Tehran Municipality and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) signed a collaboration deal, as per which the Chinese state-owned firm will assist the municipality in transforming the capital into a smart city.
The deal was signed in late March in Tehran between Mahmoud Farjoud head of TM’s Information and Communication Technology Organization (TMICTO), Ali Niazi the municipality’s investment director and CETC representative Jing Xing.
CETC is a state-owned company established in 2002 active in fields of communications equipment, computers, electronic equipment, software development, research services, investment and asset management.
The Chinese entity, in addition to providing TM with research and development services, will help transform Tehran into a smart city, TMICTO website reported.
According to the organization, the agreement, among other things, will help increase the quality of much-needed urban services through employment of modern technologies and development of smart services.
During a two-day conference in March named Smart Tehran Congress, the mayor outlined the municipality’s plans for improving the quality of life in the sprawling metropolis of 12 million people and transforming the city into a smart city.
Regarding urban hazards and problems, Mohammad Ali Najafi said transforming metropolises into smart cities is inevitable and meticulous planning for the development of smart cities is necessary to make urban areas livable again. “Sustainable growth will not be possible without transforming Tehran into a smart city,” he stressed.
According to the mayor, the transformation will also help augment transparency in urban management. He added that the transformation is crucial to making Tehran more livable and human-oriented.
Developing the technological infrastructure is part of the transformation process, but public participation is essential to the development of smart cities, he told the conferees.
“People from all walks of life should contribute to the development of smart cities and the vast potential of the younger generation, the private sector, and academia must be mobilized in the process.”
He called on startups and knowledge-based firms to do their fair share in paving the way for the creation and development of smart cities.
According to Najafi, one of the key elements in the transformation procedure is making high-speed Internet available to everyone.
On the sidelines of the congress, Iranian mobile operators MTN-Irancell and Mobile Communication Company of Iran unveiled new services which can assist the municipality towards transforming Tehran into an efficient and functioning modern city. Startups and knowledge-based firms showcased services related to sustainable urban development and application of smart technologies.
Those living in Tehran are grappling with various hardships including suffocating air pollution and nerve-racking and time-consuming traffic jams.
With thousands of premature pollution-related deaths every year, Iran is among the top five countries in terms of air pollution mortality. The latest statistics from Ministry of Health indicate that during the previous fiscal that ended in March, close to 12,798 pollution-related deaths were recorded with one-third of the number in Tehran.
the municipality estimates that 19 million daily trips are made in the capital on any working day. It is often said that the metropolis lacks enough and efficient public transport and cannot handle the heavy load to which there is no end in sight.
Application of modern technologies like remote controlling systems and increasing access to services via the Internet and eventually transforming Tehran into a smart city can and must help the authorities to address the numerous problems.
