Implementation Challenges for Establishing Smart Urban Information and Knowledge Management System

Abstract

In the present knowledge and information age, Indian towns are expanding rapidly in spatial and demographic terms. Moreover, spatial information are not correlated with the complex urban integrated problems, as data generated at various levels for urban planning remains uncoordinated and redundant to support decision-making and leading to poor urban governance. Hence, there is an urgent need to create common platform so as to address problems and issues in the right perspective to assist cities in coping with economic realities and, thereby, produce high-quality responsive environment and demonstrate successful urban solutions. Thus, in order to address these issues in a holistic manner, the Ministry of Urban Development has launched the National Urban Information System (NUIS) Scheme. The implementation of the NUIS Scheme would ultimately lead to e-Governance. In this context, the present paper is an attempt to address the various challenges like enhancing organizational capacity; cooperation between various stakeholders, accessibility of data, capacity building; and standardization of data format for the implementation of the Urban Information and Knowledge Management (UIKM) system in India. To establish the Digital Urban Information System in India is not simply a challenge but a mission to foster the mind of town planners and urban managers to tackle the real world problems only after analyzing the virtual world situations. Moreover, this paper also discusses that how establishment of effective efficient information system will pave the way for development of smart cities in India.