Page 83 - ITU Journal - ICT Discoveries - Volume 1, No. 2, December 2018 - Second special issue on Data for Good

ITU JOURNAL: ICT Discoveries, Vol. 1(2), December 2018

data. This has already been done in some industries development of smart cities, it is essential to em-
that have implemented a risk management ap- brace a risk management approach that takes into
proach [13]. Another critical issue is the question of account new risks and threats on an ongoing basis.
risk appetite and, more pragmatically, who bears And this simply is not possible without the aware-
the risks and will have to bear the costs of uncer- ness and improvement of people's digital skills.
tainty: companies, governments, cities or citizens?
The stakeholders involved in or impacted by the im-
5. PEOPLE’S SKILLS plementation of smart city applications – cities, citi-
zens, companies, public and private organizations –
Smart sustainable cities are cities where people are must remain flexible and ready to adapt to the digi-
equipped to face the challenges that arise from their tal future. Otherwise, we run the risk of generating
economic and social environment. Adapting indi- huge costs due to a lack of preparation, which the
viduals’ skills to meet the current and future needs ecosystem as a whole will have to pay.
brought about by digitization and technical pro-
gress is therefore a priority for each and every REFERENCES
stakeholder – cities, companies, states and citizens.
As noted in the Geneva Initiative on Capacity Devel- [1] https://www.itu.int (FG-SSC)
opment in Digital Policy, digital development in-
volves many unknown unknowns and needs to re- [2] https://synchronicity-iot.eu/
main flexible and ready to adapt to change [14].
[3] Dr. F. Sielker & Prof. P. Allmendinger’s report
At the “Shape Your Digital Future!” Internet Govern- provides an overview of six countries’ BIM
ance Forum held in Geneva in December 2017 [15], strategies: International experiences: Future
a strong consensus emerged on two points: Cities and BIM, University of Cambridge
(2018). As the adoption of BIM is not yet gen-
Skills gap analysis: The need to bridge gaps and eralized, some initiatives aim to promote its
train individuals through continuous, flexible train- development. The Smart Buildings Alliance
ing plans. As the Council of Europe points out, digi- for Smart Cities principles are one example:
tal training is a process, not a state that individuals http://www.smartbuildingsalliance.org/
reach after completing a training course [16].

Soft skills: The need to raise awareness about the [4] The Principles for effective risk data aggrega-
importance of soft skills and encourage curiosity tion and risk reporting published by the Basel
and creativity to understand the digital world and Committee on Banking Supervision are a con-
the changes it brings. crete example of a data governance initiative
at industry level, which emphasizes the im-
Each organization should, without delay, take stock portance of having reliable, available, and
of the above and implement the necessary measures complete data to ensure a comprehensive un-
locally to draw up the inventory of skills and needs, derstanding of the analyzed environment:
train individuals and prepare training plans. Creat- https://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs239.pdf
ing smart sustainable cities means recruiting digital
skills in line with current and future needs, empha- [5] This document, in French, analyses data ma-
sizing the development of soft skills, and nurturing nagement as a challenge for the future of com-
people’s ability to change and evolve. munities : Collecte et gestion des données nu-
mériques pour le pilotage des politiques pu-
6. CONCLUSION bliques - Vers un big data territorial.
http://www.fnccr.asso.fr/article/big-data-
The digital development of cities and large use of territorial-publication-de-letude-de-la-fnccr/
data raises many governance challenges, starting
with the need for operational data governance to [6] Here are some examples of risk management
manage the heterogeneous data produced. standards, methodologies and applications:
(i) The International Organization for Stand-
Given the uncertainty generated by new technolo- ardization (ISO) publishes ISO31000 stand-
gies and business models, to ensure the sustainable ard on Risk management, (ii) Enterprise Risk

© International Telecommunication Union, 2018 61