Today, more than 3.9 billion people live in urban areas, more than 54% of the world’s total population. Urbanisation is expected to continue in the coming years, with the urban population increasing to 6 billion by 2045. The significant increase in urban population will increase the demand for energy, mobility, water and other services in cities. As a result, cities need to become smarter in the way they use urban assets.

In addition, cities are major polluters, responsible for more than 80% of greenhouse gas emissions, 75% of waste generation and 70% of global energy consumption. As a result of global awareness of the negative environmental impacts of this pollution, cities around the world are under increasing pressure to improve their environmental performance while at the same time improving their service levels.

All these trends are converging at a time when a new trend is emerging: digitalisation. The growing demand for sustainable, inclusive, reliable and efficient services puts enormous pressure on our urban infrastructures, but new technologies provide a powerful tool to address these issues and create a paradigm shift in our concept of cities, and it is important that we are all prepared to understand and address the challenges that the transition and transformation of our cities into Smart Cities will bring.