VERITAS
Academy for smart solutions
An academic initiative towards building human resource capacity to support the 100 smart cities initiative of the Government of India.
The Government’s bona fide in the smart city approach is unquestionable – an Rs98,000 crore budgetary allocation has already been made towards creating 100 smart cities in India. This is expected to increase many fold as the program begins to get implemented from September 2016 However, this level funding alone is not likely to ensure the creation of smart cities. Of equal importance is the capacity and capability of the existing machinery to generate and manage such cities.
With the absolute conviction that the human resources capacity at State and Local levels is grossly inadequate to meet the special challenges posed by the smart cities approach, an appropriate academic institute – VERITAS ACADEMY FOR SMART SOLUTIONS (VASS), has been established to produce smart city specialists – smart city planners, smart city architects, smart city engineers and so on. It has been conceived and created with the express objective of of generating a pool of adequately and appropriately qualified professionals who would steer the government’s vision for an efficiently, effectively and future-oriented Urban India by the middle of the Centuary.
Thus, the Veritas Academy would be focused on smart cities oriented activities that enhances the capacities of different levels government – Central, State and Local, through programs in training (both at long-term diploma/degree levels as well as short-term certificate in specific expertise levels), smart cities oriented research and consultancy services. Towards this, the Academy is committed to involving highly qualified and experienced professionals to be recruited locally as well as internationally.
The 100 Smart Cities project, a flagship project of the government, is considered an ideal approach to address most, if not all, chronic urban issues of India. In the global context too Smart Cities are being pursued aggressively as all other measures hitherto tried and tested have fallen far short of effectively neutralising the undesirable consequences of rapid urbanization, particularly in developing countries.
There are clearly two elements that steers a smart city strategy to mould and shape future cities – a demand element and a supply element. Firstly, the calls for an alternative to the conventional approach of dealing with urban issues sectorally, which has been found to be ineffective as evidenced by sprawling cities with chronic problems - the demand element. On the supply side, there have been a plethora of innovations in technology that, when adopted appropriately in the planning and management of cities, would go a long way in mitigating the problems currently faced by cities and preventing catastrophes in the future while greatly improving urban quality of life for all. This being so, it is the dovetailing of the two elements that would ensure the emergence of smarter cities in the future.
Thus, in establishing the Veritas Academy, considerable thought has been given to the development and delivery of programs to maximize the effectiveness of the training offered. These include, but not restricted to,
All the above would illustrate efforts already put in and bear testimony to the commitment towards realising the Veritas Academy.
Objectives:
The Repository of Knowledge – Library Every Institution is equipped with a well stocked library a reservoir of knowledge. It houses reference and reading material for students. Specialized journals and a Media Library of CDs and DVDs are available on the shelves. The library will houses an electronic-media cell on its premises where students and faculty members can browse varied databases.
Creating Smart Cities is the Government of India’s response to the threat of rapid urbanization overwhelming the existing cities of India in the very near future. Such growths of cities would be stretching the bearing capacity of their infrastructure to extents that could cause the complete breakdown of urban facilities and services. Globally too, Smart Cities are being pursued in earnest to address chronic urban problems. As cities are considered engines of economic growth and incubators of innovation and opportunities it is of utmost importance that we maintain our cities in the best of health. Thus, planning cities that function smartly and are managed smartly has become an absolute necessity.
It has been determined that special skills and competencies are required for any professional, be it an urban planner, architect, an engineer (in any specialization), an environmentalist, or from any other relevant field, to effectively involve in Smart Cities planning and management. No conventional academic program in India at present is in a position to package relevant courses that would offer these smart cities related skills and competencies.
It is the express intention of Veritas Academy to fill this void by packaging and offering exclusive courses in academic programmes dedicated to specialization in Smart Cities. The courses would be taught by a team of internationally and nationally reputed professionals. These courses would draw from a plethora of innovations in technology, particularly in the field of Information and Communications. As these innovations are known to be futuristic their adaptation in the smart cities planning and management courses is considered an absolute necessity.
Courses packaged in the Veritas programme would introduce a systems approach to cities, use concepts such as, inter alia, Internet of Things (IOT), open data, big data, crowd sourcing, spatial information systems, examine smart urban designs that enhances functional efficiency of cities and explore effective and smart operational and management systems that is business friendly while ensuring social and environmental integrity.
