Pully under the microscope
Quantified indicators developed by the International Telecommunication Union to mesure a city’s durability and digital maturity.
Is drinking water and wastewater treated properly? What are the actions undertaken by Pully to promote culture? Is the coverage of the high-speed Internet network sufficient? How do citizens move around the city? What is the level of development of the online services offered by the municipal administration?
Designed as an analysis and communication tool for the Municipality, the Communal Council, the administration and the citizens, the "Pully under the microscope" report provides an overview of the city, based on some 100 criteria covering the fields of sustainable development and digitisation, and attempts to answer these questions. Conducted in partnership with Swisscom, this "photography" is the result of a collective and transversal work that involved the entire administration.
This project was initiated by the International Telecommunication Union and fifteen United Nations agencies. More than a hundred cities around the world - including Valencia, Nairobi, Buenos Aires, Singapore and Bizerte - have documented this information. The results highlight Pully's strengths, such as waste management or safety (among others) while at the same time reveal areas where there is potential for improvement, such as energy consumption in public buildings or soft mobility.
What does ITU certification measure?
As of now, the “United for Smart and Sustainable Cities” (U4SSC) certification is the only certification of its kind at the international level: it certifies that the City of Pully has measured its level of sustainability and digitization according to the U4SSC standard. However, this method does not suggest goals to be achieved. Indeed, these must be set by the cities based on their context or in consultation with the cantonal or federal authorities. In other words, just because Pully has received this certification does not mean that it is a smart and sustainable city: the method simply offers a perspective on how to achieve this goal. Pully then decided to go further by listing the objectives to reach and comparing the local results with reference values.
Perspective: ITU, U4SSC, and “Sustainable Development Goals”
The ITU is a specialized United Nations institution for information and communication technologies (ICTs). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are comprised of 17 goals set by UN Member States to eradicate poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. As for the U4SSC platform, it was created to achieve the 11thobjective, “Make Cities Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable.