Page 10 - U4SSC Case study Daegu, Korea (Republic of), February 2022

Executive summary

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) serves as the UN specialized agency for information
and communication technologies (ICTs). Leveraging on its global membership which includes
193 Member States as well as some 900 companies, universities, and international and regional
organizations, ITU also functions as an international standard developing organization (SDO) to
establish international standards (ITU-T Recommendations) covering the utilization/application of
ICTs and digital technologies across various domains. Within the last decade, ITU has also dedicated
its standardization efforts to the topic of smart and sustainable cities. These efforts culminated in
the development of a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for smart sustainable cities (SSC)
to (i) assist cities in becoming smarter and more sustainable and (ii) provide cities with a tool for
monitoring and self-assessment.

In 2021, the city of Daegu (Republic of Korea) initiated a partnership with ITU to implement the
United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) KPIs on SSC. These KPIs are based on Recommendation
ITU-T Y.4903 “Key performance indicators for smart sustainable cities to assess the achievement of
sustainable development goals”. The KPIs are categorized into three key dimensions: Economy,
Environment, and Society and Culture. The KPIs are specifically designed to assist in measuring
Daegu’s progress towards becoming a smart sustainable city and to determine Daegu’s advancement
in relation to the goals and targets elucidated in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This case study documents the key findings arising from the implementation of the U4SSC KPIs, and
a review of the programmes implemented by Daegu with reference to the same KPI framework.
The case study also highlights the activities carried out in line with the Daegu Metropolitan Smart
City Plan.

The story of Daegu‘s smart and sustainable city journey narrated through this case study has been
carefully curated to provide an insight into the concept of smart sustainable cities, underline the
importance of cities being able to evaluate their smart city action plans and ensure that findings
of this study can be shared widely with other aspiring smart sustainable cities to support them on
their respective smart sustainable city journeys. Furthermore, Daegu’s implementation of the U4SSC
KPIs makes it the first city in the Republic of Korea to undertake this process of a smart sustainable
city self-assessment based on an ITU-T Recommendation. The observations derived from Daegu’s
experience are also expected to serve as the basis for other cities to implement the U4SSC KPIs
and augment their smart sustainable city plans in alignment with the findings of the exercise.

The case study commences with Section(s) 1, 2 and 3, which introduces the concept of smart
sustainable cities, the history of ITU and engagement with smart sustainable cities globally. These
sections also highlight the importance of standardization in fostering smart sustainable city
transitions. Additionally, the initial sections introduce the U4SSC initiative and its pivotal role in
driving the transition of smart sustainable cities worldwide by sharing technical knowledge and
providing the platform for the preparation of appropriate guidelines.

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