Smart cities at risk in 2023

A comprehensive study in 10 European countries commissioned by Vodafone and conducted by Opinion Matters - ‘Fit for the Future Cities: How technology can accelerate Sustainable Change’ interviewed 550 city experts with responsibility for technology and innovation to identify rates adoption of smart cities, opportunities and major obstacles. ‘Fit for the Future Cities’ found high levels of support for the adoption of smart cities in Europe: 88% of respondents said that their country has begun its journey of digital transformation of smart cities, 79% believe smart city solutions are appreciated by their local authorities.

7 out of 10 European cities surveyed intend to invest in smart solutions in the future, with more than half (52%) planning to spend € 2-10 million over the next three years.

Although each of the 10 countries is at a different level of progress in the development of smart cities, all have expressed their opinion by emphasizing the problem of ‘fragmentation of responsibilities’, which concretely translates into the need to overcome obstacles at different geographical levels as well as the complexity of a multiple coordination between different ganglia of the state between municipalities, national governments and intergovernmental bodies such as the European Union.

According to experts, the main obstacles to implementing smart cities are the lack of: