Page 48 - Reference framework for integrated management of an SSC - A U4SSC deliverable on city platforms

4 Urban technological reference architecture

As the citizen is the axis of municipal activity, the efficient management of resources and the
creation of new services in an SSC requires a conceptual model that semantically describes
the relationships between people and the physical world.

There are different visions for the digital transformation of an SSC: the functional vision,
the management vision, the physical vision, and the business vision.

City communications and technology solutions are based mainly on international and
national standards. These standards define an architecture model based on layers wherein
each layer’s common functionalities are grouped, and standardized interfaces are defined
between them.

• What should be the ICT architecture model of a Smart and Sustainable city?

• How to face the new forms of connectivity?
• What benefits can the implementation of an urban digital infrastructure bring to citizens
in the short and medium term?

• How to design a platform or an integrated management strategy for a sustainable and
intelligent city so that the benefits exceed management costs?

• What layers should be present to improve the integrated management of the city?
• What are the enabling elements of the city’s digital transformation that organizations
should have?

• How are information silos broken in organizations? What happens when information
systems are proprietary and the transmission of information between systems is
complex?

• What strategic vision and review systems must be implemented in cities so that
continuous technological development does not mean that the town’s medium/long
story is based on patches?

4.1 Introduction

The efficient management of the resources and services available in an SSC entails important
organizational, technological, and operational challenges. However, the achievement of the city’s
transformation objectives is linked to the ability to have a technological ecosystem that enables
automated and sustainable management of resources and provides useful information for decision-
making.

34 Reference framework for integrated management of an SSC | June 2023