Page 32 - Redefining smart city platforms: Setting the stage for Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms - A U4SSC deliverable on city platforms

Box 2: Open By Default: Along with interoperability, cities and communities are
increasingly adopting an “Open by default” approach, embracing not only open standards,
formats and protocols but also open-source software and open data in order to enable
non-discriminatory access and avoid vendor lock-in in the provision of digital services.

Such an approach provides cities and communities with a solid foundation to achieve
better levels of efficiency, stability and interoperability required for cities and communities’
ICT platforms, through source code ownership, collaborative development, re-using
and sharing. All of these enable participation in digital services’ security, validation and
improvement.

An “open approach” not only refers to technology options, but also to a culture that helps
individuals and communities to protect their digital rights, to be innovative and to reach
goals that are beneficial for society in a collaborative manner. Municipal investment and
participation in open-source software projects are also about promoting the development
of local skills and reinforcing inhabitants' digital rights, while bringing benefits to the
local economy by offering value in terms of long-term sustainability and local economic
development.
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Moreover, by publishing the components of their ICT service infrastructures and sharing
them with others, cities and communities enable wider participation in improving these
shared components, individually or collectively, thereby promoting a more sustainable
and trusted way of developing smart city platforms.

4.3 Reference architectures for smart cities and communities

Smart City Reference Architectures attempt to provide a systematic methodology and framework
for cities and communities to develop their own architecture. The scope of these Reference
Architectures can vary. Some of these may attempt to cover every single aspect of the functioning
of the city, including all the different service areas and management functions. However, in this
document we focus on Reference Architectures related to the collection and use of data in the city.

A smart city data Reference Architecture is an attempt to provide a clear description of all the
capabilities that need to be in place, and the stages that are needed for a city to be able to collect
and analyse the data it needs and then use it to support all the many city services it delivers. Cities
and communities can then use the Reference Architecture as a guide to develop their own blueprint
for the design of their own technology solutions to enable them to do this.

Such Reference Architectures need to be as technology neutral as possible. They must aim to
provide a description of the key capabilities required in a way that allows flexibility in how each
city implements it, depending on the legacy infrastructure, the size and type of city, the resources

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