Digitalization and rapid urbanization are global trends that demand responses. In 2018, Bizerte reached out to the U4SSC and expressed its interest in piloting the Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities. The objectives of this project were: 1) assess the impacts of ICTs in the city; and 2) measure its progress in reaching the SDGs. The U4SSC KPIs measure the role of ICTs in the three key dimensions of a city; environment; economic; and society and culture. Each indicator is uniquely connected to one or multiple SDG targets, allowing the city to determine which targets it has or has not achieved.

The U4SSC KPIs are powerful benchmarking tools that have allowed the city planners to analyze the ways in which ICTs have improved the city according to the parameters set in the 2030 Agenda. The results are comparable and measurable data that have assisted Bizerte in adjusting its priorities and informed the city's policymakers to make better environmental and sustainability decisions.

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• Tunisia

• Youth
• Older persons
• Women
• People with disabilities
• The poor
• Remote and rural communities
• City inhabitants

The KPIs are designed to be flexible and replicable. Every city can use the U4SSC KPIs to evaluate their smart initiatives and progress in reaching the SDGs regardless of their geographic location or capacity. The KPIs are divided into two set of indicators; the core indicators; and the advanced indicators. Cities only need to report the core indicators in order to obtain a holistic view on its smart progress. The advanced indicators complement the core indicators but do not constitute as an integral part of the assessment. The high replicability of the U4SSC KPIs is also proven by the fact that over 100 cities worldwide, including Singapore, Moscow, Valencia, have already partnered with the U4SSC in implementing these indicators.

The implementation of the U4SSC is both operationally and environmentally sustainable as it involves only the collection of data with minimal resource usage.

The U4SSC KPIs project promotes WSIS values by creating a standardized approach in assessing the impacts of ICTs in cities, which is essential for creating an enabling environment and building capacity for digital inclusion and innovation. While Bizerte is still a growing economy, the city has benefited from the KPIs by receiving key insights and data on its digital performance. The information forms the foundation in which the city of Bizerte can build upon in expanding its digital capacity and relocating the necessary resources to facilitate a sustainable and enabling environment for citizens, business owners, service operators, and other relevant stakeholders.