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Smart City: Fast internet moving lives forward

12 June 2021, MVT 20:50
A restaurant with a free WIFI sign: HDC aims to have restaurants in Hulhumale' with such signs
12 June 2021, MVT 20:50

Well developed cities should be convenient for the people, businesses and other organisations in them. As technology keeps evolving in a fast pace, the residents of the cities want their lives made easier simultaneously as well. Businesses and state institutions included.

Internet has become a necessity more than a luxury item with how dependent the world has become on the connectivity it provides. However, the internet is not easily affordable or accessible to certain demographics within a society. One such obstacle that lies in front of easy accessibility includes service providers lacking adequate amounts of infrastructure to meet the demand.

One of the core factors that define a smart city is having established municipal facilities that has the ability to provide the latest technology and services to their residents. One such facility includes open access internet, which is the name given to the connection network built in when a city is being developed.

A laptop connected to the internet: HDC is developing Hulhumale' to be a Smart City

Open access networks help service providers to lower the price of the service and assists in their customers to access the service at lower prices. This enables the service to be integrated into society easier.

There are people working in various fields within the small population of Maldives. While a certain set exists that go to day jobs within the government and private sector, an increasing number of the youth has been becoming interested in becoming self-employed.

Smart cities should be able to provide the necessary amenities to such people easily and at affordable rates. Other developed nations also provide these services in the form of "shared workspaces".

Easier access to internet will make it easier for people to share the information they collect amongst themselves with other parties. This will increase the quality of life such especially while getting essential services from businesses and other state institutions as well.

One of HDC's goals include providing free WIFI throughout Hulhumale'

This will not only improve government services, but it will also improve the quality of essential services as well. These include conducting business for government projects via contract basis, paying bills, and submitting paperwork. This will eliminate the need to wait for queues as well.

National ID Cards and drivers licenses have become digitalized. Almost all financial transactions are now conducted online. In the future, internet will play a huge role in parking, and in the use of battery cars and other vehicles as well.

The lights used in cities to ensure the safety of residents will become more energy efficient and smart in the future. Technology will be developed that will ensure road safety and rules are maintained. More technology reliant on QR codes will be developed.

Household chores and work are also becoming more reliant on technology as time passes. Using technology for garbage disposal is one such example. Instead of waiting for a pre-determined time for garbage disposal, in the future, a signal may used when the garbage is full.

The goal of the Smart City Project by Housing Development Corporation (HDC) is to provide fast internet to the residents, small and medium businesses in the Greater Male' Area. They hope to do this by developing the infrastructure to be able to provide good internet.

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