The ideas explored in Connected Cities chart the emergence of a political and economic phenomenon-the city as the new connected republic of the 21st Century. Simon Willis, Global Head of eGovernment for the Internet Business Solutions Group at Cisco Systems, has collated essays that show how different cities, at the cutting edge of the process, are grappling with the various stages of connectivity.

1. Thought Leaders
Essays from urban innovators
Edited by Simon Willis

3. Cities
Contents
Preface 2
Simon Willis, Director of the European Public Sector team,
Internet Business Solutions Group, Cisco Systems
Dubai 12
Saeed Al Muntafiq, Director General, Dubai Development and
Investment Authority
Barcelona 20
Joan Clos, Mayor of Barcelona
New York 28
Michael R Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York
Stockholm 36
Monica Berneström, Head of Development TIME at the Economic
Development Agency; Anita Ferm, Director of Education Administration
and Per-Olof Gustafsson, Deputy Managing Director, Economic
Development Office, Stockholm
Milan 44
Silvio Scaglia, Chairman of e.Biscom, Milan
Wroclaw 50
Slawomir Najnigier, Deputy Mayor of Wroclaw
Manchester 54
Dave Carter, Director of the Digital Development Agency, Manchester
Hamburg 68
Senator Gunnar Uldall, Minister for the Economy and
Employment, Hamburg
Hillingdon
A case study: How to create the business case 74
Pacey Cheales, Corporate Programme Manager, Hillingdon Improvement
Programme and Steve Palmer, Head of Technology and Communications,
Hillingdon Council
Biographies 110
1

4. Preface
Simon Willis, Director, Public Sector, Internet Business Solutions
Group, Cisco Systems, Europe, Middle East and Africa
T
his is a book about cities, largely need flows more effectively to where
written by cities. It is also a book people are, then there is less imperative to
about the future of the city and bring them all into the same place.
therefore a book about the Secondly, more collaborative ways of
future of the place where most of us live. working and decision-making emerge and
The city leaders writing here are a diverse this changes the relationship of the city
group and their experiences with with itself and with its citizens.
connecting themselves and their citizens
are very different – but a number of In the following sections I look at three
common themes emerge, which taken themes that emerge from the essays. The
together and carried forward, suggest that first is the changing nature of work and
we are on the brink of some very particularly the increasing importance of
profound changes. collaboration in the successful enterprise.
This is a much wider trend that cities are
People construct the endlessly complex inevitably effected by. The second is the
architectures of their cities over time – growing realisation that for the city to
driven by their desire to be with each change in the way enterprises have
other, learn from each other, and grow changed, they require the kind of
economically, culturally and spiritually. To information exchange environment that
serve these desires, cities have created enterprises now take for granted. In the
physical spaces and mechanisms; the process they may have discovered the next
street, the marketplace or the coffee pervasive social infrastructure to follow
shops. In our own age these have been water, roads, power and telecoms. The
supplemented by digital spaces. As the third theme is political – a new model for
means for the instant exchange of digital the polis becomes possible when new
information are built, a new dynamic ways of working are combined with a new
emerges at the heart of what makes a city pervasive social infrastructure. These cities
– information can flow towards people are collaboratively reconstructing
rather than people towards information. themselves around the needs of their
citizens. What emerges is the
As this dynamic begins to affect work so it connected republic.
has subtle but profound effects on the
nature of the city. Firstly, the boundaries The first common theme we see emerging
of the working day and of the workplace in these essays is that changes in ways of
begin to blur. Cities are partly defined by working are starting to effect the city’s
days and offices. If the information people fundamental strategic planning. The first
2

5. essay from Dubai by a true innovator and verbal information is that networked
entrepreneur, Saeed al Muntafiq, Director information takes the best route –
General of Dubai Development and traditional information goes from point to
Investment Authority, shows how point, while networked information takes
digitisation and networking develops the the best route it can find. One of the
way people work. Dubai constantly implications of this is that it becomes
reinvents itself around the concept of the harder to control. This makes it both more
trading hub. Demands for education and resilient – and harder to gatekeep. With IP
medicine across a huge area are networking, fewer premiums are placed
converging on Dubai’s new knowledge on, and less power is given to, the
city – built on a fibre infrastructure. gatekeepers of information. This is
potentially revolutionary.
In the essay from Barcelona by Joan Clos,
visionary mayor of Barcelona, you see an In connected cities, power and influence is
example of an innovative, creative and a function of how well you facilitate
competitive city that has seized the networks of information and action, not
opportunity to change itself again and how much information you control.
again over the past few decades. Mayor Collaboration and facilitation supplant
Clos has put education at the heart of his hierarchy and formal structure as the
city’s endless recreation of itself. dominant tests of effective organisation.
It is not surprising to find cultures that
The essay from New York by Mayor already tend towards the collaborative are
Bloomberg shows how digitisation and at the forefront of this revolution. Our
networking change the nature of work by fourth essay is a collective work from
developing collaboration. The traditional Anita Ferm, Education Director of the City
model of government put public servants of Stockholm, Per-Olof Gustafsson, Deputy
in a position of gatekeepers, controlling Managing Director of Stockholm’s
flows of information. The focus was to get Economic Development Office and Monica
access to the information – to control it, Bernestrom, Head of the Department
to trade it, to protect it. In New York (as TIME (Telecom, IT, Media and
elsewhere) networked information has Entertainment|). Stockholm is a city
changed the nature of gatekeeping. whose long-standing enthusiasm for
collaboration has given it an edge in the
One of the differences between networked struggle to embrace new thinking.
information and telephonic, mailed or
3

6. Preface
Many cities are on the brink of taking a a slightly different set of effects on the
fundamentally new step in their thinking. nature of our cities. It is in the nature of
That is to categorise, in their minds, many of these infrastructures that the
communications infrastructure as on the market cannot provide them at the outset.
same level as roads, railways, dams and We all are aware that water and transport
airports. The cities highlighted in this book are first developed as a social
(and many others) know that they need to infrastructure, in the first instance created,
modernise their cities so that people can paid for and owned by the public sector.
interact within them more effectively. If a What emerges from these city essays is
city is sufficiently connected, then the possibility that the next pervasive
investors will arrive and find the right kind social infrastructure that society wants
of employees. Competitive cities are to advance to the next stage, is
increasingly regarding real broadband broadband fibre.
networks as belonging in the same
political and investment categories as Although there are exceptions, it appears
transport networks. Fibre infrastructure for that the public sector may have a key role
a couple of million people is equivalent in to play in this development. There are two
cost to a couple of miles of highway. It fundamental reasons why a pervasive
has become a viable option for a city social infrastructure cannot generally be
investing in its future. The question is, effectively provided by the market. Firstly,
whether and when it will become an that the investment required in this case
imperative. (in order to achieve critical mass in
connectivity) is so huge that the market
All those reading this book will be acutely cannot move, because the services cannot
aware of the rapid growth of the amount be provided to the consumer by the
and the speed of connectivity in the past private sector until the connectivity is
ten years. This transformation is available and the connectivity cannot be
happening much faster than previous invested in until the demand for future
revolutions. If you go to the Linx server services is understood.
(www.linx.net) and look at internet activity
over Europe’s largest internet exchange Investing in real broadband infrastructure
point over recent years, you will see that is expensive. The establishment of
the dot-com crash apparently didn’t telecoms presents the most obviously
happen. Just about the only event that has comparable example. To build the
a significant impact on the graph is fundamental social infrastructure for
Christmas. The apparent rollercoaster that telecoms required public-sector
we have been on since 2000 has been just intervention both at the beginning of that
a trivial variation around a remorseless revolution and well into it. Then came a
upward rise in connectivity. point of maturity where it became
appropriate to allow the market much
Each of the pervasive social infrastructures more freedom. In fact, you may require
that our cities are built around, such as the market to drive innovation onwards
those for water and transport, have a and give the consumer more choice, but
slightly different set of characteristics and there is a build-out stage where you
4

