DOCSLIB.ORG

Chapter 1 Introduction to Public Infrastructure in Chile

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chapter 1 Introduction to Public Infrastructure in Chile 1. INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC INFRASTUCTURE IN CHILE – 15 Chapter 1 Introduction to public infrastructure in Chile Chile has been successful in building its key transport and water infrastructure over the past 25 years, which serves as structural backbone that are essential for economic development and welfare. However, circumstances are changing with implications for the needed infrastructure investment. This Chapter provides an introduction to the development of public infrastructure in Chile and gives an overview of the challenges that lie ahead. GAPS AND GOVERNANCE STANDARDS OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN CHILE © OECD 2017 16 – 1. INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC INFRASTUCTURE IN CHILE Background Chile has been successful in building up its key transport and water infrastructure. Over the past 25 years, Chile has successfully rolled out many of the key investments in the country’s basic infrastructure backbone that are essential for the country’s economic development and welfare. Rapid investment in infrastructure has sustained impressive economic growth rates and improvements in the Chilean population’s standard of living. GDP per capita has increased from USD 4 787 in 1990 to USD 22 197 in 2015. Chile has also achieved universal access to basic services that are essential to wellbeing, such as drinking water and sewerage systems (Ferro and Mercadier, 2016). While growth has led to significant overall reductions in poverty (OECD, 2015), it has relied heavily on capital accumulation (IMF, 2015) and has been geographically uneven (OECD, 2011). Major economic infrastructures such as the highway network and port system have been built over the past two decades. Chile boasts a high quality and well-maintained highway system that links major cities and provides good north-south connectivity over the length of the country. Within the decade from 2004 to 2014, total container capacity at Chilean ports more than doubled, and the productivity of maritime transport at the port level is among the highest in Latin America. Major urban infrastructure projects such as the Santiago metro system and the city’s ring roads have sustained the capital’s economic and demographic growth. Between 1985 and 2013, Chile managed to expand its wastewater treatment capacity from 0 to 100%. Finlally, Chile has managed to develop this infrastructure efficiently and to a high standard, which is a testament to the quality of the country’s institutions (IMF, 2016). This success can be ascribed, in significant part, to the strength of Chile’s institutions and the capacity of its public administration. The Ministry of Public Works’ (Ministerio de Obras Públicas – MOP) experience and capabilities in preparing and executing projects have been instrumental in delivering the country’s high-quality infrastructure. Chile’s public investment system benefits from a well-institutionalised social evaluation process that has contributed to ensuring that infrastructure investments are of good quality and generate value for money. In addition, the Ministry of Finance has played an important gatekeeper role by reviewing and approving projects to ensure that they are affordable and do not compromise financial stability. Nevertheless, Chile’s processes must be refined and updated so that evaluations of projects and programs better reflect an integrated approach to long term development. Chile has also been successful in mobilising private financing for the development of its infrastructure. It has adopted and refined the concessions model for delivering infrastructure, a major factor explaining the speed with which it has been able to build its extensive highway network. In the two decades since the launch of the concessions programme in 1992, Chile has procured 82 projects worth a total of USD 19 billion, and built or rehabilitated 2 500 kilometres of highways using this mechanism (MOP, 2016). It has also introduced innovations into the concessions model such as contracts based on the “least present value of future revenues” which helps to reduce demand risk (Box 1.1). GAPS AND GOVERNANCE STANDARDS OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN CHILE © OECD 2017 1. INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC INFRASTUCTURE IN CHILE – 17 Box 1.1 Reducing demand risk in highway concessions Highway concessions financed by tolls paid by users face significant demand risk. This is due, in part, to the uncertainty around the price-elasticity of demand for roads, as well as the inherent difficulty of predicting future traffic over a long time period. Such schemes are inevitably subject to the vagaries of economic cycles and other unpredictable changes in the economic circumstances affecting demand for the asset. Traditional auctions typically involve fixed-term contracts based on the lowest toll, which leaves the concessionaire facing elevated demand risk. In order to reduce the high level of demand risk which results in an increase in the risk premium required by investors and a greater likelihood of renegotiations, the MOP in 1994 introduced a new mechanism for adjudicating concession contracts, one called least present value of revenue (LPVR) auctions. The first concession was awarded on this basis in 1998 for Route 68, the highway between Santiago and Valparaiso (MOP, 2016). Under this system for awarding concession contracts, the contract’s duration is variable, only ending once the present value of revenues has been reached. In the case of lower than expected toll revenues, the contract gets extended so that the concessionaire obtains the agreed-upon present value of revenues. The method also allows for the possibility of adjusting toll levels, for example, if demand is lower than expected, without affecting the underlying economic