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Tanzania ready to embrace smart cities technologies
Dar es Salaam is the Tanzania's largest city and commercial. PHOTO | iStock
What you need to know:
- Through smart technologies, the urban authorities would be able to better manage their infrastructure, such as parking lots and community services.
Arusha. Tanzania is ready to embrace smart technologies in order to improve service delivery in its growing cities.
The drive will also promote the digital economy and the development of urban centres already overwhelmed by the rising population.
“We need modern technologies to deliver smart services,” affirmed the deputy minister for Information, Communication and Information Technology Mr Kundo Mathew.
He told journalists that modern technologies were needed to manage the cities for the delivery of “smart services” to their respective dwellers.
He was briefing the media on the plan on Wednesday after opening a gathering of experts from all over the world to discuss technological advancements.
Through smart technologies, the urban authorities would be able to better manage their infrastructure, such as parking lots and community services.
The Internet of Things (IoT) and Metaverse are expected to drive the agenda in the hope that they will transform cities and communities. Mr Mathew said the government is currently putting in place policy and legal frameworks to successfully achieve the same for improved livelihoods.
The ten-day conference at an Arusha hotel has been organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in collaboration with local partners.
Bringing together technology and communication experts from across the world, the meeting is deliberating on progress and challenges related to ICTs.
The gathering, dubbed ITU-T Study Group 20, is discussing how IoT can transform “the way we live and work in our cities and communities.”
Mr Mathew said the conference has offered an opportunity for Tanzania to showcase its capabilities in ICTs, noting that smart technologies would improve efficiency in government services.
He pledged Tanzania’s willingness to collaborate with other nations in exchanging knowledge and sharing best practices in the technological field.
The director general of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Jabiri Bakari, said the smart cities project would strengthen the country’s digital economy.
“The ITU meeting will provide an opportunity to learn from other countries and share its expertise in the IoT and smart cities fields,” he pointed out.
Dodoma mayor Prof Davis Mwamfupe said a smart city programme was needed to address fast urbanisation in developing countries.
He said, besides improving service delivery through the application of ICT, it would also increase productivity.
