The Open Data City of the Future

"The first step in becoming an Innovative "Smart City" begins with the collection, acquisition and analyses of all municipal data into a centralized data platform by a communal Innovate Team. The huge potential of an Innovative Team is that a municipality can use the analyzed data to address common problems or challenges faced by the constituency while inspiring entrepreneurship as well as new innovative solutions for civic improvements." Yakov Marks Chief Data Officer *MTDAAT (Ma'a lot-Tarshiha Data Acquisition and Analysis Team

"The data that an Innovative Team can acquire through open and free access from across all the municipal sources, needs to be analyzed and shared openly with free access across all city departments. Thereby unlocking the barriers that once blocked the municipality's potential to solve problems, instill change, foster enterprise and inspire the constituency.

Byanalyzing existing and incoming data an Innovative Team can provide new solutions, create ways to implement them and measure the results." Yakov Marks Chief Data Officer *MTDAAT (Ma'a lot-Tarshiha Data Acquisition and Analysis Team

• In most cities the varied sources of municipal data are as though they come from "Tower of Babel" of feudal lands. 
• Information in most municipalities is not shared causing "Data Stagnation".
• The issue is how to formalize, accumulate, analyze and interpret the different forms of data-sets from city wide departments and sources into one finite set.

"Cities are composed of various departments with software-intensive systems that support the operation of modern municipal departments. Information systems help manage the various day by day processes in the departments. However, many departments are not linked to a central data bank or city-wide hub. The information from one department that may be essential for the answer to a problem in another department may not be realized due to the non-communication and sharing that could be realized through "open-data"."

The true value of data is measured by the positive action taken as a result of understanding the data. A Joint Municipal Data platform will help governments identify specific, measurable goals founded on actual data to help them become more operationally efficient, effectively meet constituent needs, and create economic growth in their communities.

New administrations are often elected based on specific improvement platforms. Sharing Municipal Data openly helps ensure that those promises are being addressed appropriately and proactively. Since all programs and projects have milestones or goals that can be measured and tracked an Open Data Dashboard could be instigated as an important part to display progress of staying on track, on budget, and promoting the success of any project. Additionally, by providing transparency into how goals are progressing, it demonstrates to the constituency that progress is being made and money is being invested wisely.

 What is "Big Data"

Big data is often characterized by 3Vs

• the extreme volume of data,
• the wide variety of data types and
•  the velocityat which the data must be processed .

Although big data doesn't equate to any specific volume of data, the term is often used to describe terabytes, petabytes and even exabytes of data captured over time.

“Voluminous data” can come from myriad different sources, such as business sales records, the collected results of scientific experiments or real-time sensors used in the internet of things.

Data may be raw or preprocessed using separate software tools before analytics are applied.

In General:

• Open data has become a hallmark of good government because of its well documented return on investment for the public.
• Open Data is a valuable information resource helping local small businesses compete with large companies.
• Unlike the previous Industrial Revolutions, which were topped by how much information we could transmit and receive, we were limited by how much information we can process and act upon.
• This digitalization of everything implies that we are increasingly reliant on analytics to enhance productivity and recognize the fundamental fact that at the heart of all smart-infrastructure, is data.
• What used to take months or weeks now occurs in real time.
• Today’s level of decision-making requires information that is current in the hands of every user when they need it.

"The digital telegraph of the 21st century is analytics built directly into IoT processes."

We are at the cusp of a brand-new fourth Industrial Revolution; which is building upon the third. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that blurs the lines between physical, digital, and biological worlds.

Key areas that can be significantly impacted by the opportunities big data offers; include the health, safety, movement or traffic flow, and revenue systems that sustain inhabitants.

Cities striving to become more responsive must have a "stack" of essential building blocks, said Crawford.

• First municipalities need fiber Internet connections; so that large data files can be shared securely, quickly and seamlessly among city staffers,along with
• data sensors and
• CCTV for live "real -time" monitoring positioned at key locations like city bridges, tunnels, and major roadways to help identify problems and repairs

Then, they should publish collected public data and share it across city government and with the public, and have data scientists study the numbers to discern trouble spots that will drive government action and perhaps policy.

Making the collected data open is a critical component of responsiveness. "It's important because open data—well visualized—allows employees to see other agencies, it allows residents to hold their city hall responsible, but also because it provides data that can lead to breakthroughs and solutions" from inside and outside government

Because cities may have thousands of datasets across multiple servers, databases, and computers, it’s helpful to narrow down which datasets should be included in the inventory overall and how to plan for inventory updates in the future.