value of the contract. Such a system thus goes a long way towards eliminating demand risk. It also provides a transparent basis for compensating the concessionaire if the government decides to terminate the contract early (Engel, 2001). Since its adoption, numerous highway concessions have been procured using the LPVR method. Moreover, in spite of the potential variability in the value of payments, banks and other lenders have accepted this mechanism because it reduces the likelihood of failure of the project company. Source: MOP (2016), Concesiones de Obras Públicas en Chile – 20 años, Ministerio de Obras Publicas, Santiago; Engel (2001). A changing context The circumstances that shape infrastructure investment needs are changing. Many of the key investments in the basic infrastructure backbone that are essential for economic development and welfare have been completed. In the road sector, the main vertical north-south highway (Route 5) and most transversal arteries linking the key cities have been built. Access to potable water and sanitation services is practically universal (99% access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities in 2015), as is access to electricity from the national grid. The increase in coverage of basic roads, rural drinking water systems and rehabilitation of fishing coves has been significant. While these investments have had clear economic benefits, future investments choices may be more difficult and marginal returns may be lower. As will be highlighted in the chapters on transport and water, infrastructure gaps still do exist, although the nature of these gaps is shifting to issues such as regional inequality, equal access, welfare and quality of life. For instance, there are great disparities in the quality of infrastructure from region to region. The same can be said with regard to national-level and local-level infrastructure. While national infrastructure of strategic importance such as the main highways is built and operated to meet exacting international standards, urban roads are often of lower quality and poorly maintained, despite Chile’s increased efforts in remote and isolated areas. Finally, there are significant gaps with regard to negative externalities such as congestion, air pollution and road safety, which have emerged as a consequence of economic development. In response to public demands, the current government has prioritised social sectors such as education and health. This is in many ways consistent with Chile’s transition from a middle income to a high-income country. However, this means that, in the future, GAPS AND GOVERNANCE STANDARDS OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN CHILE © OECD 2017 18 – 1. INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC INFRASTUCTURE IN CHILE traditional infrastructure investment may increasingly need to compete for resources with the social sectors. While it may not result in an overall reduction in infrastructure investment, Chile may experience a shift in the types of infrastructure being built, with perhaps more hospitals and schools and fewer major transport projects. Chile’s economy has experienced a slowdown in recent years as a result of lower global growth in general and a drop in demand for copper in particular. With the end of the commodity super-cycle, Chile may face lower medium- and long-term growth prospects (IMF, 2015). This reduces resources available for public investment. On the other hand, the right infrastructure investment, performed well, can contribute to productivity growth. In addition, Chile may benefit from a rebalancing of its economy from the export of natural resources to manufacturing and services. Infrastructure will have an important role to play in supporting economic diversification. Choices regarding what kinds of infrastructure to build will therefore need to be informed by a vision of the evolving structure
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Getting Infrastructure Right the Ten Key Governance Challenges and Policy Options
    1 Getting Infrastructure Right The Ten Key Governance Challenges and Policy Options THE OECD FRAMEWORK FOR THE GOVERNANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE 1 OECD. Getting Infrastructure Right: The 10 Key Governance Challenges and Policy Options Infrastructure is mainly a governance challenge... High-quality public infrastructure Uncertainty with regards to revenue flows and sources can erode confidence in a project’s affordability. supports growth, improves well-being Unstable regulatory frameworks can prevent long-term and generates jobs. Yet, infrastructure decisions. Regulators play a key role in ensuring that investment is complex, and getting from projects are attractive for investors, yet they play only a conception to construction and operation limited role in guiding policy formulation. is a long road fraught with obstacles A lack of systematic data collection on performance undermines evidence-based decision-making and and pitfalls. Poor governance is a major disclosure of key information. Central infrastructure reason why infrastructure projects often units tend to focus on delivering the asset, while fail to meet their timeframe, budget, and auditors are not usually tasked with following performance. Lack of disclosure of data on contracts service delivery objectives. Regardless and subsequent operation tends to reinforce concerns of how public infrastructure services are about fraud and lack of transparency. delivered, an OECD survey* of the state of infrastructure policymaking highlights a number of challenges that all countries face. Governance challenges are diverse and occur all through the policy cycle. Designing a strategic vision is crucial but difficult. Many countries have no integrated strategy but instead rely on sectoral plans. Infrastructure projects are vulnerable to corruption, capture and mismanagement throughout the infrastructure cycle; most countries have recognised this, yet integrity instruments often leave gaps.
