1. Cities in the digital, innovation and knowledge age 1.2 Evolution from digital cities to innovative cities
1.2 Evolution from digital cities to innovative cities The Committee considers it is necessary to work on the competitive pursuit of excellence in local government through knowledge management and innovation in cities and municipalities. Information technology and knowledge are a lever for innovation, a tool for managing knowledge and raising productivity and, hence, local competitiveness. Because the infinite amount of information on the Web is useless unless you are able to capture, organise, analyse and transform it into a shared asset that improves the quality of life of citizens. Cities must generate a virtual space of interaction between citizens, the private sector and government that promotes an inclusive Information Society, which uses Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to create an advanced model of community that fosters the sustainable economic and social development of cities based on ICT.
The relationship between knowledge, innovation and competitiveness is very clear. Therefore, that is our goal: to build competitive cities based on knowledge management and innovation. Achieving this involves having well‐prepared and educated people, the political will of a committed government with a strategic vision, with supporting infrastructure, with a culture that encourages change in that direction. All this with a planned strategy and a long‐term vision. It involves an integrated concept of development based on participation in community dynamics to achieve common interests, in knowledge management to act effectively in the various fields of local activity, the provision of resources and motivation to innovate and create, and participation in a network of networks and interconnections within and beyond the community. Because you cannot innovate in isolation, you need a context of interaction. We are talking about a creative process that involves all actors in society and in which cooperation and networking are key elements.
In this context, the Digital Local Agenda represents a strategic tool to achieve digital cities in a planned and structured manner. It is important that cities seek to integrate their communities' intellectual capital, knowledge, in their economy and to develop knowledge‐based services, with access to that knowledge and to universal, systematic, effective and efficient ICTs that are capable of attracting and retaining talent.
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