U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) here on Friday hosted a Smart Cities Roundtable for Visakhapatnam with senior representatives from the Ministry of Urban Development and the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Acting-President of USIBC Diane Farrell led representatives from 25 major U.S. companies, including 3M, AECOM, Applied Materials, CH2MHill, Cisco, Dow, GE, Hospira, IBM, Microsoft, and United Technologies Corporation, during detailed discussions with officials to create a roadmap and advance the goal of developing Visakhapatnam into a Smart City as articulated in the joint statement between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi in September.
"The Council and its member-companies look to play an integral role in India's commitment to build 100 Smart Cities across the nation and particularly in Visakhapatnam, Allahabad, and Ajmer. With the second bilateral meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi in less than four months, there is a shared sense of desire to deliver measurable results, which is the ultimate aim of the Smart Cities Initiative," said Ms. Farrell.
Friday’s meeting followed up the U.S.-India Business Council’s Smart Cities Conclave in November.
Joint Secretary in-charge of Vishakapatnam, Praveen Prakash representing the Union Ministry of Urban Development, expressed satisfaction at the progress made at the round table. It reaffirmed the commitment of the government and the U.S. industry to build up Visakhapatnam into a model for India’s 100 smart cities plan, he said. Smart cities are the integration of information technology, telecommunications, urban planning, smart infrastructure and operations in an environment geared to maximize the quality of life for a city's population. During USIBC’s first Smart Cities Conclave in November, Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu had invited USIBC to constitute Smart City sub-committees in order to prepare an action plan for Visakhapatnam, Allahabad, and Ajmer.
