US intellectuals, GITAM to work on smart city planning

Noted U.S. think-tank ‘Institute for Sustainable Communities’ comprising intellectuals related to various fields has shown interest to work with GITAM University to develop a set of recommendations for those planning the Smart City in Vizag.

Initial discussions were held on Tuesday at GITAM University in the presence of US Consulate’s Public Affairs Officer Gabriel Hons-Olivier with GITAM University officials.

Mr. Hons-Olivier said that the U.S. Government through the U.S. T.D.A. and the U.S. Commercial Services was supporting the Smart Cities project in Vizag.

He said the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, and U.S. Consulate, Hyderabad, had come up with a project titled ‘Building smart cities through educational linkages.’

As part of the project, experts from the US would visit Visakhapatnam in December to interact with the GITAM study group for preparation of smart city action plan.

GITAM University Vice-Chancellor G. Subrahmanyam suggested conducting workshops and webinars on topics like environment, waste management, transport and community health.

GITAM University Pro Vice-Chancellor D. Harinahrayana and US Consulate’s Cultural Affairs Advisor Salil Kader participated in the discussions.