User talk:Itcraft

"Smart City" is a popular term nowadays in India. However, is it well understood?

The last mile stake holders of a potential smart city i.e the citizens have varied perceptions about the whole concept. Expectations like best of the Urban Infrastructure, Technology and Services at finger tips are being aroused around the buzz created. However, the basic ideas evolve around a single tag line - "Improvement in the quality of Life".

As can be observed from precedence of Smart cities around the globe like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Tel Aviv, Shanghai etc, the common parameter in each of the models is active citizen participation. In fact, the first step towards crafting a smart city is necessarily an intensive Citizen Engagement Program (CEP).

Nagpur, with immense potential to explode as a true Smart City has also started to gear up for this process. It is one of few cities, identified by Government of India to have a makeover. Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) as a Principal city planner has been bestowed upon the responsibility to identify the new development layers and align them with a holistic plan.

As a first step towards this, NMC has decided to involve the citizens in the whole program right from the day one. It has launched an initiative under the name of "My City - Smart City " with a belief that creative ideas can come up from any quarter of the citizens. NMC is also very optimistic that the ideas thus received can be of immense use to the city planners. In order to facilitate this, a communication platform needs to be formed, wherein citizens can come up and offer their valuable suggestions. To enhance the reach of this communication platform all possible means like - dedicated website, Social media channels, drop boxes for suggestions in physical forms and a dedicated telephone line would be utilized. The suggestions / ideas can be offered in any form, language, area etc. The openness and non limitation on any parameters of the invitation is designed so as to get maximum participation from every section of the society.

There are some basic rules which however need to be understood to present your ideas on the right forum/category. The ideas/ suggestions should fit in the category framework as below:

1.	Invitation Categories : Two basic invitation categories are available:

PAN City: Any idea/ suggestion that is applicable to the entire city and the set of Services for the entire city can be put forth in this category. A few examples can be Water Supply, Public Transport, Sewage system etc. In fact, Nagpur has some of the ongoing projects like "24x7 Water supply project, Nagpur Metro Rail and Solid Waste Management" that fall in this category.

Area Based Development Program: This category is designed for suggestions/ideas focused on a selected geographical area. For example: Path breaking program of Gandhisagar Lake, Futala Street, Ambazari garden, any vacant land parcel etc can fit in this program.

Suggestions/Ideas in this category should fall under one of the below

Green Field: Any development suggestion on a vacant piece of land. Retrofitting: Any structure that is suggested to be redeveloped without major structural changes. Redevelopment: This may suggest dismantling and reconstruction of any particular focus area with an entirely different development approach. 2.	CATEGORY INDEX An idea in any of the above categories should focus on either of the basic focus areas:

Smart Planning: These will be pertaining to the ideas/suggestions at the basic level i.e at the Planning stage. NMC is quite sure that some of the basic planning suggestions may even blossom into full fledged projects with due efforts and structuring being applied to it. The city planners will take up the responsibility of nurturing the idea to fullest of its potential. Smart Services: Citizens can come up with suggestions on Smart services that serve the need of a modern citizen. These can be anything like - WiFi zones around an education hub, Online gateways for accessing multiple services etc. Similarly the participants can also propose- Scale Up- ideas which means that innovative ideas implemented at smaller levels (localities, wards, etc.) can be scaled up to higher levels.

The citizens have to express their ideas/suggestions in a write up of not more than 1000 words. They can also present/attach a white paper, presentation etc to explain it further.

CITIZEN CONTEST: Out of all the received suggestions/ideas NMC will select the top 20 entries and each one of the owner shall be invited for a detailed presentation/discussion on his/her idea. Based on their detailed presentation the best 10 entries will be shortlisted. These smart 10 ideas shall be a part of the "Smart City Vision document of Nagpur City" and the presenters will be appointed as "Smart Ambassadors of Smart Nagpur"

A special award "Jhakkas Idea" will be awarded to an extraordinary idea which focuses on high impact with minimal investments.