    [Show full text]
  • Economic Regulation of Utility Infrastructure
    4 Economic Regulation of Utility Infrastructure Janice A. Beecher ublic infrastructure has characteristics of both public and private goods and earns a separate classification as a toll good. Utilities demonstrate a Pvariety of distinct and interrelated technical, economic, and institutional characteristics that relate to market structure and oversight. Except for the water sector, much of the infrastructure providing essential utility services in the United States is privately owned and operated. Private ownership of utility infrastructure necessitates economic regulation to address market failures and prevent abuse of monopoly power, particularly at the distribution level. The United States can uniquely boast more than 100 years of experience in regulation in the public in- terest through a social compact that balances and protects the interests of inves- tors and ratepayers both. Jurisdiction is shared between independent federal and state commissions that apply established principles through a quasi-judicial pro- cess. The commissions continue to rely primarily on the method known as rate base/rate-of-return regulation, by which regulators review the prudence of in- frastructure investment, along with prices, profits, and performance. Regulatory theory and practice have adapted to emerging technologies and evolving market conditions. States—and nation-states—have become the experimental laborato- ries for structuring, restructuring, and regulating infrastructure industries, and alternative methods have been tried, including price-cap and performance regu- lation in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Aging infrastructure and sizable capital requirements, in the absence of effective competition, argue for a regula- tory role. All forms of regulation, and their implementation, can and should be Review comments from Tim Brennan, Carl Peterson, Ken Costello, David Wagman, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy are greatly appreciated.
    [Show full text]
  • Valuing Public Goods More Generally: the Case of Infrastructure
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Albouy, David; Farahani, Arash Working Paper Valuing public goods more generally: The case of infrastructure Upjohn Institute Working Paper, No. 17-272 Provided in Cooperation with: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, Mich. Suggested Citation: Albouy, David; Farahani, Arash (2017) : Valuing public goods more generally: The case of infrastructure, Upjohn Institute Working Paper, No. 17-272, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, MI, http://dx.doi.org/10.17848/wp17-272 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/172234 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Upjohn Institute Working Papers Upjohn Research home page 2017 Valuing Public Goods More Generally: The aC se of Infrastructure David Albouy University of Illinois Arash Farahani University of Illinois Upjohn Institute working paper ; 17-272 Citation Albouy, David, and Arash Farahani.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Goods for Economic Development
    Printed in Austria Sales No. E.08.II.B36 V.08-57150—November 2008—1,000 ISBN 978-92-1-106444-5 Public goods for economic development PUBLIC GOODS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR ECONOMIC GOODS PUBLIC This publication addresses factors that promote or inhibit successful provision of the four key international public goods: fi nancial stability, international trade regime, international diffusion of technological knowledge and global environment. Each of these public goods presents global challenges and potential remedies to promote economic development. Without these goods, developing countries are unable to compete, prosper or attract capital from abroad. The undersupply of these goods may affect prospects for economic development, threatening global economic stability, peace and prosperity. The need for public goods provision is also recognized by the Millennium Development Goals, internationally agreed goals and targets for knowledge, health, governance and environmental public goods. Because of the characteristics of public goods, leaving their provision to market forces will result in their under provision with respect to socially desirable levels. Coordinated social actions are therefore necessary to mobilize collective response in line with socially desirable objectives and with areas of comparative advantage and value added. International public goods for development will grow in importance over the coming decades as globalization intensifi es. Corrective policies hinge on the goods’ properties. There is no single prescription; rather, different kinds of international public goods require different kinds of policies and institutional arrangements. The Report addresses the nature of these policies and institutions using the modern principles of collective action. UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION Vienna International Centre, P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • Public-Private Partnership
