A Fable about Smart and Sister Cities

Prabhu Swapan had built his reputation in a spectacular way in Amibor Corporation. He represented the new blood, an innovator. On the other hand, the company had gone through several waves of transformation in the market and always kept among the 10 largest in the technology industry.

It was now hundreds of deployments in the cloud, presence in various areas such as Social Web, mobility, Internet of Things, Big Data, etc.

Amibor, through its competent administration managed to stay alive and well. Prabhu was in headquarters with his boss, the CTO, who had bought his idea. But the big risk now would be his own, since he would present the project to the board.

Many unreleased stuff and a big risk. He trusted his idea, but felt the goose bumps because of the audience, the exposure that he might suffer and eventually at the end, be submitting his dream to its biggest test.

After the greetings and the introduction of his boss he was to the point, using as always suggestive images or simple graphics and then bringing the most important content of the presentation with his speech.

“Gentlemen, as you know we are facing a crisis in which inequality bothers much more, is no longer a social, philanthropic issue for now have clear impacts globally, on the economy, the environment, the use of resources. We are in 2029, and we can already say that the review of Millennium Development Goals for the period 2015-2030 largely failed. Governments, local governments, NGOs around the world are pushing for greater transfer of funds from richer nations. There is a movement in this direction and I would like to, along with everyone here, come to the conclusion that we need to increase our spending on Social Responsibility coming in 2.5% of net revenue.”

The CFO was startled and was the first to ask: “Look, if you want to increase the amount of CSR, need not to ride it all! And certainly not call the board.”

“Please, it’s much more than that. In up to eight minutes I will explain everything.”

Prabhu was meticulous, detail-oriented one, and at last this is what had assured him the trek to there. “We must be prepared to the change that is happening. Our program with city governments engaged in Smart Cities is the most successful in the world. Our multiple package of technology transfer was a great supporter of these programs and of course, helped us sell more in the most progressive cities. Now, we need to use the public-private partnership, expand our program, extend it to the LDC (Less Developed Nations) which will benefit the Sister City related to each of the Smart Cities.”

Now it was the turn of the CMO. “I do not understand, this Sister Cities program (Sister Cities or Twin Towns) was developed after World War II with cultural and commercial purposes. What does this have to do with us?”

“What is being discussed now is to improve collaboration, reduce inequality directly with city-to-city programs. Smart cities as Johannesburg in South Africa and Lyon in France would transfer technology to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in this regard.”

Prabhu changed the slide and went fast. “We know that in 2015, a Bank of Technology was launched by the United Nations and a transfer program is already being experienced. The point is that, now the social seals of UN to foreign trade of professional technology services and solutions in the cloud is being demanded by various parties.”

Finally, the CEO commented, wanting to see bluntly and wonder why the proposal would be unlike anything they have done. – Mr. Swapan, we really need to better understand, Why is it innovative? So far, it would be for me only an increase in the budget of philanthropy and social responsibility. Really, I agree that this would be for another forum. Who is with us in it anyway? How will we get it back, even in terms of reputation? We do not have image problems and have done much more than the competition and more that our most frequent partners.

“Thanks for asking. It is precisely this.”

Prabhu knew this was the crucial moment and bet on boost around the question of the head of the corporation.

“In these 15 years the Bank of Technology, he gained respect with projects that really started to transform some countries in the LDC block. But the best thing is not here, but in return in medium and long term and the possibility of incoming technologies in the first wave of business in these countries. Prabhu showed a slide with numbers, which emphasized a set of technologies relevant to the projects of Smart Cities, but they were used as Quick-Wins in Sister Cities. A financial return number was not unreasonable and it made sense to investment. He went on. — The problem is that only trials were made. They understand they need weight partnerships for major projects. We will not be alone, they will be present mediating and auditing projects.”

Prabhu showed another slide where elegy 5 pilot projects; the earnings would Amibor; an unprecedented transformational project for five poorest cities, smart cities sisters. Before they ask, continued.

“You may be wondering why a project with a similar return with many we have and with an increased risk makes it interesting. This is the question. Personally I have been with United Nations representatives and the cities hosting the first projects. First, a new social seal should be launched that will increase our obligations. As you know, a number of social seals now work as an imperative as strong as local or international trade laws. We ran simulations on networks and talk with partners and large customers, there is a very high demand for efforts like these across the network due to the LDC crisis and the social impact which is beginning to be global. From what we understand, this should come out fast and have great acceptance. In 2 or 3 years this could change the landscape from CSR weight in corporate investments. The seal is not only from suppliers, but for the entire chain of consumer services to the end customer, providing information as an index more or less achieved through this differentiated investment. Also, I spoke a lot with the staff of the Bank of Technology. They want a partner like us for a great driver, with special conditions and where they enter with their own investment in the first wave. This will not happen again and if necessary they will do so soon with other company, from what I understood. What I got was to stay ahead with a project at hand to start with. We have no complete guarantees. But we will have a strong advantage now positioning ourselves ahead of all competition.”

The last slide Prabhu Swapan shown in long-term position where Amibor would be in those cities, the technologies that would be introduced, the total project cost and the expected return over time, as well as the expected financial participation of the Bank of Technology and the Smart Cities richer sisters. The plan to spend 2.5% in CSR would be achieved in the long term only with an earlier return on investment, on a global basis.

Soon after the CEO had consulted his team, he gave a green light to Prabhu to officially present to those illustrious partners its pilot project, being however kept the same conditions. Later, they would be engaging then to a formal agreement. He was thinking, after all Amibor remained at the top for believing in innovative, often acting with the heart and ultimately not fail to see in all these cases some good numbers.

Before the end, the CFO had to comment with a slight smile. – Hey Prabhu. In case this is a failure I will personally hunt you down wherever you are. But… You did a good job!

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