Tel Aviv Global Digi-Tel: Here is what India can learn from Isreal's smart city

Eytan Schwartz, CEO at Tel Aviv Global, gave quite a interesting and inspiring presentation at the Mahindra World City Confluence which was held on 2 March in New Delhi. Tel Aviv, one of the most happening cities in the Mediterranean region, is a smart city in Israel. Schwartz spoke about how the city, that was desert when it was found in the 1900’s, is now highly developed and is a global city.

“Tel Aviv is one of the world’s leading ecosystem for technological startups and enjoys the highest rate of startups per capita or per square mile outside of Silicon Valley,” said Schwartz during his session. He also added that Tel Aviv was awarded the title Best Smart City in the World in the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona back in 2014. Thanks to the DigiTel project Tel Aviv has developed smart city vision that focuses on improving the quality of life of the residents by listening to their needs.

Digi-Tel is a civic engagement project focused on smart engagement with the city residents. To efficiently manage municipal services and communications the government launched the Digi-Tel Residents Club and the City Card.

Any resident of the city, aged 13 and older, can get registered at many registration centres in the city, give their details including personal info and interests and they are sent a Smart City Card making them a member of the Digi-Tel Club. Based on a person’s profile, unique information as well as offers, deals and customised digital services are offered. This info is passed on to the residents using email, text message and a personal resident account. For instance, if a resident has an interest in theatre, he/she will be informed about the latest plays happening near his/her area in the coming weeks. Similarly residents can also get safety or traffic alerts around the city.

Schwartz said that Tel Aviv Global is planning to head to India to provide similar solutions and it is expected to launch Digi-Tel in Pune as a pilot project. This is somewhat similar to the bio-metric Aadhar system in India, only it takes it a step ahead.

The city government has also implemented various other engagement programs for its citizens:

Public participation: Through events as well as an online platform, the residents are given an option to participate in important decision making. Residents of the specific neighbourhood are approached online, asking them to suggest ideas and have an impact on improving the quality of life in their neighbourhood.

Mobile Digi-Tel app: The city has a mobile application which focuses on recreational activities, transportation, and keeping in touch with the city’s residents and visitors.

Public Wi-Fi: The city provides free of charge Wi-Fi to all users including residents, visitors and tourists. There are 80 Wi-Fi zones around the city with more already under implementation.

Pupil engagement: Tel Aviv’s school system is going through a change as the city has planned for a centralised teaching platform for all the schools in the city. It is also planning to provide laptop computer kits to the pupils, connecting classrooms to the Internet, computerising classrooms using interactive whiteboards and projectors and a computer for every teacher.

Open data: To promote the accessibility and transparency of the information, the Municipality allows direct access to municipal databases that are not of a confidential nature. The environment enables the public and app developers to make use of information in municipal databases that deal with community affairs, culture, public health, budgets, statistical data and security.

Open archive: As a follow up to the previous point, the municipality offers a multi-annual master plan that makes its archives accessible to all. The engineering archive containing all the construction plans of the buildings in the city can be accessed free of charge to encourage urban development and save residents the trouble of coming to the municipal archive in person.

iView (GIS): The municipal geographic information system provides information around engineering, transportation, community, tourism, education, art, and more to the public. A resident can view all the geographic information relevant to his/her neighbourhood. As an engineer, one can locate blocs, parcels, electricity and water infrastructures, and view a particular zoning plan and its associated documents. A tourist can locate hotels, beaches, and cultural and recreational venues.