This collection of data from varied sources and departments is made possible by a thoroughly trained Municipal staff.  The Municipal Analytic Team then utilize the acquired data and analytic systems and processes to recommend and facilitate projects for the good of the constituents (residents).

The changing nature of the technologies themselves and our urban environments are turning into landscapes populated by more and more connected “Things”. The "Thing" are equipped with many different sensors for data capture and analytics. This is driving a growing need for inter-operable platforms and standards that give more players wider access to city data.

This digitalization of everything implies that we are increasingly reliant on analyticsto enhance productivity and recognize the fundamental fact that at the heart of all smart-infrastructure, is data.

The first step to treating your city’s data as an asset is to create a comprehensive data inventory with consistent metadata and to establish a clear authority body to oversee the data inventory process is key to success.

Knowing what data your city collects leads to efficiency, and increases accountability. It also eases citywide reporting, decision making, and performance optimization.

Managing a data inventory reduces risk and uncertainty by creating a checklist for security and compliance requirements and improves a city’s ability to designate accountability for the quality of the data collected and created.

A municipality gains the ability to deliver results by its acceptance and creation of a culture of using its data assets., enhanced abilities to properly and efficiently access the information collected from archived municipal files, in various city department and from the public sector in a centralized data platform.

Because cities may have thousands of datasets across multiple servers, databases, and computers, it’s helpful to narrow down which datasets should be included in the inventory overall and how to plan for inventory updates in the future.

This collection of data from varied sources and departments is made possible by a thoroughly trained Municipal staff.  The Municipal Analytic Team then utilize the acquired data and analytic systems and processes to recommend and facilitate projects for the good of the constituents (residents).

Today's digitalization of everything implies that we are increasingly reliant on analytics to enhance productivity and recognize the fundamental fact that at the heart of all smart-infrastructure, is data.

Because cities may have thousands of datasets across multiple servers, databases, and computers, it’s helpful to narrow down which datasets should be included in the inventory overall and how to plan for inventory updates in the future.

The datasets worth inventorying (collecting and inputing) are those which are considered assets to employees, departments, executive leadership, and the general public.

Data assets can range from individual datasets that are connected to forms that people fill out, to integrated databases that track a city’s operations in any given field (building permits, public safety responses, etc.)

Just as it is important for cities to know what data they have, it’s equally important to know what data a city does not have. With a complete picture, cities can begin to collect and use city data to better align mission goals, increase consistency and confidence in decision making, and build performance intelligence.

Managing a data inventory is crucial to better information sharing and integration and a sustainable comprehensive open data program. Providing a public data inventory will make city employees’ jobs easier when they need information from another department - they will know what exists and how to find it. The same benefits apply to the public regarding its search for city information. Having a complete inventory is also important when determining which datasets to release publicly.

It’s not feasible to release all of a city’s public datasets at once, so decisionmakers need a prioritization strategy. The data inventory can be used to prioritize the release of data according to strategic priorities, public interest, etc.

Cities striving to become more responsive must have a "stack" of essential building blocks, said Crawford.

·         First, they need fiber connections so that large data files can be shared quickly and seamlessly among city staffers,

·         along with data sensors positioned at key locations like city bridges, tunnels, and major roadways to help identify problems and repairs.

Then, they should publish collected public data and share it across city government and with the public, and have data scientists study the numbers to discern trouble spots that will drive government action and perhaps policy.

“Understanding the pulse of life through the use of sensors to improve quality of life in cities.”

Making the collected data open is a critical component of responsiveness. "It's important because open data—well visualized—allows employees to see other agencies, it allows residents to hold their city hall responsible, but also because it provides data that can lead to breakthroughs and solutions" from inside and outside government.

 Advantages of a Data Platform:

A Municipal Data platform enables City Managers and Mayors to extract maximum value from their available budgets.

A Data platform provides real-time access for operational staff to the repository data, thereby providing department heads the ability to intervene or modify plans on the fly if circumstances require.

Through the use of a Municipal platform the City Constituent Care Service and Response center has real-time access to constituent residential and service data to allow incoming queries to be handled on-the-spot, thereby minimizing call-out costs and improving customer service levels.

Furthermore, the Municipal Data Platform can rapidly assimilate, assess and act on data thereby showing the constituents that the Municipality is listening and is responsive.

A Municipal Data platform is a framework that allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers using simple programming models. It is designed to scale up from single servers to thousands of machines, each offering local computation and storage. Rather than rely on hardware to deliver high-availability, the library itself is designed to detect and handle failures at the application layer, so delivering a highly-available service on top of a cluster of computers, each of which may be prone to failures.

