Do you need financing for your Smart City project?

It is difficult to get a single definition of this concept. In recent years, although we are talking more and more about the development of smart cities, it is increasingly difficult to find “that” definition unanimously accepted. As there are several interconnected industries, experts have tried to clarify things as follows:
“First it must be said that Smart City (SC) is not a product – it is not a service. The Smart City concept represents a road, a journey, for our residents of these communities that we will have to travel with representatives of central and local authorities, the university environment but also those of private companies – those who come with technologies, know -how and products to be implemented. An intelligent and sustainable city is an innovative city that uses information and communications technology, as well as other means to improve the quality of life, efficiency of urban operations and services as well as competitiveness, ensuring the needs of present and future generations in terms of economic, social aspects. and the environment.” Eduard Dumitrascu, WSCO President
“A city can be defined as” smart “when investments in human and social capital and traditional (transport) and modern (ICT) infrastructure promote sustainable economic development and high quality of life, with wise management of natural resources, through participatory actions and commitment. ”- Caragliu and Nijkamp 2009
An urban area that creates sustainable economic development and high quality of life through excellence in several key areas: economy, mobility, environment, people, life and government. Excellence in these key areas can be achieved through strong human capital, social capital and / or ICT infrastructure – Business Dictionary

6 keywords to understand the smart city
Smart cities want to face many urban challenges: environment, good governance, mobility, prosperity, growing population (or aging), etc. A few keywords summarize how smart city projects address these challenges.

collaborative
In the smart city, public services operate in an open environment. Public institutions change their data and share their projects to make services more efficient and user-focused, while creating major savings in local budgets.

economic
the smart city thinks in a sustainable and sustainable way, therefore, it saves energy, water, raw materials, food and financial resources to continue to prosper in a transitional era, while reducing polluting emissions.

innovative
the smart city must encourage its citizens, companies and public services to come up with new ways of organizing, sharing, communicating and producing … to develop the urban area through innovative services.

integrated
the smart city cannot leave anyone behind and, therefore, must enrich the quality of life of each one, reducing the social divisions of education, gender, health, safety, etc.

participatory
the smart city is not a real city if it does not integrate with the citizens, with their businesses … with their lifestyle in fact. Nobody can be left out of a part of the smart city! Active participation is essential for good governance in the smart city.

simplified
smart cities, with the exception of a few rare smart cities created from scratch (Song Do, NEOM), all have a past and a history that has marked local character and degree of development while regulations or customs have gradually developed … sometimes outdated. , sometimes counter-productive and often against the use of new technologies.

Improving the infrastructure of a city is an important step in the journey of a smart city towards efficiency and sustainability. The need for intelligent mobility has arisen due to the increasing tendency of urbanization, which causes traffic congestion with the derived side effects, such as pollution, road accidents and waste of time. Intelligent mobility refers to the use of means of transport together, or even instead of personal vehicles. Solutions can take different forms, such as ride-sharing, car-sharing, public transportation, walking, cycling and more.
Cities need smart infrastructure to collect and process a vast amount of information obtained in real time, using sensors and technology, and to provide the most efficient transportation services to citizens. Integrated intelligent transport systems can connect residents with key locations such as workplaces and educational institutions and facilitate access to new opportunities.

Smart Mobility projects aim to make transport systems smarter, safer and more efficient by using new digital technologies. In general, such solutions help to decongest traffic, provide a quality public transportation system and improve the quality of the breathable air. Smart Mobility is a smart move for the future!

Smart Mobility
• Urban traffic management (SM-TU)
• Public transport (SM-TP)
• Transport infrastructure (SM-IT)
• Smart infrastructure (SM – II)
• Logistics (SM-LO)
• Accessibility (SM-AC)
• Alternative modes of transport (SM-MA)
• Multimodal transport (SM-TM)

What is Smart Economy?
The concept of Smart Economy captures several aspects within a city (human capital, social, urbanism, infrastructure, IT, etc.). Thus, Smart Economy represents the intersection of the economy and smart cities. It is important to understand its main components: how Smart Cities technologies change urban commerce, Smart City as an economic engine and the economy behind smart cities.

Smart Economy
• Innovation (EI1)
• Entrepreneurship (EI2)
• Local and global interconnection (EI3)
• Productivity (EI4)
• Flexibility and employment (EI5)

The current context
The phenomenon of digitalization and the continuous emergence of different innovative technologies are changing the demands of many fields, especially in the labor market and in the economy. Therefore smart cities must develop strategies to address the new jobs (jobs of the future) that will be the basis of industry 4.0 and the smart economy. The use of new technologies will also reduce government procedures, providing transparency and improved business experience.