7. Preface
require some kind of public investment the really fundamental passive longterm
and public intervention to make it work. In infrastructure. The essays show different
the case of real broadband the amount of models in different cities of what stands
investment involved is large. between the infrastructure and the end
users. These allow people access to
The second set of reasons as to why the different service providers – whether it is
market cannot provide broadband telephony, video telephony, IP telephony,
structure is based on what services people security applications around housing
require. Someone investing in estates and into schools, and then
infrastructure will have to get payback education, healthcare provision, video on
over such a long period of time that they demand and entertainment and more. We
will require exclusivity over the services still don’t know what services will develop
that they are going to provide. This limits in this environment. It is clear that
the field of access and services. The city somebody needs to sit between the
decision-maker or public-sector decision- fundamental investment and the set of
maker (who wants people to have access services that are going to be provided,
to a wide range of entertainment services, and the city is emerging in many places as
government services, communications the vehicle to do that, on its own or
services and so on) will find that their through a public/private partnership or
needs are not met. City decision-makers through some other joint mechanism.
may not want to have access limited and
pre-defined by a single infrastructure Among our examples, the Milan story told
investor or service provider. by the far-sighted Silvio Scaglia, Chairman
of e.Biscom, is of a pure private play. The
The essays in this book show how availability of venture capital in the late
different environments create different 90s, the lack of pre-existing cable to
models, but increasingly the city is prevent the new entrant from getting
stepping in as a fundamental stakeholder rapid take-up of services and the density
and investor. The city will invest in the of housing were a set of unique
passive infrastructure for connectivity and circumstances in Italy that allowed
can borrow more cheaply than the private e-Biscom to take off in a really impressive
sector. The city can run the business case way. Italian cities are only just beginning
and will be able to sustain its borrowing to look at the wider set of city-service
from quite a small stream of returns by applications and aggregated demands
giving access to the infrastructure. The city that they want to use this infrastructure
knows that this passive infrastructure (and for. The Fastweb experience has not been
I’m thinking here about fibre) has about driven by the desire to put e-learning into
15-20 years of life in terms of its usability, schools or do initial primary care health
which takes it beyond the type of return consultations in people’s living rooms.
on investment calculations that most The driver for growth in Milan has come
shareholder-owned companies and from the video on demand and video
organisations are able to contemplate. telephony and entertainment and private
communication applications that
So, the public sector steps in and funds people demanded.
5

8. Preface
That is one end of the spectrum and it has complex, and affected by the local political
produced an interesting and successful environment as well as local legal and
business. The next step will be for those economic factors. One model is like a
city governments (increasingly not just utility, which is majority-owned by the city
Milan but many other Italian cities as but has a lot of private-sector money and
well) to look to the infrastructure investment. Wroclaw’s story as told by the
to see how they can improve their own deputy mayor, Slawomir Najnigier, is a
services as well as proving an attractive good example of that kind of approach, as
investment environment for the growth they have actually used the heating utility
of small businesses. (which has the holes in the ground) as a
public/private vehicle to develop the
Stokab is at the other end of the spectrum passive infrastructure. Hamburg too, as
in that it is a pure public play. There was a shown by Senator Gunnar Uldall, offers a
very clear vision in Stockholm that the mixed model, where the private sector
building of a knowledge economy and the leads and the public sector encourages
attraction of inward investment and the and invests. In Hamburg, the public sector
provision of better public services would will intervene as and when necessary, and
all be facilitated by a fibre-based will ensure that through the services
communications infrastructure. When you provided Hamburg remains a growing and
read the essay by key Stockholm decision- successful trading hub.
makers (and visionaries) Anita Ferm,
Per-Olof Gustafsson and Monica How significant is this trend? We are
Bernestrom, you see that at the very heart aware of at least 40 European cities that
of it is not only a business plan but a are currently either planning or building
profound belief that this would be the real (Ethernet) broadband infrastructures.
right way to go. They couldn’t calculate all The number increases weekly. It seems
the benefits to Stockholm at the time that likely that something very significant is
the investment was commenced, but they taking place here.
can see the benefits now. For example, as
people in Stockholm begin to In this very complex and confusing
telecommute, strain on the transport environment, it may be useful to try to
infrastructure is being reduced. This is a look at what is happening in more
fascinating development and is more or conceptual terms. This may allow us to
less at the forefront of what is happening develop a framework within which we can
in the modern city. Stockholm already has see what is common to these success
a different approach to work and the stories. The republic in political history was
workplace emerging. Now they are an idea that broke with the concepts of
looking at wireless and turning Stockholm monarchy, oligarchy and timocracy and
into a wireless hotspot. The whole established the idea of rule by the ‘polis’.
Stockholm model represents a very It was in the small trading-hub cities of
Swedish belief in public provision of Greece in the 6th century BC that the
fundamental infrastructure. democratic experiment truly began.
Then we have a mixed model, often very The prospect of a ‘connected republic’
6

9. Preface
now presents us with the opportunity to that the schools are not good enough,
make the idea of rule by the people more healthcare is not good enough and the
real than it has ever been, creating an police can’t protect them from danger on
environment in which people reconnect the streets of the city. These are the big
with each other politically and at the same city issues, and our politicians are caught
time rediscover the connection they have in a situation where their people are
lost with their rulers. And the natural disengaged and not willing to pay more
geographical confines of the connected money but are demanding higher
republic are, as in ancient Greece, those of levels of service.
the city-state rather than the nation-states
which dominated the past century. At the same time, technology has created
the possibility of more responsive services
Every city is an autonomous competitor in that are more flexible to the signals that
a globalising economy. It is not enough consumers send. The new connectivity has
that a national government is doing the made the private sector much more
right things to attract investment. The responsive to consumer demand, and that
individual city needs to attract investors. has made consumers much more
The people in that city need to be demanding, which has in turn made them
attractive to employers. Workers in a more disconnected from their
successful city have to deliver value in an unresponsive governments. That is not
environment where what you knew ten because the public service is stupid and
years ago is irrelevant to what companies the private sector is clever. The reason that
now need from their employees. As a the private sector grabbed hold of change
successful city, once you start to is that for a private sector company,
understand modern educational needs you change is a life or death issue. For
start to get this sense of lifelong example, when British Airways has
education actually built into the heart of competition from easyJet and Ryanair it
the economic strategy of city, the survival either responds or it goes out of business
strategy of the city. in the face of competitors with lower
back-office costs, simplified fare structures
Meanwhile it is widely accepted that there and incredibly low transaction costs
is an emerging crisis in democracy because based on new forms of technology-
people do not feel engaged with their enabled connectivity.
political decision-makers. They don’t
understand them, they don’t know what For government, with its quasi-monopoly,
motivates them and decisions appear to it has been harder to respond to this new
come from on high. There is a kind of trend, although governments are
disengagement. This is a disaster for beginning to see that they face an
politicians as it takes away their legitimacy emerging crisis of legitimacy and service.
just as it begins to undercut their ability to City governments have responsibility for
raise revenues. Unwillingness to pay tax looking after the poor and vulnerable and,
leads directly to restrictions on their ability because they are using public money, they
to provide services. This feeds back into must take fewer risks. So they find
their unpopularity with people, who feel themselves unable to move as quickly as
7

