Page 22 - Guide for smart and sustainable city leaders: Envisioning sustainable digital transformation

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

c) Ensuring long-term services via good operation and maintenance after the infrastructure
is in place.

Step 6 – Standards Implementation and digital governance

International standardization can play a key role in developing an effective marketplace for smart
city development and procurement of services. Hence, before a city commences its smart and
sustainable city journey, it should have an overview of the different types of smart-city-related
standards in order to anticipate its implementation. In this context, smart city standards can be
divided into three levels:

• Level 1 – Strategic: These standards deliver guidance to urban stakeholders on developing
a transparent and effective smart city strategy along with a timeline for the transition.
• Level 2 – Process: These standards are oriented towards procuring and managing cross-
sectoral smart city projects, including best practices, frameworks and guidelines.
• Level 3 – Technical: These standards include technical specifications for the implementation
of smart city products and services in line with digital transformation and smart city targets
elucidated in the smart city strategy.

Figure 5: Smart city standards levels

(Redrawn from BSI)

In addition to the implementation of standards, digital governance mechanisms are required
to steer the implementation and maintenance of smart city solutions. At the heart of the digital
governance for smart cities are the questions of whether or not the smart city solutions are fit for
purpose and if they continue to serve the community in the ways in which they were designed.
This involves limiting or avoiding scope creep, data leakages, and misuse of digital solutions
and data.

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