The growing competition for smart cities is one of the major areas of investment by developing and developed economies. Whether the investment is in human capital, social capital and/or ICT infrastructure, the basic concept of a smart city is to create a sustainable balance between economic development and high quality of life by excelling in multiple key areas; economy, mobility, environment, people, living, and government. There are number of views for an ideal Smart City, however the presentation aims to highlight the common challenges the cities in the Middle East face and potential next steps. The main areas of focus will be as follows: • Importance of clear implementation strategy – In absence of a set or pre-defined road map for a Smart City, the necessary steps depend on basics of cities' clear vision, determination, dedicated resources and delegation of responsibilities. • Stakeholders’ alignment – Involvement of right stakeholders and most importantly alignment of their priorities makes a major difference. • Synergy between sectors - Although the intention to cooperate is there, other interests are often given priority in practice. How to have a synergetic approach? • Function of ICT - Nearly everyone agrees that technology is not the problem on the road to smarter cities. Still, there are some technical challenges, like linking data across domains, implementation and control. • Behavioural change - Human behaviour is far more difficult to understand and to change than technology. It is important to understand the social context first. • Traditional Transport models –Would the standard 4-step models fit in practice within a Smart City context? Or should there be a shift towards intelligent and more real-time mobility models?

1. SMART CITIES AND
IMPLICATIONS FOR
MODELS IN THE MIDDLE
EAST
KEVIN THOMAS SAM
RISHI KOTHARI
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATIONS
QATAR
25 FEB 2016

2. AGENDA
• Transport Infrastructure Priorities in GCC with data & modelling
implications
• Role of transport models & analytics in GCC
• Key features of traditional vs Smart-city enabled models in GCC
context
• Smart-city modelling features
• Smart Model governance
• ICT Infrastructure
• Smart-city modelling objectives
• Strategic Planning
• Traffic Management
• Analytics Reporting & Visualisation

3. INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMS IN
GCC
• Significant spending in multiple transportation programs with
tight deadlines demands decision making systems that are
robust, reliable and quick

4. TRANSPORT PRIORITIES IN GCC
WITH DATA IMPLICATIONS
Portfolio
Management
Construction
Planning
Portfolio
appraisal
Interface
resolution
Transport
Planning
Public
Transport
Car parking
strategy &
implementatio
n
Smart travel
planning
Traffic
Engineering
Capacity
Enhancements
Real-time
Traffic
Management
Temporary
Traffic
Management
Communications
Raising public
awareness
Real-time
information
Media liaison
Operations &
Enforcement
KPIs &
monitoring
Intelligent
Transport
Systems
Enforcement &
regulation

5. ROLE OF TRANSPORT MODELS &
ANALYTICS IN GCC
• Land-use integrated strategic level
modelling for defining the scope of
infrastructure projects, appraisal of
land-use policies etc
• Local area modelling – to predict the
impact of new developments, road
network changes, traffic management
measures.
• Small network modelling – VISSIM –
detailed micro-simulation model for a
small area.
• Individual junction modelling
(optimization – Synchro/Sidra etc)

6. A TYPICAL SMART CITY
ARCHITECTURE
• It is essential that
models and analytics
from various Smart City
functions finally
translate into
operational and long-
term decision making;
this will only happen
when the models are
more reliable and easily
understood

7. TRADITIONA
L VS SMART-
CITY
ENABLED
MODELS IN
GCC
Tradition
al
models
in GCC
Multiple
disjointed
models to
meet
different
needs Outdated
Validation;
hence not
reliable
Limited
predictive
modelling
capabilities
Not
responsive
to change in
policies
Tremendou
s efforts to
analyse
information
for
reporting
Subject to
criticism as
model
assumption
s are
tailored
Common,
integrated
modelling
platform
Strategic
Models can
be
Frequently
validated to
current
year
Traffic
Models
with Real-
time
predictive
modelling
Models
Responsive
to change
in policies
Automation
for quicker
decision
making
Wider
acceptance
Smart-
city
enabled
models

8. SMART CITY MODELLING FEATURES:
SMART MODEL GOVERNANCE
Planning Inputs
Planning
Delivery
Enforcement
Finance & Economics
Public Service
Data Collection Entities
Major role
Minor role
Strategic Planning &
Policies
Major Projects &
Events
Operations &
Monitoring
Transit
Special

9. SMART CITY MODELLING FEATURES:
ICT INFRASTRUCTURE
• Rather than just a traffic control center, a unified
data center is more appropriate for a smart city.
• Comprehensive analysis about general network
performances (also for pollution and safety)
• Decision Support System based on results of
countermeasures in term of queues, mean travel
time, etc.
• Clear Web user interface ensures easy and effective
monitoring with inter-operability standards

10. SMART CITY MODELLING FEATURES:
ICT INFRASTRUCTURE
Unified
Data
Center
Transport
Model/Dat
a Analytics

11. SMART CITY
MODELLING
OBJECTIVES:
STRATEGIC
PLANNING
More accurate
models means more
confidence on this
decision making
These strategic
decisions have
significant
economic, social and
financial impact to
the State.
Smart city enabled
models could now
be developed with
these objectives in
mind
Transit Planning
Project Prioritisation
Economic & financial appraisal
Policy Appraisal

12. SMART CITY MODELLING OBJECTIVES:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
• Generate in Real time traffic maps and data
• Reliable travel times varying during the day
(useful also for a more accurate journey
planning)
• Quick alerts for problems that will happen in
few minutes
• VMS interfaces able to deduce best message to
publish in real time

13. SMART CITY MODELLING OBJECTIVES:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

14. SMART CITY MODELLING OBJECTIVES:
ANALYTICS REPORTING & VISUALISATION
• With the advancements in Technology integration and
geospatial functionalities it becomes easier to generate
dashboards for senior level reporting and decision making.
• The above example shows an example of MoTC Qatar’s efforts
to improve the Bus Operations reporting using the Automated