10. Preface
the private sector, and up until now have been 25 or so different departments
they could not subject social services or dealing with everything – if you want your
healthcare provision or the criminal justice garbage picked up it is this department,
system to the risks associated with and if you want your water turned off it is
innovation and new technology. another one, and if the people next door
are noisy it is another. But as the New York
That may now be changing. Even if the essay makes clear, you shouldn’t need
city governments are boxed in, they are someone with a doctorate in municipal
responsive political animals; they want to politics standing next to you as you try to
deliver good things to their communities. sort your way out of a problem. Now, the
They need to find a solution. These essays city’s networked information system
document the emergence of that solution allows New Yorkers to pick up a phone,
in the development of what we call the dial 311 and be put through to the right
connected republic. Ideas that have been person to solve their problem. It is the
applied to business over the past ten years city which thus has to rearrange itself
are being applied to the different public- around the needs of its citizens, and not
sector environment in ways that overcome vice-versa.
the obstacles which are holding this
process back. (I’m indebted to my Several years ago, Barcelona rearranged its
colleagues, Martin Stewart-Weeks and network around a portal that reflected the
Mark Badger for much of this analysis – way people live their lives and the
see their forthcoming book on the problems they have. This sounds very
Connected Republic.) obvious, but it is very difficult for public
servants to make that fundamental shift
Despite their differences, all cities have from ‘this is the way we are arranged’ to
some fundamental things in common. ‘this is how your needs as a citizen are
arranged’. Clearly public servants are not
First of all, they must grapple with the going to reorganise their departments
issue of how to re-engage with people around citizens’ needs every week.
who are becoming disengaged. People’s needs are different: they are
Governments have to become transparent: constantly changing; they overlap and
citizens must be able to see what contradict each other. However, once
government is doing. Communications citizen and official are networked, they
technologies unlock the possibility of can collaborate. The official finds himself
reorganising and presenting information or herself working in a great virtual
in a way that is appealing to citizens. contact centre where inquiries can be
routed to the appropriate destination. It’s
what the Government of Canada called
Mayor Bloomberg’s New York essay
‘No Wrong Door’. And once information is
describes what appears to be a small, but
networked, citizens see it is transparent
is in fact a crucial step forward. The
and become ready to engage with
principle behind the 311 service is that
authority, which they now see as offering
citizens shouldn’t have to work out for
them a service. Indeed, it becomes more
themselves how the city is organised.
likely that citizens will use the opportunity
Cities have been opaque because there
to influence, shape and guide authority.
8

11. Preface
A key element of any strategy for the It’s that kind of emerging role as
connected city is customer-centricity, or orchestrator that you see in the essay from
citizen-centricity. Hillingdon is a borough David Carter, Director of Manchester’s
of London and it discovered that the Digital Development Agency. Connectivity
investment required for customer- in Manchester is not just about big
centricity would repay itself in an business and knowledge workers. It is also
incredibly short amount of time. So one of about excluded communities becoming
the fundamental drivers for Hillingdon’s connected through the city as it
connectivity was to reorganise its services orchestrates local community groups.
around what citizens actually wanted and These local voluntary groups and public-
to be more responsive to requests coming sector groups are trying to meet the needs
in. It has discovered a double win. Firstly, of local communities, whether by giving
citizens feel better served, and re- them access to training, or giving them
engaged; secondly, it becomes cheaper for information about where they can get
the city to do its work. It is a similar story childcare so they can get back to work, or
in Barcelona, where the CAT 365 project by helping them connect with other
has set up a clearing house for citizen people in similar situations so that they
information. CAT 365 involves the private can feel more part of a community and
sector as well – a public/private develop common, mutually supportive
partnership runs the clearing-house, which strategies. Manchester is an example of
also offers services out to banks, and real people using connectivity so they can
utilities and other private-sector players start to take control of their own
which need private sector information. development and their own fate. The city
What will perhaps emerge is a new depends on its infrastructure to become
funding model, as these people pay for an orchestrator – and in the Manchester
the ability to become more responsive to case, wireless has played in increasing part
citizens. If the government is effectively of that infrastructure, even in the poorer
subsidising the service, so much the better. eastern district of the city.
Citizen-centricity can help make it possible Mancunians are typically innovative,
for organisations to become orchestrators creative and entrepreneurial people. The
rather than doing everything themselves. city is trying to serve all of them and at
They reach out to the place where the the same time include that group of
thing is best done. The city is no longer people who were left behind when the
the great monolithic provider of services last industrial revolution left Manchester.
to all people and disappointer of people at So there is a very rich emerging portfolio
all times. In contrast, the city is the of what the city can orchestrate. Dubai
facilitator for a set of groups, some of the has also developed an orchestrator
independent, some of them semi- function, but one much more focused on
independent, who are able when the resources of its people and their
networked together to provide a much ingenuity. Through the internet, it is
more responsive service. orchestrating local talent, regional players
and the private sector. Large companies
are being attracted to Dubai to provide a
9

12. Preface
set of services for the region so the city real value in services that citizens require.
can re-invent itself as a knowledge hub for So successful has Hamburg become that
the region – and Dubai has a typically the countryside around it has towns
radical conception of what its region is. coming to the city and asking them to act
as a bureau for them as well. It is the
None of this is easy. The industry is awash same in Hillingdon, which has started to
with the dynamic of early hopes and work with larger groupings of local
expectations that shoot up too high and authorities in London.
lead to disappointment when they are not
fulfilled. Yet these essays engender the The Hillingdon in-depth case study offers a
feeling that people have recently been too road-map for the early part of the journey.
glum; new connectivity is actually Resources are limited, however strong the
happening. It turns out that it is harder to case is, and the options for what you
do than some people thought. It is not might do are many. Any city manager will
just a matter of whacking up a website be standing with a small pot of money
and saying, ‘come and visit our city’. Nor and a huge number of claims on it – and
is it just a matter of putting a bunch of the question is, ‘What do I do next week?
networks out to the classrooms and How do I get started on this journey and
hoping that classrooms will be what should I do first?’ The reason the
transformed by mere access to technology. case study shows step-by-step
It actually requires changes in processes prioritisation and budget allocation is that
and fundamental changes in the way even in a tough investment environment it
people work. You can see in the Hillingdon will allow a city to make changes that will
case study how people had to stop doing not only pay back and allow it to expand
certain jobs because functions ambitions, but will change the way that
disappeared. Hamburg too offers a great people work.
example of quite ruthless standardisation,
driven by a finance department in Hillingdon takes quite small processes and
Hamburg which would not give access to changes people’s relationship to their
IT budgets to anybody who failed to work and the way they collaborate. With
adhere to the standards it had established. all the money and political will in the
This is pretty dry stuff, but it is actually world you are not going to get anywhere
critical because it turns out that this is unless the actual city workers buy into
where money has been wasted, as collaboration, start to behave differently
everybody re-invents the wheel in the and become more responsive.
housing department, the refuse collection
department, the benefits department The development of a business case to
and so on. support the modernisation of Hillingdon
council’s housing service is a tangible
Addressing that back-office process, re- outcome. Although not completely
engineering, standardisation, the creation unexpected, the scale of the potential for
of shared service bureaux, will be the task deploying new working methods –
of the next wave. The city can increase the affecting nearly 70% of the workforce –
productivity of its workforce, unlocking and the consequential impact on office
10

