Almost 8 out of 10 cities in Poland include smart city in their development strategy, according to a survey by Orange Polska. However, 54% of them, despite having a smart city strategy, declare that they have no concrete plans in this regard for the next three years.
87% of cities declare that they have a development strategy, and in turn 79% include smart city in their strategy. Among cities that have smart city in their development strategy, 39% indicate that they have no specialists in this area. More than half have up to 2 specialists. However, 54% declare that they have no specific plans for the next 3 years despite having a smart city strategy, reported the operator during a presentation.
Budget constraints, staff shortages, or carrying out a public procurement procedure were identified as barriers to implementing smart city.
The expected effects from smart city are first and foremost increased satisfaction of residents (84%). The next elements are a resultant of this response, i.e. increased safety (18%), savings in resource consumption (27%), increased efficiency of infrastructure (45%), listed during the presentation.
In addition, 41% of cities do not survey residents’ needs, and 52% of residents describe knowledge of smart cities as average and 46% as low, the survey also indicated.
One in five cities sees no connection between the impact of smart cities and savings in city budgets. Nearly half of those surveyed say that small and medium-sized cities cannot afford smart city solutions. We do not agree with this view, because we have cases. that show. that in small and medium-sized cities it is easier to implement smart city, Orange Polska pointed out.
The survey further showed that 17% of cities disagree smart city solutions help better respond to the needs of residents.
Solution providers should put even more emphasis on education about smart cities, as nearly half of cities still perceive technologies and these solutions as difficult and incomprehensible. Lawmakers, in turn, should put more effort to simplify regulations related to raising funds for smart city investments, as 8 out of 10 cities have been prompted to invest by easy fundraising, Orange Polska pointed out.
According to Orange Polska, one of the breakthroughs for smart city implementation should be the implementation of 5G technology. Despite development barriers, more than 100 cities in the country are already using smart city solutions from Orange Polska. The Orange Polska survey included cities that declared their willingness to participate in the Smart City Leader program.
Source: Orange Polska and ISBnews
