Smart to Intelligent
- Dolapo Fadare
- Oct 30, 2017
- 2 min read
As the tires of the plane hit the runway the African heat consumed the whole airplane as a welcoming sign to the country. We got off the plane and right away were organized by immigration officers. Once we picked up our bags and made our way out, we were first bombarded by a number of locals that offered their "taxi services". For safety reasons, we had arranged to be picked up by one of our contacts in the region. It is paramount that if you plan to travel to the region you have a trusted mode of transportation and a fully functioning telephone line.
Walking to the car park, we were completely shocked that the first thing we saw was plans to improve the airport by the Chinese. As you might all be aware, over the past few years, China has a number of development projects in different capacities all over Africa. The most ironic thing that surprised me as we drove to the hotel was the dis-organized yet organized driving. Let's just say that there were a number of close calls but somehow there was no scratch on the car.
Once we arrived at the hotel, we got a quick briefing with our agenda for the next day which included a 8am meeting the next day with Mr. John G. Jung, the Chairman and Co-Founder of the Intelligent Community Forum. Here are the few key take away:
Traditionally, bigger centres are more likely to get funding and the spotlight to attract investment, however, technology is levelling out the field. In the past few years, there are tools that small centres can use to connect and communicate to the rest of the world.
"Economic development takes a whole a village". To elaborate an economic developer could generate market qualified leads however different departments of local governance also affect the overall process of actualizing the leads.
The concept of economic development is beyond just creating smart cities but rather creating intelligent communities. A smart city is primarily based on the idea of making sure that different aspects of a city is connected using technology. However, on the other hand an intelligent community takes a more holistic approach. It uses data to make human decision such as improving the educational sector, the innovation ecosystem, digital inclusion, citizen engagement and much more.
In the next couple days, I will be interviewing John to explore how local chambers can contribute to creating smart communities.
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