Information management in the smart city

The concept of the “Smart City’ is frequently referenced in academic research, in grey literature and government reports, but often interpreted inconsistently. A great deal of progress has been made in the last decade, with many cities across the world deploying technologies such as traffic management. However, while developments in information management are central to smartening of cities, there is no agreed framework by which to assess the progress of smartening of a city in relation to information management. In this paper we review how information management contributes to smartening of cities and suggest a framework for managers and city planners to use in planning and implementing city smartening and measuring progress, and for researchers to use in building their conceptual frameworks. We also consider the choices facing those responsible for or involved in city-smartening, in terms of business models and centralisation or decentralisation of information management initiatives. Most city smartening projects involve transforming an existing ecosystem, namely a city, its transport and various other city attributes, mainly by deployment of information management in as pervasive and real-time a form as possible, rather than by radical change, in which the activities and players change. As experience with city smartening evolves, and as technology evolves, the prospect of more fundamental transformation opens up, with new players emerging, existing players changing what they do and when they do it, and new relationships developing between players. These developments will all have significant information management implications.