    EXPERT PANEL ON EFFECTIVE WAYS OF INVESTING IN HEALTH (EXPH) Health and Economic Analysis for an Evaluation of the Public- Private Partnerships in Health Care Delivery across Europe The EXPH adopted this opinion at its 4th plenary of 27 February 2014 Assessment study PPP About the EXpert Panel on effective ways of investing in Health (EXPH) Sound and timely scientific advice is an essential requirement for the Commission to pursue modern, responsive and sustainable health systems. To this end, the Commission has set up a multidisciplinary and independent Expert Panel which provides advice on effective ways of investing in health (Commission Decision 2012/C 198/06). The core element of the Expert Panel’s mission is to provide the Commission with sound and independent advice in the form of opinions in response to questions (mandates) submitted by the Commission on matters related to health care modernisation, responsiveness, and sustainability. The advice does not bind the Commission. The areas of competence of the Expert Panel include, and are not limited to, primary care, hospital care, pharmaceuticals, research and development, prevention and promotion, links with the social protection sector, cross-border issues, system financing, information systems and patient registers, health inequalities, etc. Expert Panel members Pedro Barros, Margaret Barry, Helmut Brand, Werner Brouwer, Jan De Maeseneer (Chair), Bengt Jönsson (Vice-Chair), Fernando Lamata, Lasse Lehtonen, Dorjan Marušič, Martin McKee, Walter Ricciardi, Sarah Thomson Contact: European Commission DG Health & Consumers Directorate D: Health Products and Systems Unit D3 – eHealth and Health Technology Assessment Office: B232 B-1049 Brussels [email protected] 2 Assessment study PPP ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Members of the Working Group are acknowledged for their valuable contribution to this opinion.
    [Show full text]
  • Transportation Infrastructure, Productivity, and Externalities
    Transportation Infrastructure, Productivity, and Externalities Charles R. Hulten University of Maryland and National Bureau of Economic Research August, 2004 Revised February, 2005 ABSTRACT This paper summarizes the results of three studies linking investment in highway infrastructure to productivity growth in the manufacturing sector of the U.S., Spanish, and Indian economies. The goal of this research is (1) to trace the overall impact of highway investment on the growth of this strategic sector, (2) to examine the interregional effects of such investments, with particular attention to the issue of whether highway investment encourages regional convergence and relocation of economic activity, and (3) to assess the extent of the spillover externalities on manufacturing industry associated with such investments. This last issue is of particular importance for infrastructure policy, since spillover externalities tend to go uncounted in formal project investment analyses, leading to the possibility of under-investment. The comparative study of three countries at different stages of economic development using virtually the same model allows a fourth issue to be examined: the possibility that the effects of infrastructure investment differ according to the level of development and the extent to which existing infrastructure networks have already been built up. These issues are first framed in the larger context of the literature on infrastructure and productivity. Paper prepared for the 132nd Round Table of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, at the Joint OECD/EMCT Transport Research Center, Paris, France, December 2 and 3, 2004. 1. Transportation Infrastructure and Productivity: Historical Background The idea that transportation infrastructure is a type of capital investment distinct from other forms of capital is an accepted part of the fields of economic development, location theory, urban and regional economics, and, of course, transport economics.
