5. Conclusions
2. Smart people The differentiating element between a digital city and a smart city is Smart People. People are smart in terms of their skill and educational levels, as well as the quality of social interaction in terms of integration and public life and their ability to open to the "outside" world. Education and Training A key element in the development of cities is having well‐educated citizens. In this sense, there is an increasing percentage of the population with higher education, bringing the percentage of population with university degrees to between 0% and 25% in most cities (67%), a trend that increases in European and Asian cities. In addition, most cities (62%) believe that the University has a strong presence in the city. This reflects the importance of Universities in generating a particular city model. This positive trend can be seen mostly in European and Asian cities.
Given this need for incorporating new digital learning resources, the percentage of cities that have digital development plans for their schools is growing (50%); however, there is a gap regarding cities in Africa and Latin America, where the percentage of cities with some type of plan is still small. We can highlight interesting experiences, such as the city of Bilbao and its 2.0 School Programme, Taipei City's project known as "e‐Future Classroom", the Comprehensive School Connectivity Programme (PICE) 2008‐2012 in Mexico City or the Digital Schools Plan in the French city of Limoges. With regard to the penetration of ICT in education, there are some very positive data, since in most of the cities (78%) the percentage of schools connected to the Internet is very high, ranging between 76% and 100%. This contrasts however with the percentage of teachers using new technologies for educational purposes, reaching, in most cities (46%) between 0% and 25%. This percentage increases however in European and Asian cities.
In addition to having well‐educated citizens and a university with a major presence in the city, another priority is to adapt the educational offer, especially considering the changes that society is going through due to globalization and the advancement of new technologies. However, in this regard, most cities (53%) believe that the education offered by their cities does not adapt to the demands of the current market. This percentage is particularly higher in Africa and Latin America.
New technologies contribute to improving people's education and training and, in that sense, virtual education offers many benefits, such as reduced costs, flexible hours and greater interaction. However, despite these benefits, the percentage of cities that have promoted some type of e‐learning programme is very small (30%). Despite this negative figure, some cities have developed very interesting experiences, like the Digital Baccalaureate (B@DI) in Mexico City, the Distance Vocational Education Centre in Bilbao, the "e‐Campus" Digital Learning Network in Taipei or the Digital Working Space in the city of Limoges.
e‐Learning
Life‐long training
New technologies are evolving at breakneck speed; therefore, it is important to design digital development plans in classrooms that mainly focus on closing the digital divide, promoting the digital skills of teachers and incorporating the new generation of digital learning resources.
Life‐long education is becoming an increasingly important element in new labour market dynamics. Evidence of this trend is that most cities (60%) have implemented measures to promote lifelong learning. This trend can be seen mostly in European and Asian regions. We can highlight projects such as the Cibernàrium Project in Barcelona or the various life‐long training programmes for adults and seniors developed in the city of Taipei.
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