Smart Cities: Digital and technological solutions

In Policy and Strategy by Amanda Anderson

Duration: 1 week
Dates: 16 to 20 June 2025 in Dubai 
Dates: 22 to 26 September 2025 in London 
Tuition fees: £2,550 (exc. VAT)

About the workshop
A smart city is a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient with the use of digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and businesses. It is not only an ensemble of digital technologies, but it entails a deep organisational transformation. Today, some 56% of the world’s population – 4.4 billion inhabitants – live in cities. By 2050, with the urban population more than doubling its current size, nearly 7 out of 10 people in the world will live in cities. Cities are often the first level of government and service providers and therefore they are instrumental in contributing to the well-being of communities. Making cities smarter will require profound and systemic changes. Government leadership will be critical and action by industry, education and research institutions and civic organisations must align in terms of policies, governance, and the capital investment needed.

This workshop is designed for policy makers and decision makers who plan, implement, manage or evaluate the smart city solutions. Whilst there is some technical content from various IT, engineering, economic and political science disciplines, you do not need to have expertise in these areas.

What the workshop will cover
The workshop will focus on smart city solutions and the process of their adoption, implementation and evaluation. It will also provide a set of guidelines and recommendations for decision makers on how to implement in their day-to-day work innovations and good practices discussed during the week.

The workshop will develop your understanding of:
• The benefits of adopting smart city solutions
• The philosophy behind the smart city paradigm
• Drivers and enablers
• Existing smart city solutions and best practices
• Stakeholder engagement and onboarding
• Business case development
• Developing implementation and delivery plans
• Advanced visualisation and visual analytics tools, as well as decision support systems
• Tools and technologies for data collection, management and analysis
• Evaluating smart city plans and implementation for smart city solutions.

How participants will benefit
The workshop will enable you to:
• Understand the principle and management of smart city infrastructure and systems
• Be knowledgeable about smart city best practices and champions
• Make critical judgements about challenges, bottlenecks and enabling factors of smart city implementation
• Mentor colleagues in the benefit of the smart city paradigm and in how to implement city solutions effectively
• Procure and manage smart city solutions and services effectively and efficiently.