Mr. Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of the UN International Telecommunication Union, has revealed that The Bahamas has made history. The Bahamian island of New Providence has been named the world’s first “Smart Island.”
Earlier this year when launching enhanced automation services at the Registrar General's Department, Prime Minister The Rt. Hon. P. G. Christie, M.P. had indicated that the ITU made such an assurance last year on the occasion of the 5th ITU Green Standards Week held in The Bahamas, December 14-18, under the Theme, "Powering Smart Sustainable Cities, Nations & Islands". At the end of that programme, participants issued “The Bahamas Declaration” which included a commitment to “Establish an Initiative on Powering Smart Sustainable Cities, Nations & SIDS that will assist countries, cities and SIDS to become smarter and more sustainable across their respective territories.”
Similar to the Smart Sustainable Cities programme, a “Smart Island” adopts sustainable means of managing infrastructural complexities, with the utilization of modern technologies, in order to improve quality of life for residents.”
The “smart” designation applies to places that are forward-looking economically and socially, that monitor critical infrastructure and maximize services to citizens. The ITU maintains that being “smart” means “a system of systems working together”.
