Smart Cities Summit

With the rise of concepts such as the internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence, robotic developments, mobile and cloud technology, there is today a digital transformation that affects the entire setup of life on a global scale. The approach of smart cities that use all resources efficiently, that aims to build sustainable cities and to offer high living standards to its residents cannot be separated from this process of transformation. Local governments adopting an approach that is more proactive and that cares more about the potential of technology in the urbanization process will certainly accelerate the adaptation process to these technologies through effective management.

Urban technologies, by drastically changing the operation of cities, will also determine the future of all humanity.  Defining the objectives which is a relatively newly developing field, and understanding the potential of city technologies is an ongoing process. However, the sole objective of this process cannot be just equipping cities with technology.  On the contrary, technology should be used as an effective tool to support public policies and provide equal opportunities to all segments of society in delivering goals.

In newly developing cities, technology and innovation are positioned to contribute to the planning processes starting from the infrastructure level, to leverage the city’s economy and to develop creative solutions to various problems. Access to open data, competent academic capacity, and the inclusion of the civil society further scale up this contribution. Innovation capacity plays an accelerating role in the development of cities. This development is strengthened by inclusive models such as living lab, fab lab, incubation centers, technology and innovation centers, and science centers.

Smart city technologies used for services provided by local governments and the connections between virtual and physical infrastructure within the cities improve the service quality and also bring cities face to face with the potential risks of this digital transformation which is challenging to control. The need is arising for developing systems of cyber security, of public order and safety, and systems for attack prevention for smart cities to combat certain cyber attack techniques such as data manipulation and signal jamming.

The municipalities are public institutions that are the closest to the public, and it is their task to equip the cities with technological infrastructure and to raise the living standards of the citizens with the support of the private sector, and thus to provide the locals with the technology in a way to serve them best.  Smart Cities Summit is a summit focusing on technology and local governments that brings together the relevant public institutions, especially municipalities, and private sector representatives in order to make technology more available to our people.