Smart Cities for All, a project of the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict), is working with Mexico’s two largest cities – Mexico City and Guadalajara – to help track their progress and measure the level of commitment to digital inclusion.
Using the Smart City Digital Inclusion Maturity Model, cities can evaluate the current state of Information Communication and Telecommunications (ICT) accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities in city digital and smart services. The tool defines key performance indicators to support advancing accessibility and digital inclusion in a smart city context by focusing on a broad range of functions important to all cities – such as communications, procurement, training, and technology standards.
“In Guadalajara we are working to be an inclusive city. In the Government Innovation Department, we developed this objective through digital inclusion, promoting accessibility to information technologies, to contribute to the social and economic development of the city,” said Saúl Jiménez, director of governmental innovation in Guadalajara. “Together with the G3ict organization and with HearColors we will work on an exchange of information, with the objective of detecting the areas of opportunity and best practices to implement in the Municipality, in order to continue on this route, where each and every person will have easy access to the contents generated on the sites of this Municipal Government.”
G3ict has signed a separate Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with both Mexico City and Guadalajara that calls for leveraging resources and expertise to support each city’s digital transformation initiatives and promote the increased accessibility of ICT technologies.
James Thurston, G3ict Vice President and Smart Cities for All Managing Director said, “It is fitting that G3ict’s first assessments of Smart Cities outside the United States are these two cities. Both Mexico City and Guadalajara are global cities that are taking important steps to be both smarter and more inclusive. G3ict and our Smart Cities for All global initiative want to support their efforts with our tools and resources.”