Cities are facing new challenges as more people are migrating to cities in search of better jobs and a good standard of living. Overcrowding is straining public infrastructure, while urban poverty is breeding crime when social inequalities are not being addressed. As a result, there is increased insecurity and urban risk, which has taken the form of a threat to the well-being of citizens in many urban areas.

Government authorities cannot avoid their responsibility to provide security through a comprehensive strategic approach. This need has increased the use of technology to manage cities as they have grown larger and more complex. The government is focusing on the overall transformation of city infrastructure leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, IoT, video analytics etc., to manage specific city operations such as city surveillance, trash collection, traffic flow, energy usage, and many others to make cities safe, secure and better.  

The integration of Artificial Intelligence technologies in the daily operations of the cities has converted traditional cities into “smart cities”, allowing administrators to manage them much more effectively and efficiently. By leveraging solutions integrated with AI, these cities can control administration, sanitation, traffic congestion, security surveillance, and parking management, streamline crime control and investigation & prevent potential accidents optimally.

Ensuring the safety of Indian citizens

Public safety is a crucial tenet of every smart city. Therefore, the city might ensure sustainability and socio-economic development by fusing smart citizen-centric services with the infrastructure for safety and security.

Over the years, law enforcement bodies have been increasingly leaning on cutting-edge technology to help strengthen the safety of citizens and reduce criminal activities. Technologies powered by AI have the potential to mitigate such activities on the one hand and fasten the adjudication of unlawful activities on the other.

Today, the police departments of states like Kerala and Karnataka are equipped to quickly identify perpetrators of crime since the implementation of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) - a central database of fingerprints developed to help the state machinery cross-verify unclear and unverifiable fingerprints. This system provides highly accurate results and can even enhance the quality of fragmented fingerprints that might be found at crime scenes.

The recent proliferation of AI applications across all domains has been game-changing in delivering citizen services effectively and protecting citizens’ safety. AI has made streets safer with technologies like smart cameras integrated with facial recognition capabilities and real-time crowd behaviour analysis to make the neighbourhoods safe from loiterers and unwanted elements.

Women’s safety across major Indian cities has historically been of deep concern and continues to be one of the top priorities for the administration. There is a need for effective integration of technology and safety infrastructure to fasten the identification of perpetrators and reduce blind spots within the city. Police patrolling vehicles, CCTV cameras equipped with advanced facial recognition technologies, and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technologies can help recognise and track criminals. In short, strengthening the technological provisions geared towards making the citizens safe and secure and paving the way for fostering safer cities for women as well.

Integrated Command and Control Centre: the pulse of citizen well-being

Data is being considered the lifeline of next-gen smart cities. The need to bring data-centric solutions to urban challenges has led to adoption of the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) on a large scale.

ICCC is envisaged to be the nerve centre of city operations as they facilitate effective management of day-to-day incidents, citizen services, exceptional scenarios, and disaster mitigation. It enables real-time data-driven decisions with improved situational awareness. It minimises the complexity of dealing with multiple systems (of various departments within city administration) by integrating them into a common platform.

ICCC, through its various layers and components, allows responding to real-time events by consuming data feeds from various data sources and utilities such as water, traffic, waste management, energy, education, etc., thus providing intelligence to the city’s municipal corporation in making informed decisions and help law enforcement authorities manage the safety and surveillance of the city.

Seamless commuting

Smart transportation solutions help local governments and operators to run efficient transportation systems by optimising and automating numerous tasks associated with running a complex transportation network. Safe and dependable operations help more people to use hassle-free modes of transportation, which further results in less congestion and has a lower environmental impact.

Efficient transportation systems and ease of travel are inextricably linked to one’s quality of life. Cities are becoming smarter by integrating AI into the public transport system.

Automatic Vehicle Locating Systems (AVLS) have made bus movement easier by collecting real-time information about the buses travelling on a specific route and then passing it on to passengers via digital displays and mobile apps. A glowing example of the implementation of smart transport solutions can be seen in Mysore. Adopting the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) by the administration has led to a 50% reduction in fatal accidents, increased punctuality in the operation of state buses to 90% and less than 10 minutes of waiting time for passengers at the bus stations. Integrated traffic management systems, adaptive traffic control systems, smart parking systems, e-governance, municipal operations, information dissemination systems, etc., have all enhanced traffic management.

Accessible & safer health and financial services

Today, AI solutions are being widely adopted in every business segment, including financial and healthcare services.

Taking the current healthcare scenario into consideration, in addition to the spread of coronavirus that resulted in a worldwide pandemic, lifestyle-related illnesses, such as certain forms of cancer, emerge.

AI has proven to be extremely helpful when it comes to the streamlining and management of healthcare data. With surgical robots and highly sophisticated machines being designed with the help of AI, the medical fraternity is achieving higher levels of precision during the most strenuous medical procedures and surgeries. For example, intelligent AI systems are being designed to accurately detect cancer, lung and pulmonary diseases at early stages. Now AI-powered systems are being trained to self-diagnose patients without the intervention of human doctors. For example, a software program named IDx-DR can detect a form of eye disease by just analysing the retina’s photos without a human expert’s intervention.

The shift to the online mode has meant banks and financial institutions are inherently vulnerable to fraud, scams and greater risks. With the rise in online payments & transactions, the banking and finance industries face varied challenges: email phishing, financial fraud, identity theft, document forgery, and false accounts are just a few of the criminal attacks perpetrated by fraudsters online.

Artificial Intelligence assists banks in improving the security of online financial services, detecting flaws in their systems, and mitigating risks. For example, AI and machine learning can easily detect fraudulent activity and alert customers and banks. AI also allows financial institutions to create a friendlier customer experience, reduce error rates, and make better investments.

Additionally, AI has improved loan and facility evaluation. Using credit scores to determine loan eligibility frequently relied on outdated information, misclassification, and errors. However, these days there’s so much information available online that can give a more realistic picture of the person or business under evaluation. Even if the party has little documentation, whether personal or business, an AI-based system can make approval or rejection recommendations by considering more variables.

Early detection & disaster prevention

The power of AI can also be leveraged to preserve the environment and tackle the challenges posed by climate change. Natural disasters are becoming more and more severe every year, but various technologies can help minimise the damage they cause. An ASNARO-2 satellite, launched in 2018, has witnessed playing an important role in disaster prevention. Used with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology, helps with images of the earth using the satellite’s embedded radar.

SAR Technology demonstrates promise in the fields of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Such satellites can easily predict typhoons, heavy rains, and other natural disasters caused by climate. Therefore, we must ensure the data must be put to use to curb the damage and save as many lives as possible.

The data that forms the basis for evacuation orders and advice by municipal and district authorities can include weather information and information such as an increase in river levels and the danger of landslides.

Conclusion

The momentum must be maintained with all of these technological advancements partly accelerated by the pandemic. The government’s initiative to embrace the might of AI and other technologies and towards forging meaningful public-private partnerships can charter a path to establish a new era of e-governance in India, wherein the most complex of processes can be automated, and made more seamless, be it in the domain of healthcare, public safety and services, law enforcement, or transportation.