How to bring together all interested parties and collaboratively design a vision for their city – where they, their children, and grandchildren want to live? It all comes down to listening, reaching out to the end user, in this case, the citizen, in education, and very often in a new way of thinking among city administration employees who are more open and inclined to involve citizens in the development of the city.
What does ‘listening to citizens’ mean? Is it the idea of giving them a voice for a few minutes at city meetings? And that after plans have already been completed? If your city listens this way, it probably does not hear what is truly important to citizens. Many city projects suffer due to such listening. A new way of thinking and interesting and innovative construction of two-way communication among the city population can stimulate stronger initiatives.
Sharing infrastructure
There is no need to engage a person responsible for the city budget to recognize the value of reducing unnecessary duplication and excessive consumption. This can happen when cities recognize the interdependence between departments and the value of mutual coordination. Actively seeking ways to share ICT infrastructure among city departments – and backup plans in preparation in case of problems – simply makes sense. In some cases, it makes sense to explore the benefits of sharing smart city infrastructure with the private sector, especially when it comes to broadband internet and mobile connectivity.