Predictive Analytics SaaS (Software as a service) solutions are based on proprietary Machine Learning Big-Data algorithms, guaranteeing real time accurate and reliable predictions, in a fully automated, plug-and-play manner. The data and predictions are presented with advanced visual tools, enabling end users to self-explore, gain insights and comprehend the data, without requiring any statistical background.

The Big Data engine provides real-time accurate load forecasts at the highest level of granularity - the meter / appliance and sub-hour levels. Due to the engine's self-learning capabilities, it models and monitors each meter separately, learns its patterns and behavior, automatically fits its appropriate model and senses its early warnings for irregularities, guaranteeing real-time accurate energy forecasts and actionable insights.

The data and predictions are presented with advanced visual tools, enabling the end user to self-explore, gain insights and comprehend the data, run simulations and impact analysis, view correlations, create 'what if' scenarios and more, without requiring any technical or statistical background.

While most Predictive Analytics solutions require extensive services of data mining experts for the designing, implementation and support, Grid4C provides a fully automated solution that is easy to implement, and does not require on-going support of analysts. The Grid4C distinctive self-learning engine enables to implement the products in a plug-and-play manner.

By freely collecting and combining data from municipal departments Open Data can provide valuable insights into how any city works and how departments may better serve the constituency as well as those that live and work in the city.

Over the past decade, the scope and content of data related to government activities has changed dramatically. The sheer quantity of data available for public consumption, the way in which it is structured and how datasets are used has the potential to impact program planning, analysis and evaluation at the local government level

"That is why our research focus is the intersection of government and data, ranging from open data and predictive analytics to civic engagement technology. We seek to promote the combination of integrated, cross-agency data with community data to better discover and preemptively address civic problems."

The steps to becoming a "Smart City" begins with "Big Data".

First steps:	·         Data Collection and Acquisition ·         Establish the sharing of data and laying the groundwork for inter-departmental cooperation ·         Creating a trained internal work force.
Second Step:	Data Analyses and processing by a coordinated data analytic team
Third Step:	Recommendations for solutions based on established data by a Chief Analytic Officer.
Final Step:	A Smart City

How to Create Your Data Catalog (Inventory)

The first major task for the Data Coordinators is to create a data catalog (or inventory) of your department’s data.

Follow the 3 major steps below to conduct your data inventory:

1.      Identify data sources

2.      Brainstorm and identify datasets in each data source

3.      Complete dataset inventory template (for each dataset)

Step 1: Identify data sources

Your data may be housed in a variety of places - from inside information systems or databases to shared drives and folders. This can also include 3rd party vendors and data hosted on vendor systems. Step 1 is about identifying the major data sources in your department.

·         Questions to help identify and discover data sources:

·         What information systems does your department use?

·         What databases does your department use?

·         What applications capture information or are used in your business processes?

·         Are some data resources kept in spreadsheets (on shared or individual drives)?

·         What information are we already publishing and where did that information come from?

For each of the data sources:

·         Provide a name and brief description of the data sources

·         Capture any technical details and point of contacts.

Regarding Smartphone Applications and Sympathetic Constituent Call Service Centers:

Tom Saunders, a researcher at England-based research and innovation foundation Nesta stated that residents can also be tapped as walking repositories of useful data.

"Cities are covered in a network of people who all have smartphones, it’s a fruitful way to make the cities smarter."

To run the smartest cities, residents need to not only be informed but to also be ready to lead the charge. "It has to start from the people up," said David Gershon, founder of the Empowerment Institute.

Advanced big data technologies can provide municipal governments unprecedented opportunities to proactively change the lives of their citizenry, all through the use of data.

A "responsive" city is one that uses the information generated by its interactions with residents to better understand and predict the needs of neighborhoods, to measure the effectiveness of city agencies and workers, to identify waste and fraud, to increase transparency, and, most importantly, to solve problems

"Cities are organized vertically, and people live horizontally. Data-Smart City Solutions focuses on local government efforts to improve citizen-city engagement through technology.”

“By using its own data and social media, a city "should learn what its citizens are saying about their needs and the issues in their communities; it should learn across agencies about the solutions to problems; it should learn from the data about good actors and bad actors,"

“Data drives decision-making and it drives a lot of the services we all consume… Publishing the data allows everyone inside the city and outside to go in and add intelligence and services on top of it.” Peter Marx, Chief Technology Officer for the City of Los Angeles

Regarding Internet access:

"Without citizen access to reliable, high speed broadband and/or WIFI, the participation rates in studies to determine what gaps smart cities technologies can fill may not be accurately identified. Smart city technology should not happen in ivory towers, but must foster better citizen engagement. “Jim Kurose, assistant director of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate.

