Digital City: what to expect?

* By Sergio Henrique Diniz

The concept of Digital Cities may sound futuristic, but it is more present in our reality than we think. In them, technology is deeply and completely integrated into public management, generating many gains and facilities for the population.

Absolutely all areas are benefited, among which we can highlight health, education, public administration and the economy as a whole. The municipalities that adopt this concept envisage efficiency gains and provide more citizenship to their inhabitants.

The adoption of technology in the daily lives of cities impacts essential areas. In Health, the integrated management of health care centers, interconnection of the Civil Defense and the Fire Department and the use of videoconferencing and telemedicine provide agility in assistance, care, treatment and saving lives. In Education, the integration of schools with other research and teaching institutions, new computer labs, access to collections of books and historical documents facilitate the training of teachers and students. In Security, the gains come from the interconnection between computers from agencies such as the Civil and Military Police and the Fire Department and surveillance of critical locations through the installation of increasingly intelligent cameras.

In a Digital City, the economy is stimulated through the facilities provided to small business owners, who gain agile and inexpensive communication with wireless Internet access at various points and communication through VoIP telephony.

Making communication uncomplicated, doing business is facilitated. In addition, the digitization of public services reduces bureaucracy and accelerates development.
For the government, the implementation of this concept is synonymous with a more modern and integrated public administration, increased tax collection, integration of financial, administrative and tax structures, in addition to saving resources.

A Digital City has a base of telecommunication infrastructure that integrates all public management information systems. The interconnection of public buildings is done through dedicated, high-speed data networks, based on high-performance antennas or fiber optic networks. A municipality, even with budgetary limitations, can make Digital City projects via financing via parliamentary funds or a project approved by SICONV - Sistema de Convênios.

The technology applied to cities heats up political, cultural and economic activities and enables a better quality of information, bringing public management closer to the citizen, where it is possible to have:

• Wide connectivity of public buildings;
• Social inclusion and combating illiteracy;
• Schools, hospitals and administration buildings with access to the Internet;
• Public internet with wi-fi access;
• Monitoring via smart cameras;
• Easy interconnection with other cities.

The future has arrived and it is necessary to consider these points to develop a strategy adherent to your business.

* Sergio Henrique Diniz, commercial manager at Seal Telecom (SP)

Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies