Digital economy blueprint

9.3 ENCOURAGING “SMART SOCIETY AND 

NETWORKS” IN KEY INFRASTRUCTURE

The term “smart networks” stands for comprehensive 

and systematic use of the possibilities for digitisation 

in major infrastructure areas, such as energy, trans-

portation, health, education and public administra-

tion. Familiar examples are concepts such as smart 

grid,  smart  meter,  smart  home,  smart  traffic,  smart 

city, e-health, e-learning, e-government and e-partic-

ipation among others. The term ‘Smart Society’ was 

first coined by an EU-funded Integrating Project (IP)

11

  

that aimed“to capture how contemporary techno-so-

cial trends can be harnessed towards solving chal-

lenges facing modern society. The ‘Smart’ alludes to 

the enabling capabilities of innovative, social, mobile 

and sensor based technologies that are in various 

ways envisaged to create more productive alignments 

between (growing) demand and (constrained) re-

sources across a number of sectors and application 

domains.”

12

11   Smart Society (FP7/2007–2013) Grant agreement n. 600854, http://www.smart-society-project.eu/. 

12   M. Hartswood et al., “Towards the Ethical Governance of Smart Society”, Social Collective Intelligence - Combining the Powers 

of Humans and Machines to Build a Smarter Society, pp. 3-30, Springer, 2014, 

http://www.smart-society-project.eu/wp-content/

uploads/pdfs/papers/Hartswood14.pdf

.

By leveraging the smart city framework, Konza Tech-

nopolis will be able to optimize its city services, cre-

ating a sustainable city that responds directly to the 

needs of its residents, workers, and visitors.

The implementation of a smart city framework at 

Konza  has  begun  with  detailed  planning  relating  to 

ICT  infrastructure.  As  Konza  continues  to  develop 

its technology network, it will draw from a range of 

international best practices, including the Intelligent 

Community Forum, Smart Cities Council, and Inter-

national Standards Organization’s methodologies for 

the sustainable development of communities. Konza 

will learn from global cities that have successfully in-

corporated smart city frameworks, including Santand-

er, Spain; Barcelona, Spain; Singapore; Amsterdam, 

The Netherlands; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Utilizing existing infrastructure such as power trans-

mission lines and generators to distribute fibre to the 

home, will catapult the development of smart cities 

countrywide.