When you enrol in a Veritas programme, you elevate to become a specialist from being a mere professional. You would learn how smart cities would effectively address the ills of rapid urbanization and become more resilient. You would also learn how smart cities would be safe cities, inclusive cities, free flowing cities and above all cities that are ecologically pristine offering its residents a very high quality of life. You would acquire skills and competencies to smartly diagnose chronic urban problems and prescribe appropriate smart remedial measures. You will also learn how to introduce smart monitoring mechanisms to ensure a city’s growth is on a healthy track.
Applicants for the PG Diploma in Smart City Planning & Management in the general category should have a minimum of 55% aggregate marks and those in the SC/ST/OBC categories should have a minimum of 50% aggregate marks in below mentioned degree programs from a recognized University/Institution:
Those with other qualifications with relevant work experience may be considered for admission at the discretion of the Director of VERITAS.
| THEME (Possible course title) | FOCUS | SKILLS & COMPETENCIES AQUIRED | HOURS PER WEEK/ CREDIT UNITS (CUs) | LEAD FACULTY | SUPPORT FACULTY | CREDIT UNITS / (No of WEEKS) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Contextualising Smart Cities |
|
| Lecture = 2hrs Consult = 1hr Tutorial = 1hr Lab = 0hrs CUs = 3 | |||
| B | Smart Urban Economic Systems to identify growing market completions and consumer demands |
| Lecture = 3hrs Consult = 1hr Tutorial = 1hr Lab = 2hrs CUs = 4 | ||||
| C | Smart Urban Social Systems to deal with growing expectations |
| Lecture = 3hrs Consult = 1hr Tutorial = 1hr Lab = 2hrs CUs = 4 | ||||
| D | Smart Urban Infrastructure for ensuring greater reliability and connectivity |
| Lecture = 3hrs Consult = 1hr Tutorial = 2hr Lab = 4hrs CUs = 5 | ||||
| E | Smart Urban Utilities Provision and Management to incorporate rapidly improving technology capabilities |
| Lecture = 3hrs Consult = 1hr Tutorial = 2hr Lab = 4hrs CUs = 5 | ||||
| F | Smart Urban Design for spatial organization and structure of the 21st century cities |
| Lecture = 2hrs Consult = 1hr Tutorial = 1hr Lab = 4hrs CUs = 3 | ||||
| G | Smart Urban Governance to manage and administer techno-economic growth of cities, |
| Lecture = 2hrs Consult = 1hr Tutorial = 1hr Lab = 2hrs CUs = 3 | ||||
| H | Evaluation and Monitoring Systems : Smart metrics for the 21st century cities |
| Lecture = 2hrs Consult = 1hr Tutorial = 1hr Lab = 2hrs CUs = 3 | ||||
| I | Smart City Laboratory I – Spatial analytical tools and applications |
| Lecture = 4hrs Consult = 4hr Tutorial = 4hr Lab = 8hrs CUs = 4 | ||||
| J | Smart City Laboratory I – Innovations in technology for smart city functioning |
| Lecture = 4hrs Consult = 4hr Tutorial = 4hr Lab = 8hrs CUs = 4 | IBM/CISCO/Siemens |
Unlike most conventional academic institutions, which offer academic programs that aim to provide only a qualification to the graduating student who would then be expected to prospect for suitable job opportunities, the VERITAS Academy has been expressly established in response to a severe dearth of appropriately skilled and competent professionals to deal with the chronic urban conditions of Indian cities, which have been predicted to get much worse.
Unlike most conventional academic institutions, which offer academic programs that aim to provide only a qualification to the graduating student who would then be expected to prospect for suitable job opportunities, the VERITAS Academy has been expressly established in response to a severe dearth of appropriately skilled and competent professionals to deal with the chronic urban conditions of Indian cities, which have been predicted to get much worse. Mantras of the past to address the problems of rapid urbanization are no longer effective and sustainable. Thus the call for smart cities with smarter systems has been reverberating, not only in India, but all around the World. Students enrolled in the course will be engaged in quasi-real life domestic and international urban planning projects.
100 Smart Cities envisioned by the Government of India (Thousands more would be required to meet the challenges of predicted urban growth;
Cities being developed along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)
National, State and City government human resource needs
Private developers embarking on mega development projects in India and overseas – Sri Lanka & Mauritius
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For those qualifying with these specializations abundant career opportunities are expected to open up. Apart from the 100 Smart Cities project,
