On the Gartner blog network, Andrea Di Maio offers a timely reminder that smart cities are about much more than flashy technology.  He warns that we can get so caught up in exciting new platforms that we forget the fundamentals:

What really matters is how different sectors (not just government) cooperate and,how they can exchange meaningful information. Of course there is technology involved, but that’s not enough to make cities smart. Cooperation requires solid governance and a roadmap that is respectful of (1) the different – and potential diverging – business objectives and timeframes of different stakeholders involved and (2) the inevitable resource constraints that affect most urban areas.

Actually many people still associate smart cities to environmental sustainability and carbon footprint reduction, but the truth is that the main challenge going forward is financial sustainability and the ability to deal with an increasingly turbulent and uncertain future.

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