The logic and direction of "operation" in smart cities
2024-11-26
The construction of smart cities is a process of urban renewal that relies on digitization, networking, and intelligence to promote comprehensive transformation and upgrading in various fields, achieve sustainable development goals, and is an important component of urban modernization construction. The Decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to "promote the formation of a new system of intelligent and efficient governance for super large and mega cities", making significant arrangements for the construction of a modern governance system for super large and mega cities. The construction of smart cities generally includes four basic logics. The first is' connection '. The primary task in building a smart city is to construct network and computing infrastructure. Through the Internet, mobile network, Internet of Things and even computing networking architecture, ubiquitous networked computing is realized. This is the fundamental foundation for digital transformation and innovation in all public and private sectors. The second is' empowerment '. Digitization has accelerated data processing time, networking has expanded data transmission space, and intelligence has enhanced the ability to convert data into knowledge and guide people's actions. Digital technology has transformed the implementation and provision of business in both public and private sectors, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of management and services. The third is' collaboration '. Based on the integration, sharing, and openness of basic resources at various levels such as network, computing, data, and application capabilities, we continuously expand the scope of collaboration across departments, regions, levels, public sectors, and society, and enhance the level of collaboration. The fourth is' operation '. New institutions such as urban operation (management) centers, government data management departments, and data enterprises of different natures have been established in various regions. Some places have also set up "chief data officers" to comprehensively utilize technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence to enhance and optimize the overall management level of cities. The four basic logics are interrelated and progressive, representing different aspects and stages of smart city construction, reflecting the basic path from large-scale and efficient development to sustainable development. Among them, "connection" provides material resources for smart cities and connects the physical connections between various parts of the urban system; Empowering "provides the capability for smart cities and improves the operational efficiency of each subsystem in the city; Collaboration provides synergy for smart cities and promotes the linkage between various subsystems; Operation, or digital operation, provides vitality for smart cities - it is the core logic for cities to adapt to external environmental changes at the system level and continuously output competitive advantages, and is the only way towards sustainable development. In theory, operational management is a continuous and meticulous process of "adjusting" the operation of digital systems. Operation and maintenance have both close connections and deep differences. 'Operation' is the process of implementing digital system functions or fulfilling responsibilities. Operation and maintenance "is the process of providing resources and service guarantees to ensure the normal operation of digital systems. Operation "focuses on the iterative optimization and improvement of the system, and is the process of scheduling various activities and resources, including operations and maintenance, to make the system run better and create greater value. Compared to the usual operations, the management of operations emphasizes more on sustainability and long-term effectiveness. When it comes to the digital operation of smart cities, it cannot be simply understood as the operation of digital technology systems. Instead, the concept of operation management should be placed at the level of urban governance, with the aim of continuously optimizing public policies and management processes in urban management through digital technology, ensuring the provision of high-quality goods and services, and maintaining a good operating state of the city. In this sense, the operational goals of smart cities include at least the following aspects. One is to continuously optimize urban infrastructure management, ensure the smooth operation of urban infrastructure, improve resource utilization efficiency, and reduce management costs. The second is to continuously improve the quality and level of public services, provide efficient, convenient, and fair public services, meet the diverse needs of urban residents, and enhance their satisfaction. The third is to continuously create a favorable business environment, promote industrial transformation and upgrading, and promote sustainable economic development. The fourth is to continuously improve the efficiency of social governance and build a harmonious and livable environment. Fifth, we will continue to promote the construction of ecological civilization, protect the environment, and achieve green development. The logic of "operation" in smart cities leads urban management into a new stage, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects. One is to move from empirical to scientific. Traditional urban operations mainly rely on human experience to make decisions. Under the conditions of digitization and intelligence, urban operations are gradually shifting towards decision-making based on big data feedback. Through big data analysis, urban operation systems can achieve continuous iterative optimization, improving the scientificity and accuracy of management decisions. The second is to shift from extensive to refined. In the past, urban management mainly focused on achieving management and service functions, with less attention paid to optimizing details in the process. Smart city operations focus on optimizing and enhancing service details, improving urban operational efficiency and resident satisfaction through refined "conditioning". The third is to shift from expansion to connotation. Traditional urban informatization construction is often business driven, and the construction method of one system at a time leads to incompatibility between systems and serious waste of resources. Smart city operation emphasizes data-driven core, promotes platform based construction, and achieves efficient resource utilization and system collaborative operation through data integration and sharing. The fourth is to shift from