14 Urban lighting and smart cities The first tier would be early adopters who had secured funding or made a conscious decision to lead in this field. They would be leading the way and, Lucy Zodion argued, ‘reaping the benefits of more efficient, effective and streamlined services and closer partnerships with third parties.’ The second tier of councils would be those keen to progress projects in principle, and identifying solutions to their city problems. ‘These councils have no designated smart council project managers or teams, nor do they have the power to siphon funding away from core service provision to invest in trialling projects. Others may have applied for funding but failed,’ the report added. And the final tier, ‘are those who may not have fully grasped the concept of smart cities and the benefits it could offer them, or who are too focused on balancing the budgets to look to the future.’ This, the report emphasised, was the majority of councils. Councils, the report therefore recommended, needed to do four ‘big picture’ things: make future cities a strategic priority; encourage greater collaboration; place citizens at the heart of smart cities; optimise existing infrastructure.
It is only when councils are able to make smart cities a strategic priority and work together to implement them efficiently, putting the citizen at the centre of their plans, will we be able to realise the potential of our future cities In practice, this would require councils to do seven things to optimise their infrastructure in the context of smart cities. These were: • Create an over-arching strategy or vision. As the report argued: ‘Whether it’s installing sensors to monitor traffic flow or developing applications for residents with up-to-date public transport, all solutions must sit within an overarching objective: you need a clear strategy about what you want to achieve first.’ • Make a sustainable business
Lighting Journal November/December 2016
case. ‘When developing a project, decide benefits which could be a return on investment and consider which partners to engage to help deliver it,’ it said. • Ensure internal prioritisation. ‘Cross-departmental support and senior buy-in is crucial,’ it argued. • Put money behind it. This could include ‘engaging external partners with a clear proposition or inviting businesses to develop a solution too.’ • Engage citizens. Citizens and the community needed to be involved in plans for the design and architecture to ensure services provided met their needs. • Look at your working. ‘Consider expanding functions of existing assets before creating new ones to achieve greater cost effectiveness,’ the report recommended. • Recognise that technology is just an enabler. ‘And your role is to facilitate the process’, it concluded. The full Our enlightened future, report can be found at http://www.djsresearch. co.uk/Free/published/Enlightened_ Future_Smart_Cities_Jul16.pdf