The path to the possible
The visionaries have long thought of the smart cities of the future, where both residents and visitors thrive. These modern urban environments are regulated and work perfectly, with advanced multimodal transit systems, self-sustained energy networks, clean and secure neighborhoods, integrated services and significant facilities for citizens. Many cities are starting to build such communities. Amazing progress has been made in recent years, but cities and communities continue to face complex challenges, such as infrastructure maintenance, population growth and migration, and sustainability and sustainability issues. A holistic vision helps to integrate a complex model of Smart City, from schools and businesses to transportation and energy. Working together, new ideas and technologies can be created and implemented to improve the lives of citizens and to create a sustainable future.

The main components
Urban trade is changing!
Smart Economy aims to digitize the economy, from payments, phone payments, electronic wallets, to the use of NFC or QR technologies. The purpose of a smart economy is to finally get to digitize the entire consumer experience and possibly the exclusive use of electronic money (cryptocurrency).
Smart communities are beginning to outline sustainable economic strategies, a good example is South Korea, which has in its subway a virtual supermarket that uses QR technology with which the customer manages to purchase and deliver the desired goods home.
Existing and future technologies are changing customer interactions with goods and influencing urban commerce.

Digital infrastructure – economic engine
Smart City implementation requires different types of infrastructure, among the main infrastructures are the digital one. Transport infrastructure is an economic engine in any country, but in the current context, digital infrastructure is beginning to generate the same effects as transport, with respect to the economy. Both the private and public sectors are consuming data, the smart economy promotes the smart use of this data.
Broadband Internet is very important in a community. It can have a large coverage area and the highest speeds. The wider this band (the greater number of fiber optic cables), the larger the population has access to it and the average download speed is higher.
There are numerous studies that have linked investments in broadband infrastructure with a growth of the economy (growth of the country’s GDP, jobs etc.) and even with the development of knowledge societies (companies that have universal access to information and knowledge, respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, quality education, freedom of expression, etc.)
At the international level, broadband penetration is the main problem of the countries, the major factor being the lack of competitive incentives on the monopolistic market of Internet service providers (ISPs). Such situations make it difficult to invest in digital infrastructure.
There are companies that invest in such infrastructure, such as Google, in order to put pressure on ISP market leaders to invest in network capacity, thus encouraging competition and enhancing transparency in the real costs of building ICT infrastructure.

In essence, the concept of smart city is a concept of success, as long as it is correlated with that of smart citizens. It is clear that within the concept the level of intelligence is not measured as the intellectual capacity of the individual, but rather his ability to be proactive, instead of reactive, his level of digital training, participation through various means in decision making.
The administration expects the inclusion of citizens in the life of the city, in decision making, as an integral part of the results achieved by a smart city. Around the world there are cities that develop their own model, starting from the local realities. For example, in Amsterdam, residents are encouraged to promote ideas and initiatives through annual competitions. An example of a winning project of such a competition is the Mobypark application, which allows the owners of parking spaces to rent them for a fee. The data generated by this application can then be used by the city to determine the demand for parking spaces and traffic flows in the city.
Belfast, an industrial, artistic, university and business center and the economic engine of Northern Ireland, has a different approach, albeit essentially similar. The Belfast City Council has adopted a smart city strategy with an approach focused on preparing people for a smart city; in other words, allowing citizens to outline the problems, propose solutions and be the beneficiaries of the results. Belfast as a smart city aims to be more than just a better internet connection, “smart bike” or a fast transport system. He must dream more.
If we look at the example of e-Estonia: digitalization was a real goal of a country, not just a city, and represented more than the technical results. Representatives of Estonia are committed to identifying and solving problems. 99% of public services are now available online to Estonian citizens.
Perhaps the results will not be at all technical or anchored in technology; maybe some of the solutions will make any city a smart and unique city by solving real problems, but not through technology. Only then will he be smart.

Smart Citizen
• Qualification level (CI1)
• Affinity for lifelong learning (CI2)
• Social and ethnic plurality (CI3)
• Creativity and flexibility (CI4)
• Participation in public life (CI5)

What is Smart Governence?
Smart Governance means intelligent and qualitative governance. The use of the Internet and new digital technologies creates a progressive government-civil partnership, strengthening government institutions and integrating all sectors of society. E-government aims to increase transparency of government acts, reduce bureaucracy and keep citizens from all social categories as informed and involved as possible.
The public administrations need intelligent systems and tools for efficient coordination between different departments, agencies and sectors, in order to have access to real-time data, for an optimal exchange of information and for the implementation of new welfare and development projects.
As more and more cities adopt smart city strategies, public institutions resort to using e-government solutions to strengthen democracy, stimulate civic spirit and ensure the well-being of citizens.
Intelligent solutions such as web portals, online forums, mobile applications and their integrated services provide two-way communication between authorities and citizens and help the latter to make their questions, suggestions and complaints heard. Similarly, websites and applications can be created where residents can report irregularities online as bribery and corruption online, or provide suggestions on government policies.

