Mashhad Municipality introduced an open API portal on Saturday in a move to enlist startups and fintechs’ help in transforming Mashhad into a smart city.
API, or Application Programming Interface, is a package of codes that may or may not do a task independently. A well-designed API makes it easier to develop a computer program by providing all the building blocks, which are then put together by programmers.
The municipality has released a list of urban services that should be renovated with the use of smart technologies, IRNA reported.
The list should help fledgling firms and technology companies on what they can do to help transform and elevate the shrine city.
Mashhad deputy mayor, Shahriar Alesheikh, says few startups are offering urban services in the religious center. “For transforming Mashhad into a smart city we need to draw on the potential of startups and their innovative ideas.”
The municipality is also working to create technological infrastructure for the transformation.
Alesheikh says the municipality plans to significantly increase use of smart technologies in urban management and development in the next three years.
As a pilot project, he adds, one of the districts in the city will be transformed into a 'Smart Area'. "In that area, bureaucracy will get a back seat and urban services will be offered via smart systems."
A smart park and a smart bike sharing system are two projects currently under development in the city.
Smart Agenda
The municipality of Mashhad, which is the second major metropolis in the country after Tehran, has long focused on ways and means to realize the smart city
objective.
Following the example of the Smart Tehran Congress in December, the shrine city held the Mashhad Smart City Exhibition on Jan 2-6 to help connect startups with investors and other firms.
During the event a technology park ‘Mashhad Digital Economy Development Park’ that will be home to startups and knowledge-based firms active in the ICT and urban development sectors was inaugurated.
Furthermore, an agreement was signed between mobile operator MTN-Irancell and municipality, as per which, Irancell is committed to help the municipality utilize information and communication technologies for collecting, saving, monitoring and analyzing urban data as well as increasing the efficiency of urban management and public services.
New startups and smart facilities were also unveiled during the event, including Mashhad’s E-wallet, which is a locally-developed smartphone application that can be used for micropayments, including urban transportation costs, public parking fees, road tolls, and the likes.
Municipal bodies hope to drive the city a step closer toward becoming a smart, clean, and environment-friendly city that can support knowledge-based and technology firms.
Mashhad is one of the largest cities in Iran with a population exceeding 3 million. Application of modern technologies can and should help urban planners make life easier for residents. ICT experts believe that the application of smart technologies can and will help promote openness, transparency and responsibility .
