Why does the Smart City redefine the place of the citizen in the city ?

According to the UN, by 2030, two out of three people will be urban dwellers, compared to 54% in 2014 and 30% in the 1950s. The urbanization rate could even explode in some countries by reaching 80%. With cities becoming larger and more populated, the quality of life of citizens is likely to be strongly impacted. In order to remain attractive and at the service of their citizens, more and more cities are developing Smart City projects.

A very demanding citizen

The consumer citizen

Citizens are becoming more and more demanding with administrations as they are with brands as consumers. If someone is dissatisfied with a company’s offer, they can easily change it, something we cannot do with public institutions. However, citizens still expect quality services from the administration. It therefore becomes necessary to create a new place for citizens to enable them to play an active role in the life of the community. New expectations are leading municipalities to become Smart Cities, or a city at the service of citizens.

To read : Is your city really at the service of your citizens ?

Expectations considered

Communities are well aware of this need for renewal, which explains the numerous investments in Smart Cities. They allow citizens to have a pleasant experience in their city and enjoy services that are more accessible and easier to use. In addition to using citizens’ data to improve their experience, much more data, from all four corners of the city (transport, urban lighting, waste collection vehicles, etc.), is aggregated in the Smart City to facilitate decision-making. Collecting data is not enough. Cities must also find a way to give meaning to this data.

To manage incoming, circulating and outgoing documents effectively, many cities implement document management software. NeoLedge’s Electronic Content Management (ECM) solution will enable efficient mail management in your city. You can centralize both paper and e-mail content in the same place. Then you can assign automatic processing of these documents to respond more quickly and efficiently to your citizens. Elise will finally allow you to edit your reply mails with pre-established documents and to manage the departure of mails with the electronic signature on a single or a batch of documents.

More about : Electronic Mail Management for Smart Cities

Smart City to meet new expectations

Technology and people

The Smart City concept is often seen as the integration of Information and Communication Technologies in cities. Even if technology can offer new services to citizens, it will never replace human relations. The digital revolution is only part of tomorrow’s Smart City. Most of the reflection must focus on the place of the citizen in the city. Indeed, the city will become intelligent only if the human is placed in the center and not the machine. We can therefore see a Smart City as a territory that uses technology to better manage its resources and the daily lives of citizens. But it also implies a more efficient and virtuous urban organization due to participatory democracy.

The implementation of tools

A Smart City must therefore start by putting tools in place that allow citizens to be involved in the administration of their city. This is the case of applications offered by some cities that are based on an Open 311 protocol. Citizens can submit a report from this application, such as a pothole on the road in front of their office. It provides a certain amount of information such as the type of problem, its urgency, etc. Then, the protocol Open 311 will integrate the geographical position of the citizen to his or her request to allow the city to geolocalize the incident. It will then be processed by the town or city hall which will notify the citizen of the progress of his request via the application.

Explore Elise City for Smart Cities

Defining a valuable place for your citizens is essential. For this, it becomes necessary for citizens to know how to analyze the data of their environment to influence it with benevolence. In addition, the sense of belonging to the community has become very important these days. It is reinforced by better involvement of citizens in reporting problems in their city through such applications.

Ask for a demonstration of the My Elise City application!

A sustainable gain for cities

Local authorities have everything to gain by implementing e-administration solutions to optimize processes and realize substantial savings. Most important, they can collect data to optimize their service organization. And, of course, they define the place of the citizen in the city by putting him or her back in the center and building stronger connections. This is a real opportunity to better meet citizens’ expectations. The implementation of these tools will make it possible in the long term to measure the effectiveness of municipal management.

NeoLedge supports you in your Smart City projects