Last week in Zagreb a conference was organized about Smart Cities, which I attended together with my colleague Matija Derk. Among the individual presentations, there was also organized panel discussions.
The presentations were:
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“Smart City Platform – Empowering cities with digital services”
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“Why the cities must be smarter?”
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“Smart Cities and Communities programmes and activities in the region of Castilla y León (Spain)
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“Smart Cities – first moves and first results for successful development (Open4Smart)”
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“Smart City technologies in the systems of public street lighting”
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“Feel the Zagreb air”
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“Financing of urban projects – concept of Smart Cities”
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“European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities”
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“Are Croatian cities smart”
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“Smart vision”, etc.
Around 200 delegates attended the conference and could hear about the basic terms of what a Smart City is and also get insight in good examples. Developing a Smart City Platform depends on Smart Governance, Smart Mayor and after all, Smart People.
It is something that we in Bearing often use in our projects – the Quad Helix model which is based on understanding the necessity of collaboration of four sectors: Public Sector, Academia, Business and Civil Society. It is about the process of clarifying City Priorities, always keeping in mind to cope with rapid changes but also to deliver results with less resources. This is the formula for Smart development.
One of the main tools is usage of a proper ICT tools that will enable smarter decisions by anticipating problems, which enables to use resources more effectively.
It was mentioned that within the next 20 years, 75% of World population will live in urban areas. This presents great challenges for cities to be able to provide basic services for sustained quality of life. Challenges could be addressed effectively by Smart City leaders using new and smart ICT solutions.
Current models of co-operation, governance and management do not respond effectively to the complexity of nowadays issues. Multi-stakeholders platform enables realization of shared vision with shared leadership and maintain the responsibility of partners to deliver concrete results.
Vision has its strongholds in smart managing of real estates, energy, water, mobility and city priorities. All together is leading to smart urban development, social and economic development and technological development. There are guidance and rules for smart development in regulations such as ISO 37120 Smart City Standard (region), Green Capital of Europe (City-Municipality), City performance Indicators/Index ISSO (Country).
The way towards completely sustainable and Smart Cities requires careful planning and long-term investment. The return on investment depends on the size of the project and invested capital, but in the long run, the savings are guaranteed.