    [Show full text]
  • Smart Grid Virtualisation for Grid-Based Routing
    electronics Article Smart Grid Virtualisation for Grid-Based Routing Armin Veichtlbauer 1,* , Alexander Heinisch 2, Ferdinand von Tüllenburg 3, Peter Dorfinger 3, Oliver Langthaler 4 and Ulrich Pache 4 1 Campus Hagenberg, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, 4232 Hagenberg, Austria 2 Corporate Technology, Siemens AG, 1210 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] 3 Advanced Networking Center, Salzburg Research Forschungsg.m.b.H., 5020 Salzburg, Austria; [email protected] (F.v.T.); peter.dorfi[email protected] (P.D.) 4 Center for Secure Energy Informatics, University of Applied Sciences Salzburg, 5412 Puch/Salzburg, Austria; [email protected] (O.L.); [email protected] (U.P.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +43-50-804-22825 Received: 19 August 2020; Accepted: 31 October 2020; Published: 8 November 2020 Abstract: Due to changed power consumption patterns, technological advance and deregulation, the appearance of the power grid in the low and medium voltage segment has changed. The spread of heating and cooling with electrical energy and an increase of electric vehicles as well as the broad rollout of photovoltaic systems has a major impact on the peak power demand of modern households and the volatility smart grids have to face. Thus, besides the load impact of the growing population of electric vehicles, modern households are not only consumers of electrical power, but also power producers, so called prosumers. The rising number of prosumers and the limitations of grid capacities lead to an increasingly distributed system of heterogeneous components, which have to be managed and operated with locality and scalability in mind.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Information Act: Protecting Critical Infrastructure (PDF)
    PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT: HOMELAND SECURITY EXCEPTION PROTECTING CONSTRUCTION PLANS OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE How does the Public Information Act apply to construction plans which contain specific details of design and methods of construction? Are there any exceptions that may prevent disclosure of details in construction plans that in the wrong hands essentially become a thorough, how-to picture book for terrorists? This paper discusses how to assert the Texas Homeland Security Act confidentiality provisions in the face of a public information request for blueprints of critical infrastructure. City building inspection departments receive construction plans of publicly and privately owned buildings. These plans show to minute detail the method of construction of the building. Most city attorneys will assume these are public records. Indeed many recent requests for attorney general review take no position or assert no exception.1 Texas Homeland Security Act Various governmental records related to emergency response and preventing, detecting or investigating an act of terrorism or related criminal activity are made confidential by law. As part of the Texas Homeland Security Act, [HSA] sections 418.176 through 418.182 2 were added to chapter 418 of the GOVERNMENT CODE. These provisions make certain information related to terrorism confidential. Chapter 418 is a statute that can be asserted under §552.101 as “information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision.” I. Notes on procedure
    [Show full text]
  • Water Infrastructure Needs and Investment: Review and Analysis of Key Issues
    Water Infrastructure Needs and Investment: Review and Analysis of Key Issues Claudia Copeland Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy Mary Tiemann Specialist in Environmental Policy December 21, 2010 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL31116 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Water Infrastructure Needs and Investment: Review and Analysis of Key Issues Summary Policymakers are giving increased attention to issues associated with financing and investing in the nation’s drinking water and wastewater treatment systems, which take in water, treat it, and distribute it to households and other customers, and later collect, treat, and discharge water after use. The renewed attention is due to a combination of factors. These include financial impacts on communities of meeting existing and anticipated regulatory requirements, the need to repair and replace existing infrastructure, concerns about paying for security-related projects, and proposals to stimulate U.S. economic activity by building and rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure. The federal government has a long history of involvement with wastewater and drinking water systems, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) having the most significant role, both in terms of regulation and funding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also plays an important role in rural communities through its water and wastewater loan and grant programs. These programs have been popular; however, states, local communities, and others have asserted that various program gaps and limitations may be diminishing their potential effectiveness. They also point to the emergence of new infrastructure needs and issues. A number of interest groups and coalitions have issued reports on infrastructure funding needs and related policy issues, as have EPA and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
    [Show full text]
  • Wired for Progress Building a National Clean-Energy Smart Grid
    WIKIPEDIA/A A TU L TU II M A TT A VERSION 1.0 Wired for Progress Building a National Clean-Energy Smart Grid Bracken Hendricks February 2009 WWW.AMERICANPROGRESS.ORG VERSION 1.0 Wired for Progress Building a National Clean-Energy Smart Grid Bracken Hendricks February 2009 VERSION 1.0 Contents 1 Introduction and summary 6 Rebuilding our electricity infrastructure for today’s challenges 9 Building an integrated clean-electricity “pipeline” from source to use 14 Graphic: Building a clean energy pipeline 16 Challenges to building a sustainable transmission grid 17 How to improve grid planning? 18 How to get new lines certified and sited? 21 Who will build new lines? 24 Who will pay for the national clean-energy smart grid? 25 Who will use the national clean-energy smart grid? 26 How to protect security and reliability 28 Challenges for smart-grid distribution 30 Cost of smart-grid technologies 33 Programmatic solutions 34 Challenges to creating a skilled workforce to build and maintain a national clean-energy smart grid 34 Creating good clean-energy jobs 37 Programmatic solutions 40 Framework for a national consensus 40 Multi-state planning alongside consolidated project certification and siting 43 Ensuring that the sustainable transmission grid is truly sustainable 45 The impact of smart-grid information technology and demand management on global warming 46 Smart-grid technology deployment that works for consumers 48 The national clean-energy smart grid and good jobs 49 Conclusion 51 Glossary of terms 53 Bibliography of selected readings and resources 56 Acknowledgements and about the author 58 Endnotes VERSION 1.0 Introduction and summary Th e United States stands at a crossroads.