13. Preface
accommodation – almost a 50% reduction based services, they can redefine what
– was more significant than anticipated. they offer around the actual needs of
The relevance and impact of these initial their citizens.
findings were enhanced by the subsequent
quantitative ROI analysis. This work They are driven by democratic demands
established a financial cost and saving of for re-engagement and for better and
fully deploying modernised working in more responsive and accessible city
housing services. More people can work services. They are also driven by
from home and stripping out 35% of competitive forces.
office costs on a recurring basis from year
four onwards means local councillors have As it looks outside its nation-state
choices to make regarding reallocating boundaries to define what it is going to
resources that were previously locked up be in the future and how it is going to be
in relatively fixed assets. successful in this environment, the
successful city learns not just how to work
The Hillingdon business case generated, or differently within its departments and
rather confirmed, a piece of learning that agencies but how to collaborate with its
has been stated before but is worth own citizens on the project and make
reiterating. The modernisation business them part of the success of their own city
case is not ‘about’ putting forms on the – thus giving the city back to them.
web, implementing CRM or having
colleagues work from home. What the
modernisation business case is “about” is
achieving profound business
transformation through carefully managed
organisational change. There is nothing
particularly radical in this statement other
than that the words are now grounded on
a detailed business case whose scope and
scale constitute a complete transformation
for Hillingdon’s housing service. What is
more, the business case process is now a
useful diagnostic tool.
What we see in these essays is perhaps the
emergence of a political and economic
phenomenon – the city as the new
connected republic of the 21st century.
Standing on the bedrock of real
broadband as a new social infrastructure,
these innovators and visionaries are
redefining their role in the globalising
information economy. As orchestrators of
networked information and information-
11

14. Dubai
Saeed Al Muntafiq, Director General, Dubai Development
and Investment Authority
D
ubai has an economic blueprint Why did we start with technology?
for the future, first conceived in
1998 by the Crown Prince with History – and there was no more pressing
the simple objective of historical example at the time than
increasing per capita GDP. Unlike some of Netscape: a small company that IPOd at
our neighbours, we have little in the way about $18 dollars and closed on the same
of naturally occurring mineral resources, day at $75. Examples like this were still
so we needed a service- or technology- very much in everyone’s mind in 1999,
based approach. when His Highness launched Dubai
Internet City (DIC).
The strategy we adopted was based on
the model usually referred to as ‘cluster We soon realised that technology alone
development’1 and is designed to create was not enough. We also needed content,
specific engines to drive economic growth. convergence and – of course – talent. So,
The objective was the creation of a after the launch of DIC, Dubai Media City
‘technology cluster’. (DMC) arrived in 2001. In late 2003 we
moved ahead with Dubai Knowledge
Six years later, Dubai has become the hub Village, an enclave within DIC designed to
of – and therefore the gateway to – an provide a broad range of education and
untapped market that spans the Middle training faculties.
East, North and South Africa, the Indian
subcontinent and the CIS. This market We had to learn tough lessons throughout
consists of 31 countries, 53 languages, this process, and especially when we
1.8 billion people and a collective GDP developed our second and third clusters,
of $1.1 trillion. for the financial and health sectors
respectively. Each time, we had to go back
Our vision is now increasingly focused on to the drawing board. Every project went
one aim: to make Dubai a global hub of through major revisions with regard to the
the world knowledge economy by 2010. parties involved and the relationships, as
well as the basic model.
1
Professor Porter of the Harvard Business School’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness launched the Cluster Mapping
Project to define clusters statistically and create objective, detailed profiles of regional economies.
Cluster mapping involves the analysis – at several geographic/economic/demographic levels – of regional economic units. This
data is used to identify those areas that, by virtue of their performance, location and interdependencies between different
industries, can be termed ‘clusters’. Clusters can be evaluated in terms of their contribution to employment and earnings,
12 economic growth, generation of new businesses, and development of IP.

15. Dubai at the centre Change of plans
Since Media City the model has changed, Firstly, it’s forced us to focus on sound
and with Dubai Health Care City (DHCC – business planning, working through
see panel), we raised finance exclusively everything from (in the case of Dubai
from the regional private sector. This came Media City) how technology and media
about from a change in our appreciation companies can work together, to
of our position geographically and how real-estate management can increase
economically – we had to revise what we return on investment.
thought of as being our 'region'.
This planning process goes through several
Investment in any given region flows to stages. First, the business opportunity
the ‘hub’: for example, the USA has New analysis, from conception through idea
York, Europe has London, Asia has Hong mapping, process specification and so on.
Kong and Singapore. But if you look at the We bring in experts to look at each sector,
wider geographical context of Dubai, you weighing up the value propositions.
soon see that we’re in a ‘region’ that used
not to have a hub at all – even, and Once we’ve mapped the sector within the
perhaps especially, taking Africa into industry and within the cluster, we choose
account, although it has a vast economy. specific business opportunities and create
a top-level business plan for each one. We
It was this realisation that transformed our run due diligence on the plan, then profile
ambitions. We stepped in to fill the gap. the top 150 or so key investors in the
We have since been very successful in region. We establish relationships with
positioning ourselves as the hub of the them, so that we understand their
extended region outlined above. With a investment profiles and can match our
collective GDP of $1.1 trillion, it’s no offerings to their portfolios.
surprise that we can rely increasingly on
‘regional’ financing! This is hard, carefully targeted work. For
example, when we launched Health Care
This shift has changed the way we work City, we knew exactly who to go to for
and especially the way we plan, legislate, investment in our teaching hospital, our
foster talent and create communications diabetes research centre (diabetes is the
infrastructures. number-one killer in this region), the
medical centre and so on.
13

16. Dubai
The rule of law subsidiary has its own president and
operates as a separate business unit. So
Secondly, it’s forced us to introduce new just as GE, for example, has its
statutory frameworks – especially where engine’s division, its plastics and
finance and health are concerned. There chemicals, so Dubai has its Media City,
are numerous issues that can be Financial City and so on.
overlooked – the role of intellectual
property law in healthcare, for example, But you also need to be aware of the
where companies are investing heavily in human element at the bottom of the pile.
IP research and development. Where is the skills pool that is driving the
machine? Personally, this is something I
The lessons we’ve learned here are think about every day: from where are we
principally that you can’t do it all at once. going to get the talent? Right now, if you
You have to focus on one sector and map sat down and worked it out, we’d have
it out carefully. Every new regulation you about six projects for every individual!
introduce is going to impact on the People are the issue, which is why we
country and the region as a whole. When spend a lot of time in finding, grooming,
you’re operating subsidies at the level mentoring and then pushing new
required for these sorts of projects, young nationals.
statutory influence is mandatory to avoid
destabilising niche economic sectors: Our educational strategy is an identical
you’re not simply managing projects at proposition to Boston. It is not cluster-
this scale; you’re also macro-managing the driven – any cluster structure emerges
economy as a whole. The critical success organically from seed projects. Boston has
factor here is leadership – you have to stay Harvard; it also has MIT, and that’s what
on top of everything – and you need to be we’re aiming for here. We’re expanding
able to win vital support and commitment our facilities for those entering high
to keep going. school and, at the other end of the scale,
for postgraduates. We’re not dealing with
The human factor the 18-year-old age range, where there are
very significant costs involved. We want to
Next, we’ve had to deal with human lay the foundations with a good general
factors, such as how the people at the top education, and then we’ll provide the
should be incentivised to boost specialist finishing courses to take people
performance. This is an important into work.
example, because each cluster is totally
independent, responsible for its own Making connections
success and managed, in effect,
like a company. Today, each city independently determines
its technology and connectivity
At a higher level, there’s a council of requirements but, going forward, we
ministers or executive council, which is envisage that all of these cities will
effectively the corporate holding company be connected.
with all the cities as subsidiaries. Each
14

