“Smart Cities Body of Knowledge” selected for inclusion in UN-Habitat Compendium
The newly released book on “Smart Cities Body of Knowledge”, co-edited by Professor Angelika Kokkinaki (University of Nicosia, School of Business) and Professor P. Fitsilis (University of Thessaly), has been selected to be included in the UN-Habitat flagship programme “People-Centered Smart Cities Compendium”.
The programme was launched in 2020 in light of the transformative potential digital technologies have upon sustainable urban development. Through this flagship programme, UN-Habitat showcases smart city initiatives, solutions, and initiatives that make a positive impact to the quality of life of people in cities, communities, and regions, while providing strategic and technical support on digital transformation to national, regional, and local governments.
Digital transformation is becoming critical to address new requirements and priorities with respect to how people understand, manage, and participate in urban communities. Digital innovations like civic technology, geographic information systems, the sharing economy, open data, and digital platforms have changed the way people interact, communicate, learn, and create value added products and services. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic introduced even greater urgency for local and national governments alike to bridge the digital divide, especially for marginalized groups and informal settlement communities, as well as to build more efficient and secure data management systems and protect citizens’ privacy when using digital services. These activities are the foundation for inclusive and resilient smart cities.
“Smart Cities Body of Knowledge” is the first systematic approach to smart cities competences development. It offers curricula for developing the required knowledge coherently and systematically. The professions and skills presented were elaborated from various viewpoints, through laborious market research. Moreover, the book is the main deliverable of the SmartDevOps Project, available for free download at https://smartdevops.eu/scbok.
