Skip to main content

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
November 19, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
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.”

Related Content

  • Urbanova enters partnership to bring smart city solutions to Washington
    October 29, 2018
    Urbanova, telecommunications company Verizon and the city of Spokane, Washington, are collaborating on smart city solutions to tackle congestion and improve parking within the university district. Urbanova is a consortium of researchers and professionals whose stated aim is to make cities more sustainable through technological development. David Condon, mayor of Spokane, says Urbanova and Verizon will share resources around technology applications and data delivery to help achieve smarter infrastructure
  • Ericsson to be the prime integrator for the Brazil’s smart city project
    May 16, 2014
    Ericsson has been chosen by Telefonica Vivo to integrate the smart parking and smart lighting for its digital city project in Aguas de Sao Pedro, Brazil. Collaborating with leading technology partners, Ericsson will be responsible for providing smart lighting and smart parking solutions and system integration. The design, installation and rollout of the project are all included in the scope of the agreement, as is responsibility for managed services, including operations and maintenance, once it has bee
  • National Infrastructure Commission must focus on long-term planning, says CBI
    February 29, 2016
    The National Infrastructure Commission cannot afford to be way-laid by politics, but instead must focus on long-term planning to tackle the challenges the UK will face in coming decades, according to a new CBI paper. In Plotting the Course, the UK’s largest business group outlines eight key areas the Commission should prioritise, including: Delivering a secure, diverse low-carbon energy supply; Preparing for the roll-out of 5G mobile connectivity; Ensuring the impact of climate change is factored in when
  • New name offers new solutions
    November 26, 2013
    Pete Goldin examines Nokia’s rationale for combining its location services, digital mapping and other capabilities under the HERE brand. While it has divested itself of its mobile phone business to Microsoft, Nokia has kept hold of its HERE business unit and brand which incorporates the company’s location services with digital mapping and other capabilities. The creation of HERE is much more than rebranding as its services are heading off the map and into the cloud. “HERE offers the first location cloud