17. Dubai
Their needs will be different, of course. Oracle, IBM, Cisco, Compaq and Ariba.
You only have to think of something like We allow 100% foreign ownership and
telemedicine to realise that the Health sales. Furthermore, company earnings and
City, for example, will require higher private income are exempt from any form
communications specifications than other of taxation. DIC is already cash-positive,
sectors. It’s not just infrastructure either: although not profitable yet, but this is
applications and protocols are needed to largely an issue of how we treat
create a comprehensive healthcare system depreciation – there are obviously vast
in Dubai, answering the requirements of infrastructure costs.
the teaching hospital and ultimately
enabling the linking of all healthcare Dubai Media City is already home to over
information systems – clinics, hospitals, 550 media companies including key
pharmacies etc – to the central Health players such as CNN, Reuters, Sony
City ‘hub’. Broadcast & Professional, McGraw Hill
Publishing, Bertelsmann and MBC.
Then there are the cultural challenges Regional companies and new start-ups
implicit in extending communications supplement the mix and there’s a growing
links. Schools don’t want to lose control talent pool offering creative skills and
over communication between students of services to the larger companies. Media
different gender, for example. In all these City is cash-positive and already looking at
cases, the first step is to research and launching a second project: Film City – a
identify what the customers want and Hollywood of our own.
need. Broadband may be driving
infrastructure development in many Dubai Knowledge Village launched in the
modern cities, but that doesn’t mean fourth quarter of 2003. It's become home
you can take your eye off the basic to a broad range of education and
question: what do people actually want training operations, ranging from major
to use it for? international universities, such as the US
Purdue University with large, on-campus
It’s also important to define your own role facilities, to independent, freelance
in this process. Our approach is to get the trainers operating out of fully serviced
experts to define the needs and the business centres.
specifications and to carry out the work;
we’re only the project managers. After all, Dubai Health Care City will take longer to
we’re not doctors (for example) and reach profit. This is because the health
shouldn’t pretend that we are. sector has demanded a different
approach. DHCC operates in both the
From vision to reality academic research and healthcare service
arenas. We feel that we have to subsidise
These strategies have borne fruit: our the former while allowing the private
projects have been extremely successful. sector to develop the latter – and
therefore to take the profit. This isn’t a
Today, DIC is home to over 500 companies problem for us: any economy that aspires
including Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, to global status needs to invest a
15

18. Dubai
percentage of GDP in research. in the first phase to develop the project's
infrastructure. The sky’s the limit.
The business model for Dubai
International Financial City works Killer instincts
predominately through real estate. We
also offer access to regional markets – What have I learned during this period of
Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait etc. One of our enormous growth and tremendously hard
value propositions is our time zone. work? The most important lesson, I think,
We have a six-and-a-half-hour slot has been to trust your instinct.
between close of business in New York
and the start of trading in Asia – a Articulate the vision, address the
very attractive proposition for finance economies of scale, clusters,
houses and especially those involved in competitiveness of the region – then go
foreign exchange. with what you know. Don’t keep asking
consultants: go for entrepreneurs, for
In the past, the main focus in the real people who get the things done. Plan,
estate market has been on taking profit. cost, manage – and then don’t let
But there’s increasing focus on taking anything get in the way of executing the
longterm revenue from real estate, via plan – ruthlessly. You want to think like a
tourism, financial services, manufacturing team of mercenaries: go in, assassinate,
and so on. If you look at a ten-year and get out!
business plan for any of these cities,
the first four are going to be focused
on real estate revenue streams, but
strategic revenue streams kick in during
the second half.
Revenues generated by a city from its real
estate will not go to government: they
help to pay back the banks and boost
investment in the value-added industries
that the city needs to take it to the next
level. Dubai Internet City, for example,
can pay back the bank and put money
into research in technology and telecoms,
redefining itself as an alternative
service provider.
Meanwhile, it’s onwards and upwards. In
October 2003, Dubai announced the
region’s biggest tourism project yet –
Dubailand – with an estimated investment
of more than Dh18 billion. The
government intends to spend Dh2.6 billion
16

19. Dubai
Dubai Internet City Broadcast & Professional, McGraw Hill
Publishing, Bertelsmann, and MBC,
A strategic base for companies along with regional companies and
targeting emerging markets in a vast new start-ups. The interdependent
region extending from the Middle East media community also boasts a
to the Indian subcontinent, and Africa growing talent pool that offers a range
to the CIS countries, covering of creative skills. Currently, over 250
1.8 billion people with GDP $1.1 trillion. freelance media professionals are
based in the City. As a free-zone entity,
Within a short span of time, a dynamic Dubai Media City allows companies
international community of ICT 100% company ownership along with
companies has established itself in commercial benefits that include a 50-
Dubai Internet City. These companies year tax exemption from personal,
represent a community of over 10,000 income and corporate taxes.
knowledge workers. The cluster of ICT
companies in Dubai Internet City Dubai Knowledge Village
comprise software development,
business services, web based and Knowledge Village aims to create a rich
e-commerce, consultancy, education ecosystem for a variety of
and training, sales and marketing, and organisations and individuals to create
back-office operations. DIC provides a and disseminate knowledge.
scalable state-of-the-art technology Knowledge Village provides a world-
platform that allows companies class learning infrastructure and
looking to provide cost-effective environment for the development of
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) scholarship, education, training, ideas,
services, such as call centre operations, creativity, innovation and
and easy access to these services. entrepreneurial expertise.
Dubai Media City Knowledge Village will be a catalyst for
the development of a strong and
The Media City provides an advanced sustainable future, based on a wealth
infrastructure and supportive of knowledge – human resources
environment for media-related rather than natural resources.
businesses to operate globally out of Knowledge Village creates access to
Dubai. The Media City brings to the this new culture of learning in three
media community an advanced distinct ways: firstly, by facilitating
infrastructure based upon a global access to high-quality learning
interconnected network, linked by opportunities – for all ages, career
satellites, computers, the internet, stages and levels; secondly, through
television, radio, journalism, cinema the wide diversity of areas of studies
and film production. available; thirdly, through the strong,
close and diverse background and
The Media City is already home to over interaction of learners at Knowledge
600 media companies, including global Village – a global learning habitat
giants such as CNN, Reuters, Sony where individual contact and
17

20. Dubai
connectivity into global networks via cluster economy is a university medical
technology are richly combined into a complex; consisting of a university
unique experience. specialty hospital, a post-graduate
medical school and nursing school,
Dubailand and a life science research centre.
The combination of these three
The government intends to spend components will enable Dubai to
Dh2.6 billion in the first phase to leapfrog to the forefront of regional
develop the project’s infrastructure, medical practices, establishing a
and with an estimated investment of position of regional leadership through
more than Dh18 billion. leading edge education and research,
and thereby becoming a centre of
Dubai’s strategic plan is to add more excellence in global healthcare.
depth to the tourism sector and
contribute towards transforming the Dubai International Finance
city into one of the top tourist Centre
destinations internationally. The
project will be built along Emirates Situated as a bridge between the
Road, next to Nad Al Sheba, Al Qouz financial centres of Europe and Asia,
and Al Barsha, which will give it the Dubai International Finance Centre
advantage of easy access from Abu (DIFC) is a platform for accessing the
Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and the trillion-dollar regional market. Dubai is
Northern Emirates. building its international financial
centre on four foundations:
Dubailand will be completed by late
2006 and expects to attract 15 million The first is regulation and transparency,
tourists to Dubai by 2010. because a global finance centre of
the 21st century has to be
Dubai Health Care City open and well regulated so that it is
trusted by other jurisdictions and
The Dubai Health Care City (DHCC) companies who locate within it,
initiative is to provide the highest knowing their reputation is safe.
quality of healthcare services to Second is the creation of new
medical care and wellness seekers from financial capital markets, which will
the region (comprised of the GCC, help bring prosperity to the entire
Indian Subcontinent, Northern Gulf, region. Financial capital moves to
Central Asia, the Levant, North and where it is safest and best rewarded,
East Africa), by creating a world-class so DIFC’s combination of total
cluster of healthcare professionals and transparency and zero tax enable
service providers at the heart of Dubai. Dubai to benefit from the global
flight to quality. Third is, it’s a great
DHCC aspires to provide state-of-the- environment for people, and fourth is
art medical care services in selected its stable political environment.
disciplines that are relevant to the
health problems facing the patients in
the region. The ‘core’ of the healthcare
18

