DECEMBER 2020CIOAPPLICATIONSEUROPE.COM8IN MYOPINIONTHE FUTURE OF SMART CITIESCLAUDIO RUDOLF, PARTNER/HEAD REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION ADVISORY SERVICES, ERNST & YOUNG AG IN SWITZERLANDhe smart city concept has been an international trend in the technology sector and urban development for years, and this is mainly due to the global development of cities. According to the UN World Population Report, by 2050, about 70 percent of people are expected to live in metropolitan areas. Rapid population growth is accompanied by a shortage of space, a backlog in infrastructure and real estate investment, as well as environmental effects, including air pollution. At the same time, municipalities have a duty to change the organisational and technological conditions, in order to continue to fulfil their obligations. TWhat makes a city "smart"?According to our definition, a smart city is a city that meets its specific challenges with digital and cross-sector solutions. For sustainable development, information and communication technologies are used to improve urban processes and services in terms of public service and sustainability. New technologies are pioneers for such services. Converting previously analogue processes into digital processes using modern technology, however, does not do justice to the opportunities presented by digitisation. Rather, networking means enabling the exchange of data between previously separate systems. However, this networking at the data level always requires cooperation in an organisational, procedural, commercial, legal and technical level. The appropriate integration of technologies into the city structure is necessary for the development of a smart city. The smart city is built on five integrated levels, and the built city structure (streets and buildings) acts as a basis and first level. This level is followed by an infrastructure network with technical facilities and equipment. The third level collects and combines data. The fourth level includes IT platforms that process third-party data and prepare it for applications. At the last level, the resulting service offers are put in place for the users.The key to many innovative solutions rests, in particular, on cross-sector data platforms and IoT networks, customer-oriented and transparent administrative processes, as well as additional services provided by municipal companies and new partnerships between local actors and business.
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