Diversified business group Wave Inc has engaged IBM to provide a roadmap to make its green-field township, Wave City, a smarter township.

Located in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh State), Wave City is among the largest integrated township development projects in India’s National Capital Region. The 4,500-acre township will be one of the first urban developments in the country to be designed with smart systems to improve the quality of life for residents while keeping operating costs low and maintaining high levels of service.

India has witnessed major urbanization in recent times, with an estimated 30 people leaving rural India for urban areas every minute during the next 20 years. At this rate, the country will need some 500 new cities in the next two decades. Cities and urban developments will need to use innovative technologies and solutions to manage the growing demands on the city infrastructures that deliver vital services.

Wave City is being built in two phases. The first phase of the township, spread over around 1671 acres, will include residential apartments, commercial complexes, shopping malls, light industries, education institutes, and hospitals.

As a consulting partner, IBM has developed a roadmap that includes application and technology infrastructure as well as possible revenue models that will enable the township to provide these world-class living amenities to its residents.

All cities are made up of a complex system of systems that are inextricably linked. IBM has assisted Wave City to identify the different systems (for example transport, emergency services, healthcare, water and energy) that make up the township and to understand how these systems interact with and affect each other in order to improve planning and operational efficiency.

Under the recommendations from IBM, a central command centre will integrate and interconnect information from various systems and services within the township to improve safety, prevent and anticipate problems and improve the quality of life of residents. For example, a resident’s smart device will be alerted to current traffic conditions or residents can check parking availability or changes to traffic conditions due to a large sporting event or a natural disaster like flooding.

Through this engagement, IBM will help Wave City create a township where all the amenities, such as clean water, energy, transportation, public safety, education, and healthcare, will be integrated and managed by smart devices using sensors and other intelligent communication tools.

With all these devices connected to a central command center, Wave City will be able to record and respond to events much faster and in a more coordinated manner. The roadmap also makes recommendations to help Wave City find ways to reduce running costs, reduce power usage, increase efficiency and improve quality of management across the township.

“With rapid urbanization in India, it is critical to build townships which are sustainable and have the required smart enablers and solutions to manage growth, while providing an improved quality of life for the residents,” said Shankar Kalyana, Distinguished Engineer and Chief Technology Officer, Global Business Services, IBM India/South Asia.