Technology is the heart of a smart city. But, where there’s technology, there’s data. And knowing how to manage that data in a smart-city context is absolutely essential.Cities with technology create a lot of data. With more systems and devices coming online every day, the volume of data produced, collected, and stored is growing rapidly.

Smart cities are well known for their ability to use data to their advantage. Any smart city worth its salt will have a solid data governance strategy. Data management is concerned with how you use data to run your organizations and make good decisions. Equally important is that you also need to ensure that agreed-on data policies and processes, accountabilities, decision structures, and enforcement rules are in place.

You’ve decided that a smart city initiative is right for your community. You now have a bold and ambitious vision. It’s time to get started so that you can actually realize this vision. You must initiate a process of translation to move from your smart city vision to a set of actions. For this, you need a plan.

A smart city strategy is only as good as the degree to which it is followed. A smart city strategy that is written and agreed on and then never referenced again is worthless. Success in reaching goals relies on having a roadmap and a set of guiding principles that everyone can follow. But even with the best of intentions, individuals and teams can veer off course and, before long, find themselves way off track.

So you, your colleagues, and members of the community have decided that increasing the quality of life and solving complex challenges by using technology — coupled with data, new processes, and a progressive disposition toward innovation — is the right path for your city. You want to take a smart city approach going forward.

Urban innovation is a primary element of the smart city. However, that is often a term that gets thrown around with little understanding of how it truly impacts the development of a smart city. Since there is sometimes disagreement about the term innovation, so here are a couple of definitions to help you understand this topic: Innovation: Converting ideas into value Urban innovation: Discovering and implementing new ideas to meet city challenges Okay, now let’s talk about water.

Beginning the journey to create a smart city is a bold and courageous first step. The risks and costs are high, and positive outcomes aren’t guaranteed. Most cities that haven’t yet committed to a strategy may be able to detect an element of inevitability that the day will soon come. Evolving needs and community expectations will demand it.

The smart city movement is truly global. In almost every part of the world, cities have declared smart city initiatives. Even cities that don’t overtly align with the smart city nomenclature are doing work that has all the hallmarks of smart initiatives.In addition to existing communities, new cities are being built, or are in the process of being built, that are designed with urban innovation at their core.