Page 13 - Guide for smart and sustainable city leaders: Envisioning sustainable digital transformation

Guide for smart and sustainable city leaders: Envisioning sustainable digital transformation

However, when leveraging data, technologies and digital services for sustainable urban
development, cities should consider existing gaps in accessibility and digital literacies to
mitigate the risks of deepening inequalities in access and the use of digital services, especially
by marginalized communities. This implies shifting the focus onto technology, and ensuring
that people living in cities benefit from, and become active contributors of, digital solutions.
The digital divide must be a priority within cities as it is one of the main obstacles faced by more
potentially vulnerable groups such as women or old people.

The roll-out of technologies in cities should henceforth be aimed at addressing specific needs
and anticipating requirements and challenges. In this context, digital transformation requires
clear goals to enhance transparency and adapt to local requirements and inhabitants’ needs.
To overcome urban challenges while undergoing digital transformation, the establishment of
smart cities must foresee integrated actions related to the adoption of emerging technologies
for safety, mobility, health, education, sanitation and housing, leveraging open data to boost
accountability and facilitate monitoring, thereby creating value-based services and products.
To effectively create a smart and sustainable city through digital transformation, it is essential to
have a well-defined action plan with targets, along with a funding framework to make decisions
today that are in line with a city’s vision for tomorrow. Some key characteristics for inclusive SSC
are given in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Inclusive smart sustainable cities

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