As Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia and the seat of many international institutions, as well as the third-largest diplomatic city in the world, the city administration is doing a lot of work to provide this appropriate service.
The city administration has been working on projects with various institutions to make the city livable for its residents, sustainable, and globally recognized as a smart city based on technology. One of these projects, and the most important one, is the research project for “Smart City,” which is said to ensure the overall development of Addis Ababa. This research project has been working for years with the participation of various academics, mainly under the coordination of Addis Ababa Science and Technology University.
The Honorable Mayor, Mrs. Adanech Abiebie, who officially launched the implementation of the project, mentioned that the demand of citizens is increasing in our country due to the expansion of cities. She stressed that innovation and cities should work together. Thus, the implementation of this project has an important role in providing simple, convenient, and technology-driven services to solve problems in the city in a sustainable manner.
On the other hand, Dr. Tulu Tilahun, the head of the Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University and the coordinator of the study gave an explanation of the main ideas of the study. In his statement, he said that there are many problems related to the current population growth in Addis Ababa city, and he said that the best city project is a solution to solve these problems. Dr. Tulu’s solution ideas were classified into six major categories. According to him, these problems can be solved, and Addis Ababa can become an internationally recognized, livable, and sustainable city when a smart environment, smart economy, smart people, smart mobility, and smart government system are built.
In addition to this, experts from the Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Huawei Technology, and Ethiopian Telecommunications presented their solutions for the smart city.
Addis Ababa Mayor Mrs. Adanech Abiebie, President of Addis Ababa Science and Technology University Dr. Dereje Engida, Head of Technical and Vocational Training Technology Development Office, Mrs. Habiba Siraj, and representatives from various stakeholder institutions participated in the symposium.
Finally, constructive forwarding points were taken from the panel discussants and participants.