How can you use the Smart City Blueprint to design your smart city solutions?

2 Step 2: Assessment

The second step of the Smart City Blueprint is to conduct a comprehensive assessment of your current situation, challenges, and opportunities, using quantitative and qualitative data and methods. An assessment should cover four dimensions: governance, infrastructure, services, and people. Governance refers to the policies, regulations, and institutions that enable and support your smart city initiatives. Infrastructure refers to the physical and digital assets and networks that provide the foundation for your smart city solutions. Services refer to the public and private functions and processes that deliver value and benefits to your citizens and stakeholders. People refer to the human and social capital and culture that drive and shape your smart city vision and actions. An assessment should identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of each dimension, as well as the gaps and needs that your smart city solutions should address.

3 Step 3: Prioritization

The third step of the Smart City Blueprint is to prioritize the most important and feasible issues and opportunities that your smart city solutions should focus on, based on the results of your assessment and your vision. Prioritization should involve a systematic and transparent process that considers multiple criteria, such as impact, urgency, cost, risk, alignment, and stakeholder support. Prioritization should also involve a participatory and inclusive approach that engages and consults your citizens and stakeholders, and ensures their input and feedback are reflected in your decisions. Prioritization should result in a list of strategic objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) that define what you want to achieve and how you will measure your progress and success.

4 Step 4: Solution

The fourth step of the Smart City Blueprint is to design and select the best smart city solutions that will help you achieve your strategic objectives and KPIs, based on the available resources, technologies, and best practices. A smart city solution is a combination of technology, data, and innovation that solves a specific problem or creates a new opportunity for your city. A smart city solution should be user-centric, value-driven, and scalable, and should integrate with your existing infrastructure and services. A smart city solution should also be tested and validated before implementation, using methods such as prototyping, piloting, and experimentation. A smart city solution should result in a business case and a project plan that outline the benefits, costs, risks, and timelines of your solution.