ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications 161 Some of the main funding mechanisms that can be used to support the activities involved in this stage are summarized in Table 3. Table 3 – ICT infrastructure funding methods Funding Mechanism Description Taxes Pay using taxes Redemption from taxes (tax or rates) Local government taxing rights are exchanged for infrastructure or services Loans + Free Cash Flow Initial capital comes from financial leverage from partners. After that the project can try to sustain itself Local Government as a Major Customer Funds provided by city government Advertising Funds generated by advertising Utilities Allowance Funds collected from other public services used to maintain infrastructures. Some regulations prevent this system Corporate Donations Some corporations can donate funds Agreements with Private Companies Agreement with private companies to offer funds free of charge to the public National or Multinational Subsidies Funds coming from national or multinational organizations. Cooperative Projects Local government ends up with a project originally created as a cooperative and community project Source: ITU‐T FG‐SSC, 201415 e) Data Security and EMF All cities need to consider two fundamental topics in order to protect their citizens in a new context of smartness and sustainability; cybersecurity and data security, to protect the citizen data, and electromagnetic fields (EMF), to address existing concerns of the public around this topic. Data Security SSC apply the use of technologies in many different areas of the city (e.g., infrastructure, resource management, public services, industrial systems, social aspects, security). They do this in more extensive and intensive ways than traditional cities, and thus generate larger amounts of valuable data. This information is needed to improve the efficiency of cities. However, its management can be challenging. One of the principal objectives of any city is to become a safe place to live for its citizens. In a smart sustainable city, citizens' security must be expanded to data security (i.e., cyber‐security and data protection) in order to protect one of its most important resources. ____________________ 15 Ibid. Further information on the role of SSC infrastructure is available at: FG‐SSC Technical Report on “Overview of SSC infrastructure”.