SUMMARY OF THE COURSE

This section introduces the most important elements of the course.

This course will address the challenges of SSC initiatives from four angles: Why, How, Who, and What. Here is an overview of the course divided into four parts.

Part 1: Why do cities need to become smart and sustainable?

In Module 1, we address the importance of governance and the need for a consistent regulatory framework. To begin with, the Smart City governance roadmap is presented to give an overview of the drivers and barriers to SSC development and some practical recommendations to strengthen SSC governance capacity. Secondly, the importance of IT governance, existing frameworks, and standards are presented. The web lectures will explain the legal competencies needed for SSC, and critical concepts around cybersecurity, information security, and privacy.

In Module 2, we will look at the sustainable pillar of SSC. A sustainable city is a city that does not only focus on the “green” policies to make the city more environmentally friendly but also needs to work on developing projects that are sustainable throughout time: the technology implemented has to be suitable for long-term use, it must be economically sustainable too.

Part 2: How can cities become smart and sustainable?

In Module 3, we will focus on the need and benefits of planning SSC initiatives. Understanding the context, needs, problems we seek to solve, and how to carry out such planning and strategy activities.

Module 4 provides a few useful tools and methods to make your implementation and SSC project manageable. The importance of Innovation and how various approaches can be used to tackle an SSC transformation. You will understand more about defining personas, stakeholder maps, SWOT analysis, project life cycles, project management, and digital technologies for SSC projects such as a smart mobility project.

Part 3: Who is involved in making cities smart and sustainable?

In Module 5, we focus on stakeholder involvement, citizen participation, user feedback, and the co-creation of public services. The importance of e-participation and collaborative governance is the key aspect of deliberation and consensus. Smart Sustainable Cities do not only involve the use of technology, disruptive technologies. A key factor in making a City a greater place to live is understanding and working together with the people who live in it.

Part 4: What SSC want to achieve?

In  Module 6, we will focus on the digital aspect of SSC initiatives, mainly Information and data. How we manage this information and data, and how to collect, store and make use of data is key for a robust data management plan in your SSC plan. This module will explore what data, information, knowledge, and wisdom are, gives examples and uses of data usage, and explore different methodologies regarding the use of technologies for making SSC data inclusive.