Anatomy of a smart city

A comprehensive analysis from Forrester Research explores the role the information and communications technology (ICT) will play in creating the foundation for smart cities — whether those cities are newer communities being built from scratch or centuries-old metropolises.

Of course, you’re wondering, how can cities and towns find the money to invest in this technology? I’m thinking, of course, about state and local governments in my own country, the United States, which are particularly budget-constrained as a result of the recession. Globally speaking, though, public-sector IT budgets have been just as stable this year than for commercial sectors. So, for example, 26 percent of public-sectors surveyed as part of the Forrsights Budgets and Priorities Tracker Survey (which is a global survey) in the second quarter of 2010 said they expected budget increases of 5 percent to 10 percent, while 11 percent expected growth of IT budget growth of more than 10 percent. That compares with responses of 31 percent and 13 percent, respectively, for IT managers with companies in the business services and construction sector. There were two technology areas, in particular, where more public-sector IT managers planned to invest than their commercial sector counterparts: