France lends 100 mn Euro for Smart City projects
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, MAY 15, 2018: THE First Apex Conference for Smart City CEOs, held in Bhopal last week from May 8-9 2018 emphasized on cross learning amongst the Smart City CEOs to accelerate the progress of the Smart City Mission projects. The two-day conference provided a unique platform for the city leaders and various stakeholders in the Smart Cities Mission for convergence of ideas and sharing of best practices which will enable other's to fast track their Smart city projects.
During the Conference, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) launched their Programme to fund Smart City projects through a challenge process. They have made available Euro 100 million to finance 30-80 selected projects, and Euro 6 million will be available for technical support. The objective is to promote sustainability, innovation and participatory approaches in the Smart Cities.
Seven Smart Cities showcased their projects in an exhibition organized at the conference. Detailed panel discussions across the following nine themes took place during the First Apex Conference of Smart City CEOs:
1. Development of walkable streets
2. Creation of universally accessible public spaces
3. Digitally Integrated Smart City Centers
4. Creating Vibrant Urban Spaces (Waterfronts, Squares and Plazas)
5. Addressing women safety in Smart Cities
6. Promotion of Arts, Crafts and Culture in Smart Cities
7. Smart Education and Skill Development
8. Inclusive cities
9. PPP and Bonds for Urban Infrastructure
During the event, the Bhopal Smart City also launched a cloud-based Common Integrated Data Centre, Disaster Recovery Centre and Integrated Control and Command Centre (ICCC). This would help to monitor and administer several utilities and citizen services across seven cities in the state, namely Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Indore, Ujjain, Satna, and Sagar. Moreover, an incubation centre to promote entrepreneurial spirit amongst youth, researchers, engineers and society at large, was also launched.