Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities
Smart City Data Governance
Challenges and the Way Forward
Smart cities leverage technologies, in particular digital, to generate a vast amount
of real-time data to inform policy- and decision-making for an efficient and effective
public service delivery. Their success largely depends on the availability and effective
use of data. However, the amount of data generated is growing more rapidly than governments’
capacity to store and process them, and the growing number of stakeholders involved
in data production, analysis and storage pushes cities data management capacity to
the limit. Despite the wide range of local and national initiatives to enhance smart
city data governance, urban data is still a challenge for national and city governments
due to: insufficient financial resources; lack of business models for financing and
refinancing of data collection; limited access to skilled experts; the lack of full
compliance with the national legislation on data sharing and protection; and data
and security risks. Facing these challenges is essential to managing and sharing data
sensibly if cities are to boost citizens’ well-being and promote sustainable environments.