reactivity to foresight. Traditional urban operations often take measures to address problems after they arise. Smart city operation relies on intelligent prediction technology to identify potential problems in advance and take preventive measures, thereby reducing risks and enhancing the city's ability to respond to uncertainty and safety level. The operation of smart cities relies on effective and continuous feedback mechanisms. Cities, especially mega cities, are typical open and complex systems. Complexity embodies the unity of disorder and orderliness. The effective method to solve the problem of urban system governance is to identify the structured features in complex phenomena and transform unstructured problems into structured ones. The prerequisite for implementing this process is to establish a reliable and continuous feedback mechanism, dynamically reveal the gap between the actual situation of system operation and the goal, effectively predict and iteratively adjust the system operation status, so that the system can actively adapt and respond to changes in internal conditions and external environment. To this end, it is necessary to establish a complete set of information mechanisms that can collect, share, and integrate key data related to system operation, in order to comprehensively track and reflect the system's operational status. The traditional information mechanism that relies on manual means is not only time-consuming and inefficient, but also limited in accuracy and real-time performance. The construction of smart cities is based on a digital technology system formed under the logic of "connection", "empowerment" and "collaboration", which separates the continuous production and flow of information in urban space and time from its original form, forming relatively independent and computable information subsystems. This process transforms the entities and processes in the physical and social spaces of the city into unified coding and computation in the digital space, forming a new information mechanism that enables more comprehensive, timely, and accurate recording, feedback, and optimization of the city's operational status. The practice of digital operation in smart cities involves different levels of digital "operation". Covering the overall operation of the city at a macro level. Urban governance utilizes smart systems to comprehensively grasp the operational status of the city and make timely decisions and adjustments. For example, the leadership cockpit system can enable urban managers to have a "one screen view of the entire city" through data statistics and display of key indicators, to view the overall operation status of the city in real time, and to make decisions and commands based on abnormal alarms. At the meso level, it covers urban economic dispatch and social relationship management. For example, the "Economic Brain" system can monitor and predict the quality of urban economic operations and business conditions in real time and accurately, simulate the process of economic dispatch, thereby strengthening the analysis of economic trends and improving the effectiveness of economic governance. At the micro level, it involves the management and guarantee of urban smart services, data, and infrastructure. In May, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with multiple departments, issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Development of Smart Cities and Promoting the Comprehensive Digital Transformation of Cities", which proposed to "establish a system for urban data resource operation, facility operation, and service operation". For example, government services enhance the sense of achievement and satisfaction of enterprises and the public through the integrated operation of online systems and offline halls; The authorized operation of public data has become an important form for local authorities to coordinate the opening, development, and value-added services of public data. Smart city operations require the establishment of a Chief Digital Operations Officer (CDOO) who is responsible for leading and coordinating the digital operations of the city or department. At present, leadership positions responsible for coordinating information or digital related businesses in both public and private institutions include Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), and Chief Data Officer (CDO). Among them, setting up CDOs has become an important measure for many places to promote the reform of public data management systems. However, although CTOs, CIOs, and CDOs all emphasize leadership and coordination, they focus more on optimizing the allocation of management tools and resources, rather than focusing on the main business decisions and execution optimization of cities or departments. Therefore, theoretically, they are not responsible for the overall system. In practice, people have realized that data collection, governance, and sharing are not the ultimate goals of digital transformation. Simple and extensive data collection and governance may lead to significant waste of storage and computing resources, as well as security risks. In theory, the core value of 'big data' lies in driving iterative optimization of business processes, resource allocation, and communication content through continuous tracking and feedback of real-world operational status, in order to better achieve management and service goals. However, big data can only generate value through repeated "thinking". Who will 'ponder'? What do you need to track? What feedback? What is the scene? What is a model? How can indicators be improved? What are the key data? How to reduce implementation costs? These are the core issues that digital transformation needs to address. And leading this "tracking feedback optimization" system is the core mission of the Chief Digital Operations Officer. Over the past decade, the construction of smart cities has gradually expanded the "intelligence" of connectivity, empowerment, and collaboration to all aspects of urban operation, with operations mainly playing a role in government data governance and infrastructure security. The next step is to actively explore the application of digital operations at the overall level of urban operation, and based on institutional and management innovation, transform the construction of smart cities from quantitative to qualitative, from scale development to sustainable development, open up a new path for urban digital transformation, enhance the ability of cities to seek self growth in challenges, and ultimately benefit everyone in the city. (New Society)
Edit：Luo yu Responsible editor：Zhou shu
Source：Guangzhou Daily
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