NIGERIA SMART CITY INITIATIVES (NSCI) the GEOSPATIAL PERSPECTIVES
Kabir Muhammad MANSUR
Surveyors Council of Nigeria
The Nigeria Smart City Initiative acronym NSCI was launched in Abuja, Nigeria on 8 th
August, 2017. The summit was to initiate sound actionable strategies for transforming
Nigerian major urban centers from traditional dysfunctional cities to modern, efficient,
responsive ones capable of satisfying the needs of present and future generation of Nigerians.
NSCI would rely heavily on application of ICT and other smart technologies in the operations and management of those cities.
A city can be termed smart when it is able to effectively link sensors and software to generate and manage information that improves efficiency in decision making and in arriving at smart
solutions to every day issues. However, smart city is not predicated solely on ICT but also on robust geospatial technologies, human and socio-cultural environment among other interactive platforms. Every object is location based and in that wise location is a primary
attribute of city and the citizens and also the heart of ICT and Internet of Things (IoT).
Geospatial technologies that are capable of continuously providing accurate, concise, timely and relevant location information are among the primary tools on which smart solutions and smart management of cities are based. This brings to fore the involvement of Surveyors who
are the professional producers and managers of geospatial information.
The presentation outlines place of surveyors in the Nigeria government desire for
transforming our major urban centres into functional, responsive, interactive and resilient municipalities. This is planned to be achieved through city upgrade and renewal, massive PPP investment on infrastructure, citizen capacity development and strategic action plans for
migrating from traditional analogue ways of doing things to applications of ICT and Internet of Things in decision making processes and the management of cities. The overall objective
of NSCI is to improve the living standard of Nigerian citizens and enhance the city
environment at sustainable levels.
It is pertinent that this presentation also evaluates the capacity and preparedness of Nigerian surveyors to provide the needed qualitative geospatial information capable of driving the NSCI and smart municipalities. Appropriate recommendations shall be made to empower surveyors to meet up with the challenges and take their rightful place as the engine rooms of
NSCI.
Event: FIG WW 2019 Hanoi
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