"Broadband is “a critical utility” like power or water and citizens need it to advance." Hugh Miller Chief Technology Officer, San Antonio, Texas

Data-Driven Performance Indicators:

Local governments strive to represent and serve their constituents well. Data-driven metrics ensure that everyone is speaking the same language as they continue to solve problems efficiently. By publishing and tracking key metrics on an Open Data Dashboard, residents can respond accordingly by making their voices heard through direct feedback and voting at the polls.

• Create goals based on the latest data uploaded to the system and reflected on the Open Data Dashboard across as many departmental or functional areas as needed
• Use data applications to easily reflect fresh uploaded data with minimal human intervention.
• Organize your goals from a single Open Data Dashboard that shows the status of all goals from a single view
• Through the use of the Open Data Dashboard you can scale your performance program up or down as needed, expanding to additional areas, or by focusing on the top priorities for your government. 

The roles and general responsibilities in support of open data.

Role	General Responsibilities
Data Coordinators	Data Coordinators are designated for each department as the main point of contact and accountability for open data in their department. General responsibilities include: ·         Inventorying department data sets ·         Establishing a plan and timeline for publishing them ·         Serving as a key point of accountability for timelines and questions about data sets ·         Implementing privacy, data licensing, metadata and other standards and practices ·         Providing quarterly reports on progress in implementing the open data plan
Chief Data Officer	The Chief Data Officer is designated by the Mayor and is accountable for the city’s overall implementation of the open data policy. General responsibilities include: ·         Creating processes, rules and standards to implement the open data policy, including but not limited to: o   Prioritizing data sets for publication o   Determining what datasets are appropriate for public disclosure o   Creating data licensing and metadata standards and guidelines o   Providing guidance and assistance to City departments in releasing open data o   Providing guidance and assistance to City departments in assessing and, where appropriate, improving the accuracy, completeness, interoperability and other quality dimensions of data o   Facilitating creation of department implementation plans and reporting ·         Maintaining the open data website ·         Presenting an annual citywide implementation plan for open data ·         Assisting departments with analysis of city datasets.
Data Stewards	Data Stewards are individuals in charge of individual databases, datasets, or information systems. In general, a data steward has business knowledge of the data and can answer questions about the data itself. General responsibilities likely include: ·         Managing the dataset or source and authorizing changes to it ·         Managing access to and use of the data, including documentation ·         Managing accuracy, quality and completeness of the data.
Data Custodian	Data Custodians are individuals that assist with the technical implementation of individual databases, datasets, or information systems. Not all systems or data sources will have a data custodian. General responsibilities likely include: ·         Implementing technical changes requested by the data steward ·         Administration and maintenance for the database or system.

Notable Quotes:

"Residents can also be tapped as walking repositories of useful data since cities are covered in a network of people who all have smartphones. It’s a fruitful way to make the cities smarter." Tom Saunders, a researcher at England-based research and innovation foundation Nesta.

Businesses want to locate in smart communities. Why? Because being a part of a progressive city says good things about their brand. Plus, smart cities attract technical professionals and members of the creative class, a boon for recruiting qualified candidates.

 “We know that using data and technology has the ability toimprove the quality of lives of our residents,”“I am proud of the work we have done, and we will continue our focus onbettering city services through new and innovative approaches. ” Mayor of Boston Massachusetts, Martin J. Walsh

A municipality gains the ability to deliver results by its acceptance and creation of a culture of using its data assets., enhanced abilities to properly and efficiently access the information collected from archived municipal files, in various city department and from the public sector in a centralized data platform.

The importance of sharing "Big Data" (Government data) is an asset whose value otherwise is capped at the operational value it produces internally.

Opening "Big Data" to the public redeploys this asset to encourage entrepreneurialism and innovation outside the four corners of city hall.

Advanced big data technologies can provide municipal governments unprecedented opportunities to proactively change the lives of their citizenry, all through the use of data.

A "responsive" city is one that uses the information generated by its interactions with residents to better understand and predict the needs of neighborhoods, to measure the effectiveness of city agencies and workers, to identify waste and fraud, to increase transparency, and, most importantly, to solve problems.

"Cities are organized vertically, and people live horizontally. Data-Smart City Solutions focuses on local government efforts to improve citizen-city engagement through technology.”

“By using its own data and social media, a city "should learn what its citizens are saying about their needs and the issues in their communities; it should learn across agencies about the solutions to problems; it should learn from the data about good actors and bad actors,"

There is a high importance in the need for the sharing of collected data, whether locally produced or nationally produced. “Sharing” of collected data should be carried out to encourage not only savings in expenditures on the; municipal, state and National level but to encourage entrepreneurialism and innovation as well.