Smart Governance
• Participation and inclusion (SG-PI)
• Transparency and access to information (SG-TA)
• Public and social services (SG-PS)
• Multilevel governance (SG-GM)
• Efficient management of the municipality (SG- • Attraction of natural conditions (MI1)

What is Smart Living?
We want to live in smart, safe, clean, healthy, inclusive and resilient cities; cities that offer economic opportunities and a high quality of life; and the cities that are the crossroads for the most creative and innovative minds.
Achieving these goals offers extraordinary opportunities, but also difficult challenges. We live in an era of challenges and transformation. Amid such uncertainties, practitioners around the world are exploring how we can continue to grow, develop, innovate and compete.
The Smart Living vertical includes extraordinarily important areas with direct impact on quality of life. Even such vast fields are included, that you can hardly imagine that next to the security component, you can include another area as vast as medical services. However, the areas below are considered as defining for measuring the quality of life.

Smart Living
• Tourism (MVI1)
• Culture and leisure (MVI2)
• Medical Services (MVI3)
• Security (MVI4)
• Access to technology (MVI5)
• Welfare and social inclusion (MVI6)
• Public space management (MVI7)
A city is always special, it belongs to a region, a history, a context, and sometimes even a culture. There is no city from which to draw a standard pattern.
But a smart city does not become that way, only through technology and giving up everything it already has. As a city administrator you will not decide one day that you will give up everything and adopt only new technologies. It takes everything to build a city where life is good: shopping centers, residential buildings, museums. The smart city expands its investments by preserving this infrastructure ecosystem. BIM (Business Information Modeling) is a system through which famous buildings such as the Canopée des Halles and the Louis Vuitton Foundation were built. It consists of a digital 3D model that follows the life of the building from its sketch to its maintenance over time, which will adapt to aging and wear. This system ensures the sustainability of a building, allowing different teams and generations to deal with it over time. And this is just one example of the many possible.
Cities must manage urban spaces in full harmony, restoring natural balance. Thus, the green spaces, rendered to the local community, can become a meeting place of the community are needed. And depending on its particularities, the necessary adjustments will be made.

What is Smart Environment?
Environmental changes more often affect cities and their inhabitants. This brings new challenges for city planners, such as the need to improve air and water quality and to control noise pollution to create a healthy and pleasant environment for city dwellers. In addition, the consequences of extreme weather on a city, such as flooding caused by typhoons or heavy snowfall, must be well managed to prevent adverse impacts on citizens and businesses.
Smart city technologies have high potential and largely unrealized potential to improve the quality of life. The idea behind smart cities is to intentionally use technology and data to make better decisions and provide a better quality of life. Beyond the benefits in terms of safety, time, health, connectivity, jobs and cost of living, huge improvements can be made in the environmental sector. Smart environment solutions in smart cities include air quality monitoring, optimization of energy and electricity consumption, water and waste tracking can produce results such as 10-15% less GHG emissions, with 30-130 kilograms less waste. solids per person and 25 -80 liters of water saved per person per day.
The environmental benefits of smart city solutions
Smart solutions can improve many aspects of quality of life in cities.
To obtain such benefits, three levels of intelligence in a city, based on traditional physical and social infrastructure, are required. First, the technology base includes networks of connected devices and sensors, such as smartphones connected through high-speed communications networks. Next, smart applications and data analysis capabilities are used to translate raw data into alerts, information and actions. Finally, widespread adoption of applications and use by cities, companies and the public, together with efficient data management, inspire better behavioral decisions and changes.
Smart applications that contribute the most to environmental improvements include (but are not limited to) those focused on mobility, water, energy and waste. For example, real-time public transit information and building automation systems can reduce GHG emissions, better air quality can be achieved as a secondary benefit of many energy-saving and mobility applications, detection and control leakage can support water conservation and digital tracking and payment for waste disposal can lead to solid waste reduction.
In a new study on smart cities, McKinsey Global Institute investigates how technology can deliver a better quality of life, including an analysis of smart applications that will be relevant to cities by 2025. The results indicate that smart technologies could improve key metrics up to 10-30. % once introduced and the fact that using the current generation of smart city applications could effectively help cities make significant or moderate progress by reaching 70% of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Smart Enviroment
• The attractiveness of natural conditions (MI1)
• Waste management (MI2)
• CO2 equivalent emission (MI3)
• Sustainable resource management (MI4)
• Pollution prevention (MI5)