The Smart Cities Mission (SCM) aims at the amalgamation of two important aspects – digitalisation and urbanisation – and attempts to achieve urban renewal through a number of technology-enabled solutions. While the mission promotes the sustainable development of cities and harnessing of digital technologies for integrated service delivery, it calls for a strong focus on data security/cybersecurity. Though the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has taken a gamut of initiatives in terms of creating a cybersecurity model framework for smart cities, a coordinated effort by all the stakeholders involved is crucial.
Leveraging technology & ensuring security
In order to make a deeper impact, leveraging technology has become imperative for cities. This implies that information and communications technology-based solutions have to be integrated in practices such as traffic management, waste disposal and management, energy management and healthcare so as to enhance outcomes and improve efficiency. With technology forming the backbone of the SCM, one of the major challenges identified for cities of the future is ensuring data security.
Recognisingcybersecurity as a key priority, the MoHUA published the Cyber Security Framework for Smart Cities in May 2016. It has also issued advisories to all the smart cities to drive conformance to this framework. The framework covers the security of smart cities across four layers – a sensing layer, a communication layer, a data layer and an application layer. These four layers are overseen by the smart city security system.
Many city corporations have also taken a number of steps to ensure cybersecurity in their respective cities. Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited collaborated with the Data Security Council of India to conduct a smart city hackathon in March 2019. Meanwhile, the city corporation also has plans to come up with a cybersecurity policy for the Pune smart city. Ranchi has set up four dedicated police stations to deal with cybercrimes. Along the same lines, dedicated police stations to deal with the cyber menace have also been set up in a number of cities in Jharkhand – Daltonganj, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Giridih, Jamtara and Dhanbad. In the meantime, the central government is expected to announce a new cybersecurity policy soon.
Obstacles faced
There are several challenges in the Indian context that weaken the efforts towards ensuring cybersecurity, which is not being given the requisite attention at present. Limited awareness of the stakeholders is another challenge. While it should be the topmost priority, cybersecurity often takes a back seat as a result of the stakeholders’ quest to complete projects on time. Further, there is no dedicated government institution for ensuring cybersecuity in smart cities. The meagre funds allocated to cybersecurity in the overall budget of smart cities simply adds to the challenges faced.
The way forward
While internet of things provides significant advantages, it has cyber risks associated with it. The government’s resolution to embed IT in almost all the initiatives taken under the mission is worth appreciating, though the acceptance and delivery of these solutions depends on the security of the technology powering them. There is a dire need for creating a cyber-resilient environment across the entire value chain. Besides, engaging with all the stakeholders associated with the smart city ecosystem will help in developing standardisedsecuity measures.