Infotech Lead Asia: Market research agency IDC has come out with its top 10 predictions on Smart City in 2013.
IDC says the Smart City movement is emerging and growing as a significant force of innovation and investment at all levels of government.
IDC’s Top 10 Predictions on Smart City
1. In 2013, 70 percent of Worldwide Spending on Smart City Projects Will Be Focused on Energy, Transportation, and Public Safety, and 90 percent of These Will Be at Least Partially Funded by National or International Government
2. At Least 50 percent of Smart City Programs Will Be Initiated at the Line-of-Business or City-Function Level
3. Worldwide Spending on Smart Water Solutions Will Reach $1.8 Billion in 2013
4. Smart City Information Challenges Will Begin to Be Framed as Big Data Issues
5. Local Government Will Remain in the Research and Evaluation Stage Regarding Machine to Machine, with Growth in Very Specific City Functions Mostly for Medium-Sized to Large Cities
6. Cities with Open Data Initiatives Will Drive 50 percent More Private, Citizen, and Crowdsourced Mobile Applications
7. In 2013, Local Government Will Connect to Citizens via Mobile Devices and Social Media, Accelerating a New Type of Citizen/Government Relationship
8. Smart City Programs Will Experiment with New Public/Private, Risk-Reward-Sharing Partnership Models to Make Funding Sustainable
9. At Least Three More Tier 1 Global ICT Vendors Will Enter the Market with a Branded Smart City Solution, Leading to More Intense Competition Among Existing Players
10. At Least 70 percent of Smart City Programs That Will Succeed Between 2013 and 2015 Will Be Governed by Joint Ventures That Include City Leaders as Key Stewards
Ruthbea Yesner Clarke, research director, Smart Cities Strategies, IDC Government Insights, said this set of Smart City predictions is a list of prioritized business drivers and technology trends that will shape the local government IT landscape in the context of an economically and socially challenging 2013 time.