21. 19

22. Barcelona
Joan Clos, Mayor of Barcelona
B
arcelona, one of Europe’s major neighbourhood portals have created
cities, is the economic, cultural debate, because they are not only news
and administrative capital of portals but also interchange platforms
Catalonia, an autonomous region within the community. For example, when
in the northeast of Spain on the an urban city planning reform is launched,
Mediterranean coast. It is sixth in Europe the community can air their views – the
in population density and fifth in industrial dialogue itself is a tool for the planners in
concentration. The metropolitan area of the decision-making process. These
Barcelona traditionally had a high websites work in the majority of the
proportion of industrial activity as part of Barcelona districts and have increasing
its total economic activity. Today, the city citizen participation.
and its surrounding area are a significant
economic centre in terms of new Barcelona City Council is moving towards
technologies and advanced services within e-government, using the internet as a tool
the framework of the information society. to achieve the following key strategic
objectives:
Our aim is to transform Barcelona into a
great city, where the knowledge economy • Rethinking and improving internal
can develop out of the dense urban management
nucleus that is our city. The new EU • Enhancing and deepening
policies that will increase the funds commitments to citizens
available for research and knowledge offer • Developing a participatory strategy for
us a great opportunity to move forward. the city
We are known as a city that produces and At present, the data network of Barcelona
exports medium-high-tech goods. ICT City Council is made up of four clearly
manufacturers have increased exports distinct areas:
almost fourfold since 1993 and
Barcelona has become the principal export • Corporate network
base in Spain. • Access network
• Extranet
More important is the capacity of the • Internet
‘New Technologies’ to bring government
closer to our citizens and to create The official website of Barcelona City
transparency in the city management. We Council provides access to a broad range
have experience in citizen networks. The
20

23. ‘
of information and services. Barcelona is a by Barcelona City Council (Ómnibus, June
European city with a high number of 2003), 46.5 per cent of the city’s homes
transactional services. The site displays its are connected to the internet. That means
contents in three languages – Catalan, that nearly one in every two Barcelona
Spanish and English – and provides homes is connected to the net. Of this
information for residents, companies and group, 37.8 per cent has a broadband
tourists. The site and its services have won connection at home, and the last quarter
several awards: third prize in Design in the has seen swift growth in DSL connections,
European E-City Awards (2002), first prize a technology that is replacing the
of the Auna Foundation (2002), the traditional telephone line, along with slow
Stockholm Challenge Award (2002), and it but steady growth in connections
was also a finalist in the World Technology by cable.
Awards (2002).
Compared to the Scandinavian countries
Barcelona City Council has broad or Southeast Asia, these figures are low,
experience participating in European but one must bear in mind our
projects: Dalí, Gala, Exe, NetForNets, demographic context.
Permis, Gaudi, Eurociti, Elda and others.
It also belongs to large networks of cities In Spain as a whole, 27.4% of the
such as TeleCities, and belongs to big city population is connected to the internet,
networks (currently holding the while the figure is 32% in Catalonia,
presidency), including EuroCities, according to the latest EGM survey
Metropolis, Major Cities of Europe performed by AIMC. However, it must be
and ELANET. remembered that this survey includes all
internet users, not only those with home
The broadband city connections. That is, there is a differential
of at least 20 points between Barcelona’s
In order to explain the development of geographic surroundings and Barcelona
broadband in Barcelona, you need to itself. The same trends can be seen in
understand the setting in which it has broadband connections.
taken shape. This essay first describes
the demographic context, and then the Furthermore, certain socio-economic
socio-economic context. factors have hindered the growth of
broadband in the city. Elsewhere in the
According to the latest data from studies world, broadband developed in the
21

24. Barcelona
framework of a pre-existing cable Channel Integrated Service
network, which had been created, System (MISS).
extended, operated and made profitable
in the 80s and 90s for television. The system, which serves more than
However, in Spain, digital television 18 million requests a year, centrally
entered people’s homes by satellite manages most of the information and
rather than by cable, and satellite services going both from the City Council
technology has not yet made an to citizens and from citizens to the
effective leap to bi-directional data City Council.
transmission – a necessary condition
for broadband internet. MISS is based on internet technology, and
it allows for sharing the same information
Barcelona City Council has faced up through three channels: the website
to these challenges with the longterm www.bcn.es, the telephone information
vision of providing better services to service and the public information offices.
citizens, as broadband is not an end in
itself but rather a tool for improving the In order to develop the MISS, intranet and
productivity, and therefore the integrated internal services, we have had
competitiveness, of the city. And most to create a powerful internal broadband
of all for achieving internal changes in network to support the information flows
the council itself. As we have said, the required in an information architecture of
aim is always to provide citizens with this type.
better services.
Data network
For instance, for some time now the City
Council has been broadcasting live online, • Corporate network
via streaming video, all municipal plenary • Access network
sessions. Users can also see all past • Extranet
plenary sessions on demand through an • Internet
index of plenums by subject. Here, the
limited spread of broadband in the city
The Corporate network is a private
has prevented provision of more advanced
network that links together the 123
services to citizens.
centres of the City Council.
• The Broad Services City: the challenge
The Access network ensures the
of transforming administration through
connectivity of centres with lower
broadband
• Multi-Channel Integrated Service broadband requirements to City Council
System (MISS): e-government beyond applications by means of a channel
an Internet portal between the centre and the CPD/IMI. It is
• The creation of a 155 Mbit/s high- defined on the basis of public networks
speed internal network for the City and configured like a VPN. There are four
Council has enabled the development main access technologies: frame-relay,
and implementation of the Multi- ADSL, XDSI-XTC and GPRS.
22

25. Barcelona
more complex, thereby being capable of
Public administrations must take including citizens, other public institutions,
advantage of the development of private companies and other actors
wireless technologies to involve in the city.
citizens by giving them a greater
role in management processes Towards the universal availability of
public services and information
Most of the equipment supporting the Public administrations must take
network is Cisco. All the networks use a advantage of the development of wireless
combination of Radius-LDAP as the technologies to involve citizens by giving
authentication system of entering users. them a greater role in management
processes, while reducing costs in service
management. Above all, the most
For its part, the Extranet provides a link
important goal is to improve both
between external companies and the City
provision of services to the public and
Council. It is based on point-to-point links
citizens’ quality of life.
that originate in the City Council and have
an endpoint in each of the companies
involved. The technology of the Extranet is One of the most important challenges of
Gigabit Ethernet and is supported by m-government in meeting this aim is to
operator links. The system operates with effectively combine secure methods of
CISCO 2948 and 3512 units. identification and easy-to-use applications
so as to ensure citizen-accessibility.
The corporate Internet provides an
internet connection to the internal The following are some good examples of
network as well as to the public internet the possibilities of m-government:
services available. automatic question-and-answer services
(the voice portal, currently under
development in Barcelona, based on voice-
The City Council has its own public IP
recognition and web-semantic
address, as it is constituted as an LIR.
technologies); reminders of appointments
with the administration; sending of public
The Multi-Channel Integrated Service
transport timetables depending on
System helps improve people’s quality of
location; use of multimedia messages
life by offering those without internet
(MMS) as instruments of public
access the chance to benefit from the
participation; payment of public parking
same information and the same services
tolls; tickets for public transport;
provided by the City Council on the
information about public employment
internet.
vacancies; services in museums and other
tourist attractions; and an endless list
Moreover, the MISS structure is the
limited only by our imagination.
technological framework that allows us to
enlarge our internal network and make it
23

