The Application of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Urban Infrastructure

As a dynamic habitat that houses multidimensional systems, a city should be managed to fulfill three main objectives: the infrastructure has to be efficient, resistant, and sustainable (Ranjha, 2016). Unlike traditional urban infrastructure, in today’s era of telecommunication and internet with the growing awareness towards sustainable development, information and communication technologies (ICT) can help achieve those three objectives.

In terms of efficiency, the ICT can provide actual information that even can affect the decision-making process in managing infrastructure. For example, to support the performance of the urban water supply network, the ICT can help the city management in detecting and locating water leakages in order to prevent the system from experiencing water losses (Rojek and Studzinski, 2019) in which the information can be used by the related stakeholders to decide the right and proper intervention to secure and manage the system more efficiently. In Indonesia, the most commonly used and advised strategy to treat water losses is through the concept of District Meter Area (DMA) which suggests the water utility company to divide the water distribution network into isolated zones, be it permanently or temporarily. Applying this strategy means accommodating the water utility company and/or local officials to monitor the distribution network so that any potential of water leakages would be more easily detected (Sya’bani, 2016). However, due to many causes of water losses in Indonesia, a more real-time and accurate water leakages detector is highly needed, therefore the concept of DMA is always open for any progressive development in the future. Earlier this year, a study conducted by Prasetya et. al (2020) suggests a design of a pipe leak detection system that is equipped with the water flow sensor. The sensor enables users to monitor the leakage area, the rate of the water leakage, and the leakage quantity. What is more interesting, the system might come in a handy tool that it can be linked to an Android application.

Not only that, the application of the ICT in urban infrastructure can also improve services. Nowadays, city dwellers are mostly familiar with one of most common urban issues that negatively affects the aspect of sustainability, namely traffic congestion. Pesic and Kojic (2012) explain, the problem with high urban population growth is the expansion of city center that decreases the size of peripheral area where it leads to a sustainability challenge of satisfying the consumption demands. Moreover, high urban population growth also stimulates worse traffic congestion. ICT can fill the gap by enabling the data and information to be accessible for society to track the traffic condition in a real-time manner. Today, people can easily choose any traffic-aware applications on their phones where many of them also display the actual causes of traffic congestion such as accidents, natural or manmade disasters, road network disruptions, and many more.

The existence of advanced ICT that provides data in urban infrastructure can inspire the emergence of new services. When society is more familiar with utilizing data to cater their needs, there will be new opportunities for data to accommodate other needs. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic that has made everyone stay at home, online services are preferable. This can be perceived as a new chance for grocery stores to survive in the crisis by taking online orders and offer delivery that can be done through publicly downloadable applications. The pandemic that forces most people to work from home and some businesses to close negatively impacts some ride-hailing startup companies as they experience significant downturn; yet thanks to their food, logistic, and shopping delivery service that is still greatly reliable amid COVID-19 outbreak. This somehow encourages a new strategy for grocery stores, restaurants, and any stores to establish online orders and delivery.

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REFERENCES

Pešić, I & Kojić, R 2012, ’The role of ICT in monitoring and solving traffic issues’, Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, vol.5, no.2, pp. 180-195

Prasetya, AP, Haryanto & Wibisono, KA 2020, ‘Rancang bangun sistem monitoring dan pendeteksi lokasi kebocoran pipa berdasarkan analisis debit air berbasis IoT’, Elektrika, vol.12, no.1

Ranjha, S 2016, Green infrastructure: planning for sustainable and resilient urban environment, DLGS-TU, Dresden, Germany, viewed 19 July 2020

<https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/95599_Ranjha_Green%20infrastructure_planning%20for%20sustainable%20and%20resilient%20urban%20environment.pdf>

Rojek, I & Studzinski, 2019, ‘Detection and localization of water leaks in water nets supported by an ICT system with artificial intelligence methods as a way forward for smart cities’, Sustainability, vol. 11, no. 2, p. 158

Sya’bani, MR 2016, ‘Penerapan Jaringan Distribusi Sistem District Meter Area (DMA) dalam optimalisasi penurunan kehilangan air fisik ditinjau dari aspek teknis dan finansial (Studi kasus : Wilayah layanan IPA Bengkuring PDAM Tirta Kencana Kota Samarinda)’,Master’s thesis, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung

Punto Wijayanto. (2020). The Application of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Urban Infrastructure. SMI Institute, PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (Persero). Diakses , dari