Unshared data is an asset whose beneficial value and potential monetary or budgetary gains to the local and national government, as well as public, is “unrealized” if it is "capped or restricted" at the source. By restricting access to this pool of data. its actual or true value will never be realized.

By opening the acquired "Big Data" to the managers of government departments and offices, they can gain unknown knowledge that was previously overlooked which could be beneficial to them on several levels.

"Yes, open data should be a big part of smart cities policies but there's also need to create the demand for it, the smarter cities are the ones that are able to transparently dish this data out well in advance before discussing future infrastructure projects." Tom Saunders, a researcher at England-based research and innovation foundation Nesta.

Cities are sitting on masses of data. Exposing open data for citizens, developers and businesses can unleash innovation and city efficiency and new monetization opportunities.

Eventually, data could even be shared across cities to support wider innovations, a smart region and a smart nation

Flood Mitigation: Innovative Water Management

The MTDAAT -Ma'a lot Tarshiha Data Acquisition and Analysis Team, which is part of the part of the Park Koren Industrial Management is researching items which may affect our community. One of these items is concerned with Flood Mitigation and Lake Monfort.

The Municipality of Ma'alot-Tarshiha is developing a plan to protect the waters of Lake Monfort. The project will also serve to mitigate the relatively minor, but inconvenient and potentially hazardous, flooding which occurs during the annual rainy season. The project will also help recharge the aquifer.

Urban flooding is due, in part, to the nature of infrastructure. Buildings, roads,sidewalks, parking lots and other surfaces are generally, often unavoidably, constructed with impermeable materials. Rainwater cannot pass through these materials. As a result, it runs off and collects in the streets where it becomes a problem. Just 25 millimeters of rain in an area of 92 square meters equals approximately 2460 liters of runoff (One inch of rain falling in an area of 1000 square feet equals 650 gallons of runoff).

Urban rainwater runoff carries polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, gasoline, engine oil, heavy metals and refuse from roads and parking lots. Roof runoff can add synthetic organic compounds to the mix. Gardens and parks are sources of nitrates and phosphorous from fertilizers, and pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.

Construction has recently been concluded on an eco-waterway, expanded wildlife habitat, and a wetland to purify and keep the waters of the lake clean. However, the lake watershed and the wetland are at risk of damage from the toxic mix of chemicals and heavy metals in the runoff. In the event of extreme rain events which climate change will bring us damage will be more serious, potentially overwhelming the wetland.

Fortunately, there are a number of low-tech changes that can be made to alleviate the problem. The idea is to get out of Mother Nature’s way by replacing existing impermeable surfaces with materials through which water can pass into the soil where pollutants are filtered out.

Fortunately, there are a number of low-tech changes that can be made to alleviate the problem. The idea is to get out of Mother Nature’s way by replacing existing impermeable surfaces with materials through which water can pass into the soil where pollutants are filtered out.

The graphic below illustrates one method to prevent rainwater from collecting in the streets. Water seeps through permeable (porous) filler between paving blocks into sub-surface layers of aggregate (crushed rock and gravel) and soil.

These layers filter the water which is then collected in pipes and conveyed to the lake watershed. Some of the filtered rainwater will seep into deeper soil layers and, ultimately, into the aquifer.

Israel is a water-stressed country in the best of times. The Galil is currently experiencing the fourth year of drought. As of 20 November, the water level of the Kinneret is a mere 55 centimeters above the lowest level ever recorded and falls by approximately 2-3 centimeters each week. At its peak, earlier this year, the level failed to reach the lower red line, though it came close.

Drought also effects the amount of water passing through the watershed to the lake. By diverting filtered runoff that would drain away from the lake, more water will enter the watershed than would otherwise be the case. As a result, less water will need to be pumped to keep the lake at an acceptable level.

Here is the link to a video from 2010 by a local photographer Shlomo Sharvit, showing the water in Lake Monfort at a very low level, and the affect of what happened when rainwater runoff began to pour into the lake.

Furthermore as the elevation of the lake is lower than the city itself, it is our intentions to install a hydro-electric generator to take advantage of the force produced by filtered rainwater flowing though pipes to the lake to provide energy to the eco-waterway pumps.
We are diligently searching for grants from foreign corporations and charitable foundations to finance our projects. It is also our fervent hope that some funding may also be available from the government.

We have asked our local residents to please take photos or videos of the flooding when the rains begin. Since we cannot refit the entire city at one time the citizen photo recording of the scenes of flooding  will help us to choose the best places to begin.
We will soon announce to the local residents where to submit flood reports.
We will install the replacement materials at a few sites, then evaluate the results to see if where we can improve the plan before continuing throughout the city.

