Smart Cities: What To Look For In 2016 And Beyond

In a recent article in Government Technology, IDC research director Ruthbea Yesner Clarke discusses three trends emerging around the growing smart cities movement:

1. A growing adoption and awareness of the smart city concept by an expanding set of government leaders. Agencies are asking for help with strategy development and implementation road maps. By 2017, IDC expects at least 20 countries to have policies in place to help prioritize smart city funding and document technical and business guidelines.
2. A high variability in understanding the impact of IoT, and the benefits and challenges that must be considered from drones, wearables, cars and other connected devices. Even cities investing in IoT lack a comprehensive set of policies on the public and private use of drones, sensors and other devices. According to IDC, this can increase privacy and security risks, as well as wasted spending.
3. Information from social media, crowdsourcing and sharing economy companies will have a greater impact on cities. IDC believes that cities are grappling with how to use data to improve government services. The Waze traffic app, for example, which generates crowdsourced traffic information for commuters, could help city officials adjust traffic signals and dispatch responders more quickly if that data could be integrated into government systems.

While municipalities work to manage risk and keep up with the demand for services from residents and businesses alike, the implementation of smart city initiatives will have a tremendous impact on the billions of people who live and work in urban areas. Intelligent Systems will affect the ability of cities to improve their physical infrastructures, keep neighborhoods safe, and grow their economies.