26. Barcelona
Barcelona is already seeking to design an of life.
effective model of global m-government
that would meet all these challenges and In short, e-governance helps citizens take
place all these actors at the service of a more proactive role in deciding what
the city. kind of services they want and through
what type of structure they wish to
This is because m-government is not only receive them.
a phase of e-government, but a
reinvention of public services from the Two emblematic projects
standpoint, more than ever, of the citizen.
• 22@ Bcn
The broadminded city: towards • The Universal Forum of Cultures 2004
e-governance
Currently, two projects are running in
According to the United Nations, the Barcelona that are examples of the
concept of governance must be commitment of the city to the socio-
understood as a process. In this process, economic, urban and international
institutions, organisations and citizens position of the city in the future. At
organise to make decisions through the same time, these two projects
effective mechanisms of transparency. show our belief in technology as an
indispensable element of building a just
Thus, and continuing with the definition and equal society.
of the United Nations, e-governance
is the use by the public sector of the most 22@ Bcn
innovative information and
communication technologies, such as Barcelona has set itself a new goal: to fully
internet, to provide citizens with better integrate itself into the new technological
services, more reliable information and revolution and face the challenge of the
more knowledge in order to facilitate information economy. The Poblenou, the
access to governing processes and leading nucleus of industrialisation in
promote citizen participation.’ It is, Spain in the 19th century, is striving to be
indeed, an unequivocal commitment by the main technological platform for
decision-makers to strengthen the Barcelona and Catalonia.
collaboration between private citizens and
the public sector. Real, living Barcelona, as a labour market
that includes nearly two million jobs
The introduction and acceptance of and a population of 4.3 million, is the
e-governance is the path towards ensuring sixth leading metropolitan region
that each citizen has the same right to be of the EU demographically, exporting
a part of decision-making processes that 22.5% of Spain’s industrial and
affect them directly or indirectly, and to non-industrial goods.
influence the process so that it can
improve his or her conditions and quality
24

27. Barcelona
The updating of the regulatory framework
In short, e-governance helps has taken the form of the Modification of
citizens take a more proactive the General Metropolitan Plan for the
role in deciding what kind of renewal of the industrial areas of
services they want and through Poblenou (MPGM), approved 27 July 2000,
what kind of structure they wish which has generated conditions
to receive them. favourable to stimulating and attracting
advanced economic activities. These
activities demand a central location, good
infrastructures and a quality urban
The network of metropolitan cities, with
environment.
Barcelona in the lead, is quickly shifting its
productive specialisation: nearly two-thirds
The Modification of the PGM changes the
of its exports today are goods with high or
characteristics of the urban planning
middle-high technological intensity. Its
regulations of the industrial area,
future competitiveness critically depends
replacing the old urban zoning
on its capacity to integrate new
qualification 22a with the modern 22@:
information and communication
technologies and to strengthen
• It regulates the uses and density of
knowledge-dense tertiary or industrial
construction
activities. The city of Barcelona acts as
• It provides incentives for conversion to
both the main centre of services to a
attract knowledge-dense activities
multi-nucleus metropolitan area and as
• It creates a new equipment
capital of Catalonia. To preserve its leading
qualification called 7@, which
role economically and professionally, it
will clear the way for building
must deepen its specialisation in
information infrastructures
knowledge-dense activities, as these are
• It defines new standards of urban
also employment-dense activities.
development and – in the Special
Plan for Infrastructures – provides for
Barcelona’s traditional economic and
the complete urban development of
urban planning strategies were based on
the area
manufacturing as the dominant economic
• It defines the obligations of
activity, and on the premise that zoning in
landowners and determines the
the central municipality of the metropolis
forms and mechanisms for derivative
was needed to preserve manufacturing.
planning – Special Plans – in order to
The transition from an industrial
enable conversion
manufacturing model to one based on the
information society has entailed in-depth
Throughout its execution over 15 to 20
revisions of urban regulations of the old
years, the project will allow for the
industrial areas of the Poblenou district
building of 3,200,000 m2 of new and
(zone 22a of the General Metropolitan
used buildings for productive uses,
Plan of 1976).
between 3,500 and 4,000 new housing
units under a regime of official
25

28. Barcelona
subsidisation, the freeing of some safeguarding of human rights and forms
220,000 m2 of land for new facilities of living in harmony with the
and garden areas, and for an increase environment. These elements, among
of 100,000 to 130,000 jobs in the area. others, are crucial for forging conditions
that are more favourable to progress and
Forum 2004 human development. Barcelona is
committed to a future where a stable
Barcelona is starting the innovative peace means much more than absence
Universal Forum of Cultures in 2004. This of conflict.
is a new type of event with an
international dimension, where the city
aims to provide a space in which to reflect
upon and experiment with the most
important cultural and social conflicts
faced by the world in the 21st century. It
will be held from 9 May to 26 September,
and will be structured around three
themes: cultural diversity, sustainable
development and the conditions of peace.
Knowledge of other cultures is essential to
engaging in constructive dialogue
between peoples. Such knowledge entails
reflection upon the commonalities of all
human beings as well as their differences.
To the extent that we are able to conceive
difference as enrichment and a common
heritage, not an obstacle, we will be able
to reduce tensions and turn them into a
positive force.
Today, it is more urgent than ever to find
forms of growth that respect natural
resources and conserve them for the good
of all, particularly for future generations.
It is important to understand sustainability
as a concept that goes beyond ecology,
and also as a factor that enables creating
conditions for coexistence, dialogue
between peoples and peace.
The creation of a culture of peace must
be based, most of all, on respect for other
cultures, social and political justice,
26

