The smart city concept—the integration of digital and information and communications technologies (ICT)
in urban areas—is swiftly becoming a reality in municipalities throughout the world. Accordingly, the global
trend towards smart cities has precipitated intense competition among major corporations and firms
looking to serve this rapidly expanding market space—particularly the development and supply of the
sensors, platforms and other critical technologies necessary to realize the vision of smart urban spaces.
While smart cities promise theoretical benefits in terms of efficiency, sustainability and responsiveness they
also elicit numerous concerns that will require government action—cyber security, invasion of privacy,
technology standardization and regulation, etc. Effectively responding to these challenges and fostering
innovation will thus, be crucial as nations race to modernize and digitalize their cities of the future.
