Urbanization is driving the implementation of smart city technologies around the world. This ebook offers a comprehensive look at the key aspects of smart city initiatives, as well as the challenges, benefits, and objectives of those projects.

From the ebook:

Smart cities are more than a trend—they’re the wave of the future, as the world becomes more urban, with 60% of the population expected to live in cities by 2050.

Across the globe, smart city technology spending reached $80 billion in 2016, and is expected to grow to $135 billion by 2021, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Cities are digitally transforming to improve environmental, financial, and social aspects of urban life. The IDC defines smart city development as the use of smart initiatives combined to leverage technology investments across an entire city, with common platforms increasing efficiency, data being shared across systems, and IT investments tied to smart missions.

“Smart cities have recently evolved from a collection of discrete flagship projects to a sizeable market opportunity that will drive significant technology investments in 2018 and beyond,” said Serena Da Rold, program manager in IDC’s customer insights and analysis group. “IDC believes that the strategic priorities we identified will drive digital transformation across cities of all sizes, but our research demonstrates that there can be significant differences in the focus of investments across regions. The new spending guide is a powerful tool to help vendors identify where the best opportunities lie for each specific use case now and over the next several years.”

A truly smart city improves the quality of life for citizens and visitors, and while a smart city can be many things, just as with humans, some are smarter than others. Read on to find out more about smart cities and what they mean for the future.