5 Ways Governments Can Accelerate Smart City Development

No Country’s government can hide or turn a blind eye to the development of smart technologies; especially if it relates to smart cities.  A smart infrastructure has the potential to save a country billions of dollars and enhance the lives of its citizens.  Before, these can be realised there a few key areas that if not supported will hinder smart city development and rob a country and its citizens of the benefits.

1. Funding: A smart city development is one of those investments that the private sector might never by happy doing alone especially when it touches on numerous laws, policies and regulations.  The private sector is sometime afraid that the length of the project will not offer a good return on investment or it might take too long to see any return.  Governments can accelerate development by parting with businesses to offer funding and grants around smart city technologies and solutions.
    
2. Laws, regulations and polices:  The thing that makes something smart is its ability to share information or data; a smart city infrastructure will not only share structural information but also those relating to its citizens.  This touch one of the most important areas of regulation around data and that is privacy, as much of the solutions are predicated on the collection and analysis of personal information.

   This is one area where governments can be influential in working with its citizens and the private sector to use smart city technologies. They can be active in putting together well designed privacy rules. Also, incentivising individuals and communities to aid the adoption of these technologies.
    

3. Encourage Business Startup and Innovations:  If a country does not support entrepreneurship then the desire to innovate and create business services and solutions is dwarf.  Support through government channels to incentivise creativity and innovative solutions around smart technology will encourage business ventures and draws talents to the sector.
    
4. Embrace the change: by embracing the change the new technology will bring will help to understand it and help government bodies to act quickly to ensure that smart cities don’t just happened, but it is planned and implemented in the correct way.
    
5. See how the technology will enhance citizens’ lives: Implementing a smart city solution is a long term project especially for developed countries that has infrastructures that goes back centuries. In some countries it will continue through a party’s term or terms in government so seeing the long term benefits will help governments to envisage the end from the beginning.