#Digital technology DO help the world prosper#
Our world is filled with challenges common to all humankind, such as climate change, environmental destruction and COVID-19. In addition, slowdown in economic growth, widening income disparities and other economic problems are prevalent in various parts of the world. The key to overcoming these common human challenges is innovative technologies.
We are in the midst of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, a technological revolution that will once again fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. As Professor Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum has explained, the First Industrial Revolution mechanized production with water and steam, the Second used electricity to power mass production, and the Third leveraged information technology for automation.
In this Fourth Revolution, technologies will fuse and blur the lines between the physically and the digital, all supported by IoT, AI, 5G communications and other advanced technologies.
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#Data acts as the spine of smart cities helping decision-makers to make better decisions to build resilient, liveable, and connected cities that serve citizens better services. Right data at the right time has the capability to solve many complex urban challenges. With deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors to sense the city, real-time data is increasing every day, offering cities a chance to address city problems in smarter ways.
However, the challenge that is faced by city managers is that cities produce a humongous amount of data in many forms and from many different sources. The wide variety of data formats makes it difficult to scale applications from city to city. And, to this, the solution is improved Application Programming Interfaces or APIs. API has the power to provide access to the cities’ data even if the background systems are vastly different, making them a great way to attract and fully harness the huge potential offered by developers.
APIs create interoperability to connect the functioning of the entire city. As the massive amounts of data being generated and shared across functions and departments via these APIs, smart cities are becoming more evidence-based, and collected urban data is beginning to influence policy decisions.
For cities to function, APIs are an essential component that enables connected devices to communicate with each other efficiently that in return keep the city system running with any flaws. APIs helps cities in many ways, like for example, it decreases overlapping work within the city and between cities Simplifies work processes, saves cost, provides better quality data and reduces silo-effect by increasing the interaction between the city and its interest group