Smart Cities Council launches Readiness Guide

In advance of the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the Smart Cities Council, comprising some of the foremost experts and leading global companies in the smart technologies sector has released its first version of the Smart Cities Council Readiness Guide. The say this is the first comprehensive, vendor-neutral smart city handbook for city leaders and planners. Designed with input from leading smart city and urban planning experts as well as top global technology companies, the guide enable
UTC / November 19, 2013
In advance of the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the Smart Cities Council, comprising some of the foremost experts and leading global companies in the smart technologies sector has released its first version of the Smart Cities Council Readiness Guide. The say this is the first comprehensive, vendor-neutral smart city handbook for city leaders and planners. Designed with input from leading smart city and urban planning experts as well as top global technology companies, the guide enables city leaders to assess their current state of technology and its readiness to become a smart city.

The guide includes vendor-neutral technology recommendations on all eight of a city’s most important responsibilities -  the built environment, energy, telecommunications, transportation, water and waste water, health and human services, public safety, and payments.  It contains guidelines, best practices and more than fifty case studies and is designed to help a city create its own customised smart city wish list. The Guide outlines 27 proven principles to follow in order to guarantee success and avoid pitfalls.

Hartford, Connecticut, tested an earlier version of the guide.  Its mayor, Pedro E Segarra, said “Critical to our future success as a smart city is a clear understanding of how to procure technology effectively.  In fact, our core values drive us to create a collaborative work environment that promotes sharing, creativity, and openness to new ideas. The Smart Cities Council Readiness Guide offers us new ideas and has helped set the foundation for our 2030 planning. It is the tool that will help Hartford move forward.”

“Over the next twenty years, the world’s 700 largest cities are projected to make a cumulative infrastructure investment of US$30-$40 trillion,” said founding Smart Cities Council chairman Jesse Berst. “It is essential that they invest wisely. Because it was produced collaboratively by some of the world’s top smart city experts, the Readiness Guide prepares city leaders to make informed decisions that will enhance the liveability, workability and sustainability of their cities.”