TOKYO: The Digital Cities Index 2022 produced by Economist Impact and supported by NEC, is an inaugural ranking of 30 global cities across four thematic pillars: connectivity, services, culture and sustainability.

Of the top ten cities of the index, four are in Europe (Copenhagen, Amsterdam, London and Paris), four in Asia Pacific (Beijing, Seoul, Sydney and Singapore), and two in the United States (New York and Washington DC).

Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Beijing, London and Seoul performed the best, with successful open data projects and major strides in smart technology-powered sustainability projects like utility management.

Cities with very defined goals realized the greatest benefits: European cities ran highly impactful traffic management systems, whereas Beijing made progress using applied digital technologies to tackle air pollution, optimize its utilities and promote sharing economy.

The Atlantic cities led in open data innovation with a boom in travel and mobility apps.

Sustainability was the biggest impact area highlighted by the White Paper, with leading smart cities realizing major gains in air quality through smart utility management.

Sustainability brought the highest overall scores, with Copenhagen, Seoul and Toronto scoring the highest for their use of digital technology to support urban sustainability.
Copenhagen and Singapore were the most connected cities, followed by Zurich, Beijing and Sydney.

Singapore’s strategy for developing digital connectivity is built on the premise that AI, 5G and cybersecurity will drive the country’s growth and innovation post-pandemic.

Smart cities are anticipated to drive economic growth: 5G alone will enable an estimated US$660 billion global mobility and transportation market by 2035.
Unaffordable, unreliable or inaccessible internet services impact other city level goals.

Half-a-million households reportedly lack a reliable internet connection in New York City, for instance, disadvantaging low-income children for remote learning. By contrast, Washington DC has offered low-cost or free services and devices to families unable to afford a broadband subscription while Paris has the most affordable mobile data of all the cities analysed.

Since the pandemic, digital technologies have enabled real progress in public health.

In Asia, apps were central to managing Covid-19 while telemedicine and real-time remote monitoring of chronic patients has marked digitization everywhere.

In New York, for instance, a diabetes-prevention initiative for adults has reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes in high-risk individuals by 58%.

Singapore, Sao Paulo and New Delhi ranked the highest for their delivery of digital municipal services. New Delhi ranks high in part because of the success of Aadhar, India’s ground-breaking national digital identity scheme.

In Korea, Metaverse Seoul, announced in November 2021 by the Seoul metropolitan government, will provide citizens with access to government services via the metaverse.