Venkaiah Launches Centre For Smart Cities At Sri City

Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu visited the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Sri City for inaugurating the Centre for Smart Cities.

Srini Raju, Chairman, Sri City Foundation, and Member Secretary, IIIT, along with Kumar Ramachandran, Member, Board of Governers, and Prof. Vinay Kumar Mittal gave him a rousing reception.

Prof Mittal explained the objective of setting up the Centre For Smart Cities, and said that it would also help Sri City in managing its water and power resources efficiently, besides balancing its ecosystem.

Naidu declared the Centre For Smart Cities inaugurated, and addressed the gathering.

Expressing happiness at inaugurating the centre, Naidu said, "I am happy because this is a clear manifestation of a smart idea triggering action towards furthering the cause of building Smart Cities. As far as I know this is among the first such initiatives by academic institutions. Such initiatives are the need of the hour to further the goal of improving the way our urban areas are governed and managed. I am pleased with the initiative of IIIT and Sri City, and compliment all the concerned."

Commenting on the initiative taken up by the IIIT, Ravindra Sannareddy said, "Smart technologies significantly improve the quality of human life and offer promising solutions to the growing challenges of urbanisation. I am confident that the Centre For Smart Cities of IIIT will enable R&D of such technologies for building smart cities and smart villages, and aid in achieving the goals announced by central and state governments." (INN)