Public-private partnerships needed to move forward in smart city ambitions — Ericsson executive

AMMAN — Public private partnerships are crucial to help turn Amman into a smart city, where technology is deployed to make peoples’ lives easier when it comes to finding parking spaces or avoiding traffic jams for instance, according to an Ericsson executive.

By deploying the latest technologies such as smart lighting, smart parking and other solutions, Amman can create several opportunities for application developers to create new apps to serve its visitors and residents, Mikael Back, global head of strategy development and portfolio management at the Sweden-based technology giant, told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

“Governments cannot do it alone. They need the cooperation and support of the private sector to turn their cities into smart ones,” Back said, stressing that the high mobile and Internet penetration in Jordan represent a cornerstone for swift transformation towards becoming smart.

By the end of June this year, the number of Internet users in Jordan reached 6.2 million, compared to 5.7 million at the same time last year, while mobile penetration reached 152 per cent, with some 12.3 million active mobile subscriptions, according to official figures.

More investment is needed in infrastructure as well to utilise smart solutions, Back added.

“The volume of data generated in each city, whether in terms of traffic data or any other data, can also be analysed to make better any future apps or solutions developed to serve users, which also create opportunities for new ideas and start-ups,” Back said, noting that heavy emphasis should be placed on security issues and protecting data.

In August, the ICT Ministry said it was working on a plan to turn the country’s governorates into “smart zones”. Agreements are expected to be signed soon with the Greater Amman Municipality and Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority to turn Amman and Aqaba into smart cities.