.
Among others, Riyadh moved up to 25 from 31, Doha to 48 from 54, Dubai to 12 from 14, and Abu Dhabi to 10 from 13. The top ten smart cities are Zurich, Oslo, Canberra, Geneva, Singapore, Copenhagen, Lausanne, London, and Helsinki, apart from Abu Dhabi.
Development of smart cities infrastructure and services is reliant on a strong Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure and governance framework where the roles and responsibilities of all entities that contribute to ICT governance are set out clearly and transparently," according to TRA.
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