148 ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications A crucial step for setting an inclusive and sustainable basis for SSC consists of identifying and implementing effective mechanisms for citizen engagement. Citizens are the ultimate beneficiaries of SSC functionalities, as these are aimed at increasing the access to and boosting efficiency of city services, in order to improve citizens' well‐being. Box 2 – SSC Key Stakeholders Municipalities: City Council and city administration: They are responsible for city management, and therefore they are the main promoters of SSC initiatives for each specific city. National and regional governments: They have remit on policies that can affect SSC implementation. City services companies: They would be implementing SSC solutions to increase the efficiency of city services. Utility providers: They are responsible for the deployment of some of the features of SSC such as smart grid or smart water management. ICT Companies (Telecom Operators, Start‐ups, Software Companies): They are the providers of the global and integrated solutions, the city platforms, as well as the ICT infrastructure to support SSC deployment. NGOs: These NGOs are involved in all initiatives that can influence society and therefore are considered a stakeholder in SSC, especially on the axis of social sustainability. International, Regional and Multilateral Organizations: They include UN agencies and multilateral organizations. They can be promoters of initiatives towards human development, environmental sustainability and improvement of quality of life worldwide. They can offer funding opportunities, and are promoters of SSC initiatives. Industry associations: As industries are interested in the deployment of SSC, industry associations also work towards the success of this new model. Academia, research organizations and specialized bodies. They study SSC and associated trends, including its impacts and contributions to sustainable development. Citizens and citizen organizations: As inhabitants of cities, citizens are affected both directly and indirectly by SSC deployment. Urban Planners: The expertise of these urban planners is important to better understand how to include ICTs into medium and long term city planning, as well as to consider urban complexities. Standardization bodies: These organizations are critical to ensure a common terminology and minimum characteristics of a smart sustainable city, as well as to define measurement methods to assess the performance and sustainability of city services based on ICT technologies. Source: ITU‐T FG ‐SSC, ITU (2014)