The "Smart" and Innovative Ma'alot-Tarshiha: An Energy Independent City

Our city of "Ma'alot-Tarshiha" is a beautiful joint Jewish and Arab community of 27,000 people in northern Israel, located in the Western Galilee, about 600 meters (1,969 feet) above sea level. Our Municipality has become energy independent by the introduction of energy efficiency measures that have created economic benefits to the city budget.

In 2013, the Municipality of Ma’alot announced to the world that it was instigating a new project, called “Going into the Light,” administered by the Israeli start-up Juganu Systems. where over 13,000 new and retrofit luminaries were installed replacing all of the old street lights.  By the implementation of this initial step Ma’alot we have not only reduced our “Carbon Footprint "but we have induced other towns and villages in our area to join us. Ma'alot now enjoys brighter lighting while saving about $90,000 US each year in electricity operating costs, capital improvement and maintenance costs on all lighting elements. According to independent testing performed by the IEC (Israel Electrical Corporation), "Ma’alot reduced energy consumption by 75% while delivering even more light throughout the city’s streets and buildings."

At the time of the introduction of the program it was announced that some of savings derived from the LED lighting program would be reinvested into the creation of a "Innovative" research team that would be used to analyze city wide data and recommend additional programs to implement and integrate. The purpose of the Innovative Team would be to research means to increase energy efficiency, learn how to better manage waste and to improve the infrastructure and water programs under the auspices of the Park Koren Industrial Management in Ma'alot. These steps are being done to complete the change for a better and “Smarter” Ma’alot as an energy independent city.

Economical Savings and Energy Independent

In our research, we have seen on the Internet how other cities throughout the world have gained economical and energy savings through leasing underutilized public spaces for photo-voltaic (PV) Solar Roof systems to produce renewable sources of electricity.

In Ma’alot we have leased several Municipal buildings; mainly the city's schools and our Community Center to solar companies for solar energy collection. By the installation of solar energy collection roofs, the municipality has realized economical and energy savings gained from leasing the underutilized public spaces for community solar farms. Furthermore, we have recently instigated a program to lease underutilized parking areas to Solar Energy companies. This will benefit the community not only by producing clean energy by harnessing the power of the sun.

We did research into the posibility of installing solar canopies over parking areas which would contribute to the welfare of the residents. We found that the installation of solar collection units over parking areas will provide shaded areas from the sun and protection from inclement winter weather for the residents and their vehicles.

Parking in a covered facility contributes substantially to increased vehicle fuel efficiency, because it saves; having to cool cars in the summer and heating cars in the winter during inclement weather.

We have also taken strides in further reducing our “Carbon Footprint” and increase economic savings and energy reduction to the Municipality by instigating a “cogeneration program” for the reduction in city bio-mass in our waste management. With a cogeneration furnace, the municipality can improve the efficiency in waste reduction, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, promote economic growth, and maintain a robust energy infrastructure.

It is said that the transforming into a smart city is a long marathon, not a sprint. Without a well-structured strategic plan, you can’t prioritize nor make informed decisions nor can you track milestones or measure success.

Israeli accelerators are full of ‘Smart’ solutions which are being devised and developed in - healthcare, water management, energy supply and transport, for example. More and more of these Israeli designed technologies (apps) are becoming part of everyday life, and increasingly we live in an (IOT) Internet of Things network society, where (almost) everything is connected to (almost) everyone.

Clean and Efficient living

Smart Cities use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance quality, performance and interactivity of urban services, to reduce costs and resource consumption and to improve contact between citizens and government.

Citizen Participation

Cities need to be prepared for future developments to improve the quality of life. They can achieve this by sharing civic responsibility with residents through citizen engagement activities such as; kitchen table discussions at private homes, online discussion forums and workshops at community centers to communicate and engage citizens in a dialog about city projects. Through IOT apps, that allow for the ready exchange of data, cities can improve the efficiency of services and meet residents’ needs as well as unleash innovation and efficiency as well as new entrepreneurial opportunities.

Conclusion: An Energy Independent City

As we stated in this document we wish to implement "Smart City" solutions, with the objective transforming our municipality into a low CO₂, resource-efficient antifragile city. The installation of the LED lights on our streets and in our municipal buildings, was the initial step in our goal to becoming an energy independent city. Since this initial step we have shared our knowledge and experience with other municipalities.

From our experience, we have found that Cities can and need to substantially increase their efficiency in their daily operations and to manage their energy use through the use of ecologically friendly and carbon free methods to produce energy so that they can become true energy independent cities.

