Singapore: From smart cities to smart nations
Imagine applying for a new passport by taking a selfie, seeing a doctor without leaving your house, sitting in a bus without a driver, having access to the whole collection of a library at home etc. These are just some of the already implemented smart solutions in Singapore.
The Smart Nation of Singapore initiative aims to develop human-centred solutions to address global urban challenges. By focusing on “areas with high impact on residents and citizens”, Singapore aims to develop a smart living environment for health, living and mobility.
Health
Like in many developed countries, Singapore has an ageing population, accompanied by gradually increasing expenses for the care of it, which has become a visible challenge for the government. To address this issue, “tele-health” was conceptualised. The idea is to reduce overburdened hospital beds and treatments. For example, “tele-rehabilitation” via tablets allows stroke patients to receive treatments at home by doing exercises with doctors. Thereby, sensors can collect health data that the therapist can remotely check.
Furthermore, Singapore being a country with high awareness for filial piety, leaving out the care of elderly among family members would lead to societal stigma. In response to the need of keeping an eye on the elderly members, a monitoring system has been developed. “Elderly Monitoring Systems” (EMS) enable to monitor the movement based on a non-invasive program. An immediate alert will be transferred to the family members as soon as the system experiences a low activity of movement, useful for those who belong to the risk groups.
Living
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) owns the majority of the apartments in Singapore and runs a system of public housing. This has no negative connotations with socially underprivileged ones in deprived areas. In Yuhua, a subzone region of Jurong East, has become the “living laboratory” for becoming “smart”.
A net of sensors has been integrated in Yuhua to observe the activities of every single apartment. Data on energy draw, waste production and water usage have been collected which serve as important information for the government to adapt and improve the energy and waste systems. For the inhabitants, these sensors provide feedback on how to minimise housing costs by using less electricity and water.
Mobility
When it comes to autonomous-vehicles, Singapore is far more ambitious than just having self-driving cars or buses: There have been trials to implement full-size robotic buses. With the help of the collected data the most overcrowded and tense public areas can be identified. The aim is to reduce waiting time and congestion in a city like Singapore, by providing convenient, fast and efficient public transport.
Moreover, stepping into next level of a smarter traffic system, Singapore intends to introduce an obligatory satellite-navigation system in all vehicles. Equipped with sensors, authorities will be able to track where cars are, aiming to identify and tackle the traffic jams.
A smart world with big open data
For many it might be scary to live in a “transparent and virtual” world, since privacy is a relevant issue in a smart city. The protection of collected data plays an important role as an attack on a such gigantic volume of data would cause a collapse for a city. Furthermore, it challenges each single citizen to define the boundary for themselves: where and when do I want to be traced and how.
For some others, however, it may be the future city you want to live in. Dr. Balakrishnan, Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs, sees great potentials in Singapore becoming a role model for other metropolises.
“If you visit Singapore,” Balakrishnan said, “you should be able to say, ‘I have seen the future – and it works’.” [1]
Note: This article is based on Singapore is striving to be the world’s first ‘smart city’. Engadget, 11 March 2016.
References
[1]. Souppouris, Aaron (2016). Singapore is striving to be the world’s first ‘smart city’. Engadget, 11 March 2016 [online]. Available at: https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/03/singapore-smart-nation-smart-city/
Smartnation.sg, (2018). Smart Nation Singapore. [online] Available at: https://www.smartnation.sg/
Wikipedia, Keyword “Smart Nation”, Version from 16/02/2018, 15:37, available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Nation
Keywords
Smart cities, Singapore, smart traffic system, mobility, sensor, Elderly Monitoring System (EMS), tele-rehabilitation, Singapore-Yuhua, autonomous-vehicles, risk group.