29. 27

30. New York
By Michael R Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York
C
itizen Service – the concept of we are streamlining government and
government agencies providing doing better with less.
world-class service to its citizens
– is a major goal for my New York City is at the forefront of
administration. Over the past 20 months, technological innovation in municipal
we have focused our attention not only on government. From our 311 Citizen Service
balancing the budget, improving our Hotline, to digitising 911 emergency
schools and keeping crime down, but also response calls, New York City continues to
on improving service delivery wherever deploy technology to every agency to help
possible. Technology is a driving force in them fulfil their goals.
providing better Citizen Service to all New
Yorkers. Instead of paper-based systems Below is a sampling of the different
that inherently make it difficult, costly and programmes New York City has underway
time-consuming to share information, we and how we are using them.
have made an aggressive push to drive
more applications and functions to the 311 Citizen Service Hotline
internet (or other digital mediums) where
the information can be quickly shared and
On March 9 2003, the 311 Citizen Service
distributed to the parties that need it.
Hotline went online. Before 311, every
Over this period, there is no question that
time the city announced a new
New York City has become more efficient,
programme or service, there was always a
innovative, technologically adept, and
new number attached to that programme
citizen service-friendly.
or service. By the time I took office, there
were 11 pages of telephone numbers in
During the current fiscal crisis, we cannot the phone book listing different ways New
afford to operate at anything less than full Yorkers could contact their government.
efficiency. In business, we are judged by Whenever New Yorkers had to contact
performance, not by how much we spend. their government, they had to be a
Government should also be judged by the near-expert in municipal government to
same standard. Cutting $2.3 billion from find the right office (for instance, the Fire
the budget does not mean we cannot Department doesn’t repair broken fire
provide good or improved services to the hydrants, the Department of
public, and that is exactly what we have Environmental Protection does). 311
done this year. From using technology to changes all of that. Now New Yorkers only
improving citizen service, to cutting into need to remember two numbers when
the city bureaucracy of cars and permits, contacting their city government – 911 for
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31. emergencies and 311 for everything else. of them conduct their business more
If you want to report a broken streetlight, efficiently and with better citizen service.
find out if you qualify for food stamps, or
even report graffiti, all you need to do is Digitising x-rays
dial 311 (or 212-NEW YORK if you are
outside New York). In November 2002, the Health Hospitals
Corporation (HHC) completed the
In five months we have already received installation of Picture Archiving
two million calls, and call volume is Communications Systems (PACS) at all
picking up every day (nearly 20,000 calls HHC facilities. Each year, PACS
come into 311 each day). Clearly, electronically stores digital x-ray images
providing easy access to city services is a for one million radiology cases, replacing
big hit with New Yorkers. the use of outmoded and cumbersome
x-ray film. Prior to the system-wide
Using 311 technology, for the first time installation of PACS, it took 24 to 48 hours
the cty can prevent problems before they to access almost every radiology image.
arise. How can we do this? For instance, With PACS, every image is available within
we can map all double-parked car four minutes. Using PACS, a patient’s
complaints, noise complaints, and all medical team can review the digital x-rays
establishments with liquor licences from from virtually any location over secure
the State of New York. We can use this internet gateways 24 hours a day, seven
data to ascertain if some of these double- days a week, consult on treatment options
parked car complaints and noise faster and more efficiently, and maximise
complaints are coming from a club or bar, the productivity of scarce radiology and
and try to prevent the problem from medical expertise. Digital storage further
arising again. improves patient care by allowing for easy
comparison of images over time, and by
311 represents a major achievement of my providing detailed and accurate
administration. Not only did we magnifications of images.
consolidate 12 call centres (eventually, all
40+ city call centres will be rolled into The programme saves doctors’ time and
311), but we now have sophisticated tools hospitals’ money – $1 million at Elmhurst
to measure our performance in alone. In fact, instead of having a
responding to requests. 311 affects every radiologist at all times at both Elmhurst
city agency in New York and has helped all Hospital Center and the Queens Hospital
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32. New York
Center, just one is needed for both only enhance patient care but also
locations at night. The PACS system improve the bottom line – patients are
maximises the productivity of scarce treated more quickly, at a lower cost, and
radiology and medical expertise. insurers are providing higher
While fewer than ten per cent of reimbursement rates to healthcare
hospitals nationwide have digitised facilities with CPOE, an increase of as
x-rays, the PACS system has been much as four per cent in 2002.
installed at every HHC facility in the
city. This has saved $4 million Putting all medical records online
and will save $11 million annually.
The successful implementation of the
Computerising physician orders Computerized Physician Order Entry
system is hastening the completion of
In 2002, HHC completed system-wide HHC’s overall goal of storing all patient
installation of Computerized Physician records in its Electronic Medical Record
Order Entry (CPOE) throughout its (EMR). Currently, the electronic medical
11 acute care hospitals and at over 100 record of every one of HHC’s 1.3 million
community-based clinics. Annually, HHC patients includes medication history, lab
clinicians now use CPOE to order results and radiology tests. The EMR also
approximately 13 million pharmacy links to the Micromedex patient
prescriptions, 96 million lab tests, and one information system, which clinicians use to
million radiology tests. National safety provide patients with a printout – in
experts widely agree that using a CPOE English or Spanish – of complete
system reduces medication errors by as information about their prescribed
much as 50 to 70%, and HHC’s medications, specific medical conditions
medication error rate with this system is such as asthma, and other critical
less than .000001% – or less than one in a medical information.
million. CPOE also provides clinicians with
alerts and warnings, and detailed Improved adoption access
medication history. CPOE further improves
patient care by giving clinicians faster In February 2002, the Administration for
centralised access to lab results, allowing Children’s Services (ACS) launched the
doctors to treat patients promptly. For ‘Meet Our Kids’ website. The website
routine lab tests, results are available in allows interested families to view photos
under two hours, urgent tests are and stories of children who are waiting for
available in under 30 minutes, and a permanent, loving adoptive family. The
emergency screening results are back in benefits of having adoption information
less than ten minutes. HHC remains far online include immediate availability of
ahead of the national trend in this effort, adoption information, 24 hours a day,
with 100% of all HHC physicians using the seven days a week, significant savings in
CPOE system for all their ordering. Only staff time, and the ability to reach
five per cent of all hospitals nationwide – adoptive homes outside of New York City,
public and private – have achieved this which is a great way for ACS to find
goal. Ultimately, these innovations not homes for children who might be hard to
30

33. New York
State-of-the-art revenue collection
New Yorkers can now pay parking
tickets, property taxes, water bills Thanks to NYCServ, New Yorkers can now
and other fees in one quick visit pay parking tickets, property taxes, water
over the internet bills and other fees in one quick visit over
the internet at www.nyc.gov/finance.
Through NYCServ, which went online in
February 2002, New Yorkers can also
place. Since ‘Meet Our Kids’ was launched,
contest tickets online by conducting a
enquiries to the ACS Parent Recruitment
hearing with an Administrative Law Judge
Hotline have increased by 65%, with
via email. Individuals can also track down
internet inquires accounting for about
towed cars and pay certain business taxes.
50% of the average 600 total calls to the
Since January, NYCServ has serviced
hotline each month. ‘Meet Our Kids’ is
630,000 transactions, collecting a total of
also one of the most visited areas of the
$1.4 billion.
ACS website, consistently ranking among
the top ten pages viewed, with about
Purchasing permits online
2,200 hits per month. Savings for the city
include a reduced number of mailings,
reduction in staff time on the phone and Last year Parks established an online credit
digital photography cost savings of card payment system for special events
$35,000 a year. and tennis permits. The Parks website also
allows users to obtain special events
permits/applications, athletic permits and
Benefit QuickCheck for seniors
applications, forestry permits, lifeguard
applications, guidelines for donating
In May 2002, the Department for the
works of art to Parks, volunteer sign-up
Aging released QuickCheck, an easy-to-
forms, and more.
use, online tool that helps New York City’s
senior citizens check their eligibility for a
Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and
variety of benefits and programmes. The
Broadcasting
QuickCheck user completes an online
application, and can then choose from 16
assistance programmes administered by In 2002, the Mayor's Office of Film,
various branches of federal, state and local Theatre and Broadcasting loaded all
government. QuickCheck informs the permit applications online at
applicant which benefits they are most www.nyc.gov/film. Prior to this, the
likely to receive and then provides a link agency had been processing permits by
to the administering agency’s eligibility hand and with typewriters. In addition
form. Following the introduction of to streamlining the permit process, the
QuickCheck, the number of monthly visits agency has installed a new phone
to Aging’s website rose by nearly 50% to system whereby an individual answers
over 23,000 hits. the phone rather than an automated voice
mailbox system.
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