ISTAfrica2020 Paper Ref 137
ISTAfrica2020 Paper Ref 137
ISTAfrica2020 Paper Ref 137
1. Introduction
The projections by the United Nations show that by 2050 almost 70% of the population in
the world will be living in urban areas with only 30% or less in rural areas [1]. This view is
also shared by Escher Research Group who mentioned that cities will continue to grow as
rural population migrates to urban centres for better service [2].
Urban growth presents new challenges as a result of pressure from the ever-increasing
population. Some of the notable challenges as population increase in urban areas as
mentioned by [3] include air pollution, traffic congestion and competition for resources.
There is need for proper planning for many cities in the world to cope with noted
population increases. [4] noted that “central and local governments from around the world
have devised plans for existing and emerging cities to become both smarter and greener”.
Smart city adoption has been slow in Africa and yet very popular within the developed
nations [5]. However, there have been initiatives in place in other developing nations such
as India and South Africa to have smart cities in their respective countries. Current
literature shows that the pressure in cities requires innovative ways that enable cities to
efficiently serve the citizens [6]. These innovative services are some of the elements of
smart cities. There is evidence of limited research on Information security frameworks in
Namibia and some African cities [7].
2. Literature Review
This section presents a brief literature review of the study. It outlays an overview of smart
cities, features of smart cities, ICT services in smart cities, secure framework design
guidelines, approaches for service design in smart cities and information security models.
3. Study Approach
A qualitative approach within a case study was selected for the study. This methodology is
suitable for this research as it gives the researcher numerous options of sourcing data that
enhance the understanding of the phenomenon under study. The case study strategy is used.
Qualitative approach was suitable as it allows the authors to apply and use own ideas to
formulate framework components. In this case, the City of Windhoek that intends to be a
smart city by 2022 is considered. We have used semi-structured interviews to propose the
key SIIF components and designed the framework based on smart cities experiences. The
qualitative approach to design a security framework is selected as this has been used in
developing other related cyber security frameworks by professional organisations and other
established researchers [23]. The selection of the participants was based on their roles and
participations in smart city involvement. For example, some participants were
representatives from government, academics, private sector and international organisations.
Participants for the interview were purposively selected and should have the required
information to assist the authors to have deep understanding on the study. From each of the
stakeholders, one would be randomly picked to give a total of seven (7) participants for the
interviews.
4. Results
The data for this study was collected through one-on-one interviews. Seven (7) ICT experts
involved in Smart Windhoek planning were targeted. Interviews were 1-2 hours long.
However, for the purpose of this paper, only the responses to the question related to the
Information infrastructure is presented. The results were shared in a workshop that involved
selected key stakeholders responsible for smart city planning. However, since the
framework is mainly from an academic point of view, more engagements with other key
stakeholders are required. An implementation plan should be formulated including all the
parties involved in city planning.
Findings from Interviews
The results were obtained from the ICT stakeholders in Namibia, these represented various
entities such as government, private companies, ICT service providers and Mobile
operators. The results are reported as per the respondents (R1…, R8). These were coded as
follows:
R1- Steve, R2 -Wesley, R3 - Ester, R4 - Belinda, R5 - Collin, R6- Angeline, R7 - Abbie
and R8 -Kendrick. All the participants interviewed mentioned the following terms in
describing the smart city:
Service delivery
Infrastructure
Governance
Access to information
Security of services and infrastructure
6. Conclusion
The paper has presented the main components of a secure Information Infrastructure
Framework for a smart Windhoek. The results from the participants were very broad and
show the complexity of smart cities. The findings were shared with the key ICT
participants. The recommendations were to propose this framework to be further discussed
with more stakeholders and be implemented in Namibia. We argue that as cities improve
and bring in technologies, an understanding of the security and having the guiding
framework presented will assist. The paper outlines the importance of security within smart
cities. As the City of Windhoek intends to be a smart city by 2022, there is no doubt that
this framework will be referred to and be of use in the Namibian environment. The
presented key components are meant to assist city fathers and smart city stakeholders to
plan and implement sustainable solutions for developing cities. Though the paper focused
on Namibia, it is clear that the finding and proposed framework could be applied in other
countries. We learnt that there has been efforts in developing nations to implement smart
secure solutions. However, numerous ICT challenges are available mainly in the
infrastructure to enable secure smart city development. We have presented a guiding ICT
information Secure infrastructure that could assist developing nations to improve the
security of services.
References
[1]. United Nations. World Urbanization Prospects.2014.
[2]. Group E. Five ICT Essentials for Smart City. 2012.
[3]. L.M Amugongo. Smart Cities: Namibia should not be left out. 2016.