Smart Cities and Innovation

Digitalisation – along with globalisation, demographic change and climate change – is one of several complex, disruptive and interrelated megatrends that are transforming society and informing policy discussions at all levels of governments. At the city scale, digitalisation has been at the heart of discourse around “smart cities” and how digital innovation can help local governments boost economic growth and innovation, facilitate citizen engagement and improve service delivery. How can digital innovation help policy makers cope with the pressing policy challenges that shape the future of cities and deliver better outcomes for cities? What are the risks and trade-offs that must be managed?

In cooperation with Bloomberg Philanthropies, the OECD undertook a study on public sector innovation in cities which resulted in a collection of city innovation snapshots. Cities of all sizes from all over the world responded to the survey on government innovation, revealing various visions and approaches to innovation capacity.