The Green Line is NOT a border!

For years in releation to the conflict between Israel and the "Arabs of the Mandated powers" (aka Palestinians) politicians and the news media have relayed a false statement by stating there are borders separating Israel from its surrounding Arab neighbors. This statement is a blatant untruth.

The Green Line, of 1949 was an Armistice and demarcation line set out in the Armistice Agreements between the armies of Israel and those of its neighbors (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria) after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. 

This line was draw according to positions of the two warring powers and it served as the de facto borders of the State of Israel from 1949 until the Six-Day War in 1967. It still continues to represent Israel’s internationally recognized borders with Lebanon, Syria and the two Palestinian territories: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

This false statement which is consistently used in refernce to the "West Bank" -the "Disputed Territories" and Gaza, infers the existance of the separation of territory by "Two High Contracting Parties" in a negotiated treaty, as ordainined in UNR 242. 

The truth of the matter is that the Arabs, "of the Mandated powers" (aka Palestinians) have never accepted any of the offers of generously negotiated peace treaties with the "Jewish State" of Israel.

So to clarify  the so called "Green line" IS NOT an international border. 

It refers only to the Armistice lines agreed to by all sides in the 1949 Rhodes Agreement after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Its name is derived from the green surveyor’s pencil that was used to indicate the Armistice lines on the map.

Justice Stephen M. Schwebel, who spent 19 years as a judge of the International Court of Justice at The Hague including three years as President. explained; 

"...modifications of the 1949 armistice lines among those States within former Palestinian territory are lawful (if not necessarily desirable), whether those modifications are, in Secretary Rogers's words, "insubstantial alterations required for mutual security" or more substantial alterations - such as recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the whole of Jerusalem.." and in a footnote he added "It should be added that the armistice agreements of 1949 expressly preserved the territorial claims of all parties and did not purport to establish definitive boundaries between them". 

Therefore the 1949 Armistice lines are not fixed, as purported by the Palestinians and their anti-Zionists/Israel supporters. 

It is a historically recorded and documented fact, that in 1948 the Jordanian Government Army invaded the territory of the Palestinian Mandate and at the end of the fighting illegally annexed the “West Bank” and East Jerusalem. An act which was recognized only by Britain and Pakistan. 

In terms of international law, between 1948 and 1967 the entire area of what remained of the Palestinian Mandated Territory in the “West Bank” was terra nullius, or "land belonging to no one" over which sovereignty may be acquired through occupation.

Armistice lines do not establish borders, and the 1949 Armistice Agreements in particular specifically stated (at Arab insistence) that they were not creating permanent or de jure borders.

In line with the above idea, the Israeli government has officially stated that its position is that the territories cannot be called occupied, as no nation had clear rights to them, and there was no operative diplomatic arrangement, when Israel acquired them in June 1967.

Territories are only "occupied" if they are captured in war from an established and recognized sovereign, but no state had a legitimate or recognized sovereignty over the West Bank, Gaza Strip or East Jerusalem prior to the Six-Day War.

The Fourth Geneva Convention is not applicable to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, since, under its Article 2, it pertains only to "cases of…occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party" by another High Contracting party. (The representatives of states who have signed or ratified a treaty. .. the signatories)

The West Bank and Gaza Strip have never been the legal territories of any High Contracting Party.

The concept of terra nullius is well recognized in international law. Therefore the “Palestinians” never had sovereignty over the “West Bank” or East Jerusalem. Justice Schwebel concluded that since Jordan, the prior occupying power of the “West Bank” and East Jerusalem had seized that territory unlawfully in 1948; Israel, the “Jewish State” which subsequently took that territory in the lawful exercise of self-defense in 1967 has better title to it as one of the beneficiaries for the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine.

In fact, during negotiations for the 1995 peace agreement signed between Israel and Jordan, the Jordanian government made no claim to it. 

And as East Jerusalem came into Israel's possession in the course of a defensive war, Israel was entitled to annex it and create a united Jerusalem. 

Consequently, the Jerusalem City Council has jurisdiction over building approvals for Jewish and Arab resident in any part of the "Municipal Area".

As to the truth of the issue of LEGAL and INTERNATIONAL Borders issue.

As you may well know we signed two FULLY Negotiated Peace Treaties. The treaty with Egypt on 26 March 1979, following the 1978 Camp David Accords and the second at the southern border crossing of Arabah on 26 October 1994 with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Regretfully the Israeli-Lebanese Peace Treaty, signed on May 17, 1983; by Mr. William Drapper for the United States, Mr. David Kimche for Israel and Mr. Antoine Fattal for Lebanon and Lebanese President Amine Gemayel, failed due to severe and violent Syrian opposition to the agreement.

