FOREWORD - Case Study: Emerging Technology in the Development of Smart Cities in India

Written by Sidharth Sabyasachi

In recent years, governments across many countries have made significant efforts to make their cities smarter, in addition to the improvements in fundamental amenities like smart mobility, smart waste management, and smart communication across different service areas. In the implementation of various strategies such as smart energy, electricity anti-theft approaches, load forecasting, and energy trading can be made smarter with the aid of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in the smart city. The advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and blockchain concepts can also play a significant role in various Smart City design initiatives.

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Additionally, another major factor responsible for fast development of Smart Cities is the inclusion of Clean Energy in the form of solar PV rooftops panels, Electric Vehicles (EV), Green Hydrogen mobility, etc.
This special issue includes five case study articles. The first article discusses the use of AI, ML, and blockchain methods for implementing different strategies in Smart Cities. AI is useful in forecasting load and predicting intermittent renewable energy factors. This article discusses Peer-to-peer energy trading and the role of blockchain in achieving decentralization in the grid. 

The authors in the second article present an overview of the anti-theft strategies which can be used in Smart Cities using Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). The use of ML and Deep-learning methods for theft detection is also discussed.

The third article discusses the different aspects of the Smart City Mission initiative taken by the Government of India. The missions’ achievements, drawbacks, and future challenges are all discussed in this article.  
The fourth article is mainly focused on various strategies related to Smart Cities like Area-Based Development Strategies and financing of Smart Cities. It also presents the current status of Smart Cities Mission initiated by the Government of India.

Finally, the fifth article provides insight into the implementation of Smart Grid concepts in Smart Cities. The bi-directional communication infrastructure required for electricity generation, transmission, and distribution for Smart Cities is also discussed in this article.

In summary, this Special Issue features five articles that mainly cover infrastructure and energy management with lessons learned from smart city implementation in India. These would provide some insights into what to consider particularly for designers, developers as well as policy makers.

 

This article was edited by Bernard Fong.

To view all articles in this issue, please go to March 2023 eNewsletter. For a downloadable copy, please visit the IEEE Smart Cities Resource Center.