Page 45 - Implementing ITU-T International Standards to Shape Smart Sustainable Cities: The Case of Singapore

Implementing ITU-T International Standards to Shape Smart Sustainable Cities –
The Case of Singapore

4. Lessons learned from Singapore/Examining the core of the Smart Nation
initiative

4.1. Best practices for aspiring Smart Sustainable Cities

In general, Singapore found that the ITU-KPIs were effective in helping the country transition
into a smart, sustainable city, taking into consideration the interplay between ICT and the
country’s environment, economy, government, infrastructure and the residents’ daily lives.
However, it was noted that there are regional differences (including population density, terrain,
climate, availability of resources, cultural and social restrictions) that may affect the validity of
certain metrics.
Telemedicine, for instance, is often seen as a smart technology that can increase patient access
and overcome geographical barriers to care for those who live in less populous regions. However,
in Singapore, where all citizens already have access to brick-and-mortar health care, population
distribution does not play a key role in access. Instead, in a small city like Singapore, it is not
used to overcome geographical barriers but rather to support patients with mobility issues,
provide greater convenience to patients through time and cost savings, and operate as a work-
force-multiplier to address the challenges of shrinking manpower in the health-care sector.
Furthermore, it is possible that the adoption of telehealth or telemedicine could, in some cases,
increase a patient’s costs per “unit of care” due to over-use of services. This could make
telehealth an unsustainable practice without careful planning, re-engineering of the care
process and an assessment of the business case for each type of telemedicine service with
proper clinical protocols and safeguards.

As such, Singapore suggests that cities implement smart technologies, taking the
implementation and additional costs into consideration, over existing brick-and-mortar health
care services). Only by taking into consideration the costs associated with this step, which is
aimed at improving health outcomes, can system-level cost savings, and/or increases in
productivity be obtained. Given the myriad ways to leverage various technologies (e.g. image
store-and-forward, real-time video communication, vital sign monitoring devices and body
sensors), there is no one-size-fits-all telemedicine solution for patient populations.
As regards general data collection, for Singapore, most of the data will be collected from sensors
and cameras that are embedded in its public infrastructure and will be fed to repositories,
known as GEOSPACE (for 3D geospatial data) and the Smart Nation Platform (for other sensor-
collected data). These repositories will be controlled by the government. Through modelling and
simulations, these repositories could be used to analyse and improve the delivery of government
services. For example, the government could use the data to project the spread of a disease
(e.g. Zika) and develop suitable containment strategies.

However, there are groups of people who fear their privacy will be invaded through cyber-
attacks and that sensitive personal information will be shared without their consent with third
parties. 31 Even before the launch of the Smart Nation initiative, Singapore had already
implemented strict regulations that require each agency to protect all data in their possession
against the risks of unauthorized access. Sensitive personal data, such as tax and retirement
savings data, are protected under the law. For the protection of personal data, agencies are to
adhere to additional safeguards, including data encryption, secure storage and transmission

31
Watts and Purnell, “Singapore Is Taking the ‘Smart City’ to a Whole New Level”, 2016.

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