SMART Cities is is a misleading term is some ways.
Local (municipal) government in UK has been in the forefront of digital transformation. They have to in order to keep delivering services with stretched budgets. But these are in areas of a city and rarely city-wide.
Smart Parking Bays and Driver Apps are more digital transformation than smart cities- and they are digitised rather than smart.
Big data i.e. all the relevant data to make and execute better decisions is vital. One key need is to be able to access and analyse more of the data already stored in various data silos across different departments.
- Letters
- Forms
- Emails
- Photo and Video Images ( metadata)
- Plans & Blueprints
- Phone Calls
Another priority is to do the same when cities (and towns) try and join up disparate services for residents. EG-
- Social Care ( provided by local government) and Healthcare provided by the public NHS in UK.
- Social Housing and Asset Management
Joined up government needs joined up data and joined up analytics.
This does not have to involve large, complex and expensive software and systems. If Insurtech is transforming the staid and slow moving insurance industry the "GovTech" can do the same for local and central government.
WE all know you cannot achieve digital transformation without cultural transformation. The combination is a smart move.
As these cities demonstrate, the integration of big data and interconnected technology—along with the increasing population—will lead to the necessary creation of smart cities. To continue providing people with safe, comfortable, and affordable places to live, cities must incorporate techniques and technologies to bring them into the future. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing the advances that will come to my city in the near future.
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