BW Smart Cities held its 4th Enabling Smart Cities conference in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on 14 October 2015. K. Phanindra Reddy, principal secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply, Government of Tamil Nadu, delivering the inaugural address, set the tone by stressing the need to address key gaps in the journey towards a 'full-blown smart city' by strengthening the institutional mechanism in cities and the state, especially in Tamil Nadu that has the distinction of being the most urbanised state with 48.5 per cent urban population. He also highlighted the need to mobilise funds from the market for infrastructure projects as well as designing for the future.
There were panel discussions on infrastructure, smart urban mobility, crowdsourcing ideas, citizen consultation, public engagement and safer cities, anchored by administrators from Tamil Nadu government as well as from Uber, IBM and the Kochi-based thinktank Centre for Public Policy Research. These witnessed a lively and interactive exchange between the panel and the audience — ensuring a near full house till the end of the halfday conference.
(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 30-11-2015)