    [Show full text]
  • Water/Wastewater/Stormwater/Asset Management Can Our Public Infrastructure Weather the COVID-19 Storm?
    Civil Engineering and Public Infrastructure – Water/Wastewater/Stormwater/Asset Management Can our public infrastructure weather the COVID-19 storm? Wayne Parker, Kimia Aghasadeghi, Sigrid Peldszus, Peter Huck, Bruce MacVicar, Matthew Iannetta, Anelisa Schmidt, Nadine Ibrahim ABSTRACT Water-related public infrastructure provides essential services for any community, with infrastructure that is built to last at least one generation. Given the new reality faced by the Region of Waterloo in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, implications for the public infrastructure and the asset-related benefits and risks are worth exploring for future planning of the Region. The importance of water-related public infrastructure is recognized in the Region of Waterloo’s Regional Official Plan, the Strategic Plan, and in official municipal plans. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on wastewater, stormwater, and drinking water systems, and on asset management practices are analyzed. Impacts on the quality and quantity of the wastewater systems are investigated as the starting point of protecting the Region’s source water. Though source water protection remains paramount, the Region aims to access the myriad benefits of stormwater systems brought on by a functioning system of green spaces through low impact development and retrofits. Clear opportunities exist to use the altered societal transit and infrastructure needs to advance strategic stormwater goals, and support a green shift in municipal approaches to climate change, which is strongly affected by urban green space and its links to improved air quality. The World Health Organization (WHO) technical brief1 for water professionals indicates no evidence of the presence of infectious COVID-19 virus in drinking water supplies or sewage.
    [Show full text]
  • Building the Smart City Government Insights Building the Smart City Building the Smart City
    Deloitte Center for Building the smart city Government Insights Building the smart city Building the smart city About the authors Rana Sen is a managing director with Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Technology practice. He leads the U.S. Consulting Public Sector Smart City initiative, where his work focuses on strategies and implementations to help cities achieve increased economic competiveness, sustainable practices, and a higher quality of life for their residents. Connect with him at [email protected] or on Twitter @_ranasen or LinkedIn. William D. Eggers is the executive director of the Deloitte Center for Government Insights and author of nine books, including Delivering on Digital: The Innovators and Technology That Are Transforming Government. His commentary has appeared in dozens of major media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @wdeggers. Mahesh Kelkar is a research manager with the Deloitte Center for Government Insights. He closely tracks the federal and state government sectors, focusing on in-depth research into the intersection of technology with government operations, policy and decision-making. Connect with him at [email protected] or on LinkedIn, or follow him on Twitter @Mahesh_Kelkar Smart city 2.0: The second wave in smart city transformation The term “smart city” doesn’t describe a sci-fi utopia. A smart city is simply one that About the Deloitte Center for Government Insights uses technology to improve outcomes across every aspect of city operations and enhance the services it offers to its residents. It collects and uses data to drive its decision-making, and creates networks of partners among governments, businesses, The Deloitte Center for Government Insights shares inspiring stories of government innovation, looking at what’s behind the adoption of new technologies and management practices.
    [Show full text]