IOT - The INTERNET of THINGS or the INDIANNESS of THINGs for the SMART CITY
Dr. Mahesh Patil
General Management, P&L Leadership, Certified Independent Director, Technology innovation, Start up Founder- Electric Vehicles Power train, Charging Infrastructure, IOT-sensors, AUTHOR
The car I was travelling was cruising at a speed of less than 20 km/hr. The driver was at peace with himself and the flight timing fast approaching. There were students walking through the lush green environment oblivious of the vehicle on the path. The road was free and the speed could have been 40 km/hr if not 80 km/hr. Why not!!!. There is never a speed limit even if you drive on the opposite side ……and safety concerns unheard of.
I nudged the driver – I might miss the flight …!!!. He replied back saying this is a college campus and the speed limit is 20km/hr. Unbelievable…I pinched myself ..Is this my country.!!!.
A few minutes before I was talking to the students of Vidyaniketan engineering college at Tirupati, explore their incubator facility they had initiated and a chance meeting with Dr Mohan Babu. His vision evident from the institute campus, the investments made in the labs, the discipline that he himself is an example of and which rubs off on his teams and campus behaviour. The MEMS lab, atmospheric research lab, incubator all gave me a feel of being in the midst of a silicon valley in the pristine surroundings of the Tirumala hills and not to miss the ubiquitous buzz around SMART CITY and the IOT.
As I was exiting the campus to the airport a few thoughts passed my cluttered mind …
What does the SMART city ….mean for us as consumers of this initiative. !!!!
We seems to have islands of inspiring people, smart ideas, excellent institutions though too less for a country of a billion plus .
Our infrastructure woes seems to be for eternity with perennially dug roads, enormous issues on water management(Cauvery issue as an example), complete absence of waste water recovery, no plans for desalination of water (Saudi Arabia exports milk products which require 10 units of water for 1 unit of milk product), water availability in remote places still a dream , lost opportunity on electric vehicle penetration (china has millions of EVs on road with an amazing charging infrastructure), lack of judges which makes justice a basic element of a great nation deprived to the citizens, police stations which we feel a place where we call ourselves unlucky if ever we need to be there…..
The digital revolution has brought a humongous change to the way we live and work with the implementation of e governance through billing gateways, income tax , EPFO portals, portals for citizen grievances , direct subsidy transfer, online passport process, online education, media publishing, e commerce, online booking of all essential services from transport to grocery and all of this available through a mobile device over a telecommunications networks ..
The Digital revolution has brought connectivity OVER the AIR but the ground reality is still Horrendous. The BROKEN hardware layer makes the IOT (internet of things) the internet of BROKEN things.
Unless a citizen has access to basic healthcare where an ambulance can pass freely, water and sanitation availability …we are in a basic-need fulfilment loop.
Possibly the Smart city framework will bring in the needed uniformity in processes for creating the structure across the country.
http://smartcities.gov.in/writereaddata/smartcityguidelines.pdf
Our vision of smart cities will only realise a Virtual Smart city unless the infrastructure is brought in place else the perils of meeting the fate of the erstwhile “Garibi Hatao” program.
Meanwhile there was another city added to the list of smart city planning “Luck-Now”….
Proprietor at R S Barve Consultant
8yI think that roads are becoming better with the leadership of Gadkari . But the road discipline is missing causing traffic jams unnecessarily.
Founder & CEO -Sense22Yoga, Healthcare Enthusiast, Author, & Invited Speaker, INSEAD-Alumni
8yGood Read and Insights. Everyone is working in Silos and Mumbai is a classic example. If only everyone is involved in community building, things can change. We can have the Vidyaniketan type infra even outside Vidyaniketans everywhere. May be SMART cities will land us some where near to what we all want...
Vice President Electrical Design (Special Purpose Motors) Retired
8yFirstly MP congrats for your views. I am sorry, I should have done that at the first instance. Dear Daya, what I meant was, we are an young country. We have long way to go.We could have learnt from how other countries did and probably emulated them. We did not do. Priorities of our nation builders were different. The present establishment is doing that for sure, like the master stroke of yesterday of Rs 500 and 1000 notes. We are a big inertia. Sabar rakho man.
Vice President Electrical Design (Special Purpose Motors) Retired
8yDear MP, Rome was not built in a day. However, building of India could have been started 67 years ago. If you look at the American history after independence, it was like us now, till around 1890 s. Shabby roads, people giving a damn to traffic rules etc. Please read, there are lot of articles on the same, in web. Some body thought differently, at that time, to cleanse that was happening then that too more than 100 years later. So somebody in India has started thinking in that manner now. We should support that. Have patience.