“First of all, our cities need an encouraging vision. As we are just at the beginning of this new era, the potential is there to now focus on residents’ needs in urban life and to build up knowledge by planning a goal-achieving blueprint.
Secondly, governments need to address the technological aspect. We still see a lack of understanding and willingness for AI and connectivity technology, making it difficult to engage technology experts at every level of government work at an early stage. Network infrastructures are constantly being upgraded. This requires precise alignment with the upgrading of existing ICT infrastructure. This is associated with investments and the involvement of experts. Furthermore, technical standards are difficult to realize in different regions. This complicates coordination among local authorities and industry stakeholders across different regions. Both regulation and technology pose a challenge.
And third, cities must deal with concerns on cybersecurity and data privacy: Solutions to the challenges of cyber-attacks, information disclosure, theft and damage to software and hardware, challenges of proper handling and protection of sensitive and confidential data, must be prioritized to bring citizen participation and interaction in the ecosystem to life."