The violence by Syria and their proxies in Lebanon reached a climax on the 14th of  September 1982 when president-elect Bachir Gemayel was assassinated by an assassin sent by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP).

By refusing to move its troops from Lebanese soil, Damascus effectively torpedoed its implementation, since Israeli withdrawal was contingent on Syria doing the same.

As a result, the Lebanese government repudiated the agreement on March 5, 1984.The agreement was revoked by the Lebanese parliament under the leadership of newly-elected speaker Hussein el-Husseini.

Ergo Israel has ONLY TWO official NEGOTIATED Borders.

As to Gaza, in the 1994 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, it was agreed that "the security fence erected by Israel around the Gaza Strip shall remain in place and that the line demarcated by the fence, as shown on the map, shall be authoritative only for the purpose of the Agreement"  (i.e. the barrier does not necessarily constitute the border). The barrier was completed in 1996.  

I refer you and the critics to: "Draft Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area", Palestine Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture. 1994-04-26. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 12, 2007. https://tinyurl.com/y7me6ekw

Why was the U.S. Report on Climate Change Leaked

What is on my mind? Is the article "Speaking Truth to Power on Climate Change: Why the U.S. Report Leaked" by Mr John H Cushman Jr.

In my humble opinion "Something is rotten in Denmark!" Or should I say the "Swamp" in Washington DC?
It is my humble opinion that climate change, which effects us all should be a "Bi-partisan" issue.
So is this article revealing to us the truth?
Why is it that the story is worded to incite more rage and anti-Trump hatred? Which those in the anti-Trump camp have so lovingly expressed.

Pay heed to this quote: "There have, after all, been cases where that happened in past Republican administrations" Here we see the writer is expressing an aversion for the political parties and there previous difference in points of view.

Consider this if you may:
"An early draft was released for public comment a month before President Obama left office."  Okay.....

So this brings up the question that "IF" it were, "released for public comment"  and it was done "a month before President Obama left office."

Why wasn't there any statement or interest expressed by President Obama or any member of his administration since "They -the Democrats" are so concerned about "Climate Change". And why did the New York Times correspondent question this?

It also brings up the even more serious question that since Hillary Clinton was seen as a "shoo in" - certain winner in the last election, why she or any member of HER Democratic Presidential Team failed to speak up when the initial report was published? ESPECIALLY since the issue of Climate Change IS a major concern of the Democratic Party?

The writer of the article goes on to state that: "It was reviewed in detail by an expert panel at the National Academy of Sciences, the gold standard for peer review, which gave its imprimatur in April." Nu? that was months ago so why the wait to bang the drum?

The writer of the article Mr John H Cushman Jr. states:
"Would the Trump Administration deep-six the report? Some scientists involved in the process reportedly were worried about that."
"There have, after all, been cases where that happened in past Republican administrations" So since it is by his own admission to be a Partisan issue why is it so surprising to him, that the "Republicans" whom he may remember DO NOT exactly have  a deep love for President Trump, may "dump the report?"

"Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that "federal scientists'(?) concerns that the administration will try to change or suppress this report are well-founded." What is his concern founded on?

"The Trump administration has consistently demonstrated its lack of regard for science and evidence, including on climate change." Let us note here ladies and gentlemen that the "Trump administration" began on January 20th of this year a mere eight months into a four year term so how can one use the term "consistently"?

"So someone arranged to get it published on the website of The New York Times—a leak that broke protocol" Gee our favorite "We Hate Trump Newspaper. And like there isn't enough HATRED in America at this moment that someone has to fill up the can of gasoline to fan the flames.

Gotta love this statement of Cushman's-"Publication of the third draft, since it had long been available, didn't constitute a leak. But publication of the fifth and final draft did," Eh Tu Brute?

So where is the Times questioning as I mentioned of President Obama and Hillary Clinton's silence?

So in conclusion the main point:
"Even so, the publication of this fifth edition lays down a marker. It would be hard, for example, for any revisionist to try to undo the EPA's landmark "endangerment finding" that underpins regulations of carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act without taking into account the findings that are so completely laid out here."

That the Republican Senators and the members of the house may be in Big Oils pocket is NO surprise to anyone but WHAT is the surprise is WHY the Democrats are only now showing concern? Why wasn't it a campaign issue then BEFORE the Elections "IF" it was "SO" important?

And yes boys and girls we ARE in deep with Climate issues and YES we the people of the world -that means ALL of us those who want to "Make America Great Again" and those who hate for the sake of hating- need to make changes for our children and grandchildren's sake's.