WIREDGOV

As the benefits of digital public service improvements are seen, citizens ask for more involvement in their city.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the initial findings of a report on harnessing digital technology to empower stakeholders, highlighting a desire for wider engagement of citizens and businesses in the digital improvements and smart city projects going on in their city.

These findings come from a survey conducted in May 2016, the full results of which will be published in September 2016. The survey asked 1,950 citizens and 615 business executives over 12 cities about their involvement in their city, concentrating on digital and smart projects.

The report finds that citizens and businesses alike are eager to be involved in the future of their city, and would interact more with local government projects if given the ability.

An impressive 73% of executives said their company would be interested in sponsoring or participating in hackathons and similar initiatives designed to improve city infrastructure and services.

The majority of respondents (51%) stated that they would be more involved in their city/community if they had wider access to digital platforms that enable citizens to interact with local authorities.

Smart Cities in Focus

50% of citizens would be more involved in their community/city if they had more knowledge of ongoing smart city projects. Only 15% currently believe they currently have an input into these smart city projects.

Businesses are also keen to get involved, as 47% say smart cities offer benefits to the bottom line. More than half (53%) of businesses believe smart cities can help to attract top talent.

The survey results also revealed:

• Digital technology has improved a number of public services over the past 3 years. Most notably in Telecommunications, which showed 36% of respondents noting improvements.
• Improvements to Transport (31%), Emergency and Crime Prevention (21%), and Social Services such as healthcare and education (21%) were also noticeable.
• Many citizens are also willing to share personal data to improve public services. This was particularly true for improvements to transportation services and traffic congestion (39%), and for improving emergency services and reducing crime (37%).

Enthusiasm from citizens and business now needs to be harnessed through online platforms, and directed towards collaborative innovation on smart city projects.

The 12 cities included in the survey are: Barcelona, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, New York City, Singapore, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro.