Some text from Accenture Australia’s smart cities practice lead, Janine Griffiths on “Smart city ‘killer use case’ doesn’t exist”. (edited for ease of reading):

Smart cities are about improving the liveability of their citizens [and] this may or may not be supported by technology. … It is critical that leaders of cities understand this and look at technologies as a tool to deliver an outcome for the community as opposed to being the actual panacea.”

Each city is unique in its own right - with even neighbouring councils having different economies, community demographics, geography, industries, and political priorities - and the needs of the communities are different too. … Innovation should be around how the City understands the needs of its citizens and intelligently utilises technology to develop a capability, and it is vital to understand that capability is not just technology but is a combination with processes and people.

Adopting the latest technology with limited understanding of local context and not making changes to ‘ways of working’ will lead to unpredictable results.

Sales side:

By engaging in a wider ecosystem with other industries and digital partners, local councils can develop a design-based, citizen-centric and outcome-driven strategy and, consequently, a seamless experience for their communities.

By considering the entire ecosystem around them, Australian cities will get an outside-in view of the people in the ecosystem, the places in which the service is experienced, the products used by everyone, the processes that people follow and the performance.