Page 14 - Enabling digital transformation in smart sustainable cities – Master plan

Enabling digital transformation in smart sustainable cities – Master plan

In this phase, local governments should obtain the necessary political approval and legitimization
to ensure that the SSC strategic programme is pursued. This process consists of the adoption of
the SSC programme and targets by the local council through a political decision, thus becoming
an agreed document that has widespread support from all relevant stakeholders. This document
would also serve as a preliminary document for strategic planning of the local authority.
Any SSC initiative should have strong political leadership from local governments. Additionally,
it will be necessary to identify within institutions, organisms or businesses involved, people
with a greater level of leadership. Such leadership should be conveyed through the initiative
of project administration, constant coordination between the relevant actors, decision-making,
the overcoming of challenges and any other actions to guarantee the continuous development
of the project.

1.3 Phase III: Action plan

An action plan involves turning a proposed project into something tangible and feasible to
implement. This, in turn, requires a clearly defined plan for integrating technology solutions
into an action plan. Important considerations could include scheduling, costs related to
implementation, identification of the individuals or agencies responsible for implementation,
types of technologies adopted, progress indicators, and procedures for reporting and evaluation.
In this phase, local governments work in close collaboration with the various SSC stakeholders to
design the overall plan for the SSC's implementation (e.g., objectives, priorities, initiatives and
actions needed in the short, medium and long term, including SSC infrastructure investments,
setting measurable SSC targets and time frames for their achievement). This step involves the
identification of SSC targets and major milestones with regard to:
• SSC services;
• SSC KPIs;
• SSC architecture;
• SSC infrastructure and integrated platform;
• SSC data security;
• SSC projected cost/benefit analysis.
A plan of action must be elaborated that proposes a series of realistic development measures.
Such measures will be arranged in a hierarchy, and studies will be carried out on the associated
costs and the appropriate period in which investment should take place. A clearly established
plan of action will be the guide for the development of actions and strategies. A strategy will
be designed that produces rapid results. These results will be instrumental in the creation of
the public and private support needed for the success of SSC initiatives and systems such as
a) to f), below.

a) Digital services

Cities provide their inhabitants with many different services, including water management,
energy services (e.g., lighting, heating, and cooling), transport, waste management, health
care, education, and security. The efficiency of these services can be improved significantly
with the use of ICTs, creating a new set of "smart services" that lead to improved efficiency and
sustainability.

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