A scattered ‘nerve centre’

The network infrastructure in the cities of the global south seems like something everyone wants to ride. However, most people occupy the networks that act as the infrastructure for our cities. Take, for example, the water supply distribution lines in most Indian cities. In its current form, no sensor can ever replace the “linemen” who act as valves spread across the city to regulate the water supply, often with a simple rod. And yet, a different argument is emerging for controlling infrastructure.

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri recently announced that Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCCs) have been set up in 80 cities selected as part of Smart Cities Mission, a centrally sponsored scheme. The ICCC projects being executed can be seen as part of the “Pan City” component of the mission, which envisages “application of selected smart solutions at the present time”. [emphasis added] infrastructure across the city”.

Five Pillars of ICCC

Despite the impressive images of a hall with huge video walls, the ICCC has five basic pillars: the first is bandwidth; second, sensors and edge devices that record and generate real-time data; third, various analytics that are software that draw on data captured by end tools to generate “intelligence”; The fourth is data storage; Fifth, ICCC software which can be described as, in the words of MoHUA, “a system of systems” – anchor to all other application specific components and is described as the “brain and nervous system” of the city .

At the heart of the ICCC’s promise is the idea of ​​”predictive modeling” that uses data to describe not only what a city is like but how it might be. It can tell in which direction the city is moving; It can predict future real estate hot spots; It can identify and predict all accident prone places in the city, and it can predict congested bus routes. This is the exact opposite of how it actually works on the ground: Our frames of response are retrospective and we are constantly retrofitting our cities as the primary mode of change.

The ICCC can be seen in sync with the functions of an Urban Local Body (ULB) under the 74th Constitutional Amendment towards improving services for the people. Many contradictions can arise in this context.

Firstly, the project is being implemented under the aegis of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) constituted under the Companies Act, 2013 in selected cities. The SPV’s projects that overlap with the main ULB areas have been a source of tension between the two, one that cities are still learning to resolve. Unless the core staff of ULBs working in departments such as health, town planning, water supply, etc., adopts the ICCC system, it runs the risk of being a fragmented “nerve centre”.

One solution is to build a team at the SPV that can act as a bridge, drive more users, and build capacity; However, as “contract employees” they may be subject to the business aspects of administration. Second, there is a risk of permanently underutilizing the system. With poor integration with ULB services, and not only software integration but also in terms of workflow and SOPs, the functional capability for video surveillance may continue to be titled. Even with the latter, the configuration and application of video surveillance analytics has been less than perfect and police department operators often manually use the system to screen footage in the wake of an incident which defeats the purpose of the ICCC. .

Third, the large investments required create contradictions in some cities that are otherwise struggling for funds to upgrade their infrastructure and services. One of the key questions to assess the success of the ICCC in the future, perhaps, to ask is whether cities are choosing to build and maintain these systems from their own revenue or unconnected transfer funds. If not, ICCCs may struggle to overcome mission grant exhaustion. And finally, despite efforts to keep purchases vendor-agnostic, some areas of the ICCC are still dominated by select industry players, who can set terms for the city or swing hands for payment.

‘war Room’

ICCCs in some cities acted as “war rooms” during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its application has been cited as a success. Despite its usefulness, the success of such “war rooms” lies in the fact that municipal, district and police administrations were bound by the compulsions of the pandemic, which normally could not be unfolded. Until the services of ULBs and the people who take them to city residents are “integrated” into the ICCC, they may appear in the form of images: a hall with huge video walls, a rather expensive one.

(Pushkal Shivam is the former Deputy CEO of a Smart City SPV in Maharashtra)