Share this post on:

Green Giants Emerging In India

Microsoft India has announced the launch of Microsoft CityNext in the country. CityNext is an initiative to enable city residents and city leaders to use technology to build a foundation for sustainable city growth and prosperity.

Microsoft has identified more than 40 solution areas across eight city domains that help address 90 percent of the challenges cities faces today:

  1. Energy and water
  2. Buildings; infrastructure and planning
  3. Transportation
  4. Public safety and justice
  5. Tourism, recreation, and culture
  6. Education
  7. Health and
  8. Social services and Government administration

CityNext addresses these areas through the vast and diverse Microsoft Partner Network of more than 430,000 technology experts across the globe. In India, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro are working with Microsoft for this initiative, with other leading system integrators also joining the CityNext ecosystem.

CityNext helps city administrators create a comprehensive and robust technology framework by integrating existing citizen centric solutions and providing access to them via the cloud, social and mobile.

It also allows city administrators to monitor the key metrics of their city through customized analytics and dashboards. CityNext empowers people in government, businesses and the community to build more sustainable cities across economic, environmental and social spheres, said a Microsoft release.

Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman – Microsoft India said, “By 2030, India will have more than 69 cities with a population of more than one million. In fact, an estimated 590 million people will be living in cities. As India prepares to modernize old infrastructure, city leaders have to meet these growing demands with tight budgets and greater citizen expectations.”

sustainable cities and climate change

“Microsoft’s CityNext puts people first and builds on a new infrastructure of collaborative technology to engage citizens, businesses and Government leaders to do ‘new with less’. We are excited about the possibilities this opens up to help enable cities compete effectively on a global scale and foster economic, social and environmental sustainability,” Pramanik added.

Tanmoy Chakrabarty, Vice President and Head of Government Business, TCS commented, “Today, the cities which are on a journey towards modernization face many challenges. Our work with Microsoft can help these cities find the right combination of investments, solutions, partnerships and social programs. This will enable them to attract business, build more vibrant city landscapes and competitive economies.”

Commenting on the launch, Partha Sarathi Guha Patra, Vice President & Head Corporate Affairs, Wipro Limited said, “Indian city leaders are increasingly looking at how they can drive cohesive and uniform city-wide development. Microsoft’s CityNext is an important initiative that Governments and Public enterprises can leverage to achieve this objective.”

Microsoft and its partner ecosystem is anchored around three key pillars: transforming operations and infrastructure; engaging citizens and businesses; and accelerating innovation and opportunity, the release added.

Greener Cities and climate action

Greener Cities is a division of Crossbow Communications. Greener Cities is a resource for sustainable and resilient cities and communities around the world.

Share this post on:
Avatar Gary Chandler

Author: Gary Chandler

Gary Chandler is a sustainability strategist, author and advocate. Follow him on Twitter @Gary_Chandler