Page 7 - Enhancing innovation and participation in smart sustainable cities

United for Smart Sustainable Cities
Enhancing Innovation and Participation

Introduction

The United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) initiative was launched by the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in May 2016. The first phase of this
initiative, which was conducted via three Working Groups, was completed in April 2017. This flipbook brings
together the work done in Working Group 3 (WG3) for Enhancing Innovation and Participation in Smart
Sustainable Cities.
WG3 is formed of a group of global experts and practitioners to facilitate knowledge sharing and partnership
building on smart cities, with the aim of formulating strategic guidelines and case studies for enhancing innovation
and participation in smart sustainable cities. More specifically, WG3 addresses various topics on smart
governance, smart economy and smart people with the aim of achieving strong and symbiotic governance,
economics and society.
WG3 has explored the potential of ICT to improve public services and open data, as well as inclusive smart
governance models. It has held numerous deliberations for ICT-related policy issues relevant to economic growth,
smart financing, research and development (R&D) and innovation, with a focus on encouraging public-private
collaboration in efforts to develop smart sustainable city projects. Various innovation ecosystems were
investigated and associated initiatives capable of increasing urban societies’ capacity for enhancing personal and
professional skills, entrepreneurship and creativity were discussed.
After nearly ten months of intensive work and deliberation, WG3 members have prepared a series of case studies
and products, which will catapult successful smart city practices into the global spotlight for consideration. The
resulting case studies have been presented in this flipbook, within different sections based on their topic.
The challenges and opportunities faced by cities entail significant innovation potential. Active participation of city
stakeholders in smart sustainable city initiatives will catalyse and foster innovation capacity. Within this context,
WG3 members reiterated that a well coordinated, cooperating governance, society and economy will better
enable a transition to smart sustainable cities. Despite differences and particular aspects in urban challenges
globally, various principles and common practices apply uniformly. Case studies included in this flipbook are to a
great extent transferable to different urban contexts.
At the end of the first phase, this progressively evolving initiative will build on its existing vision to incorporate
growing urban sustainability needs. The initiative will also attempt to expand on its existing scope and outreach,
and continue to support smart-city transitions across the world.

U4SSC series 5