Page 124 - Big Data Analytics for Connected Vehicles and Smart Cities

104 Big Data Analytics for Connected Vehicles and Smart Cities Smart Cities 105

professionals, and information technology companies. Since a smart city en-
compasses services beyond transportation, the participants involved in the
project will come from a more diverse background than those working on the
typical application of advanced technologies to transportation. This profession-
al diversity will require a special emphasis on clarity of communications with
respect to the planned technology deployments and the definition of roles and
responsibilities among the partners.

Avoiding the Development of a Set of Stovepipe Projects That Do Not Connect
Successfully
To optimize the effect of a smart city implementation, it is necessary to ensure
that all projects and programs fit within a coherent framework that ensures
coordination and avoids conflict or duplication of effort. The need to achieve
early results and shorter-term return on investment can often influence smart
city initiatives toward high-impact investments in specific areas that lack coor-
dination. The development of a big picture approach to a smart city plan and
the definition of technology, organizational, and business plan frameworks are
central to ensuring that the city is getting the very best from each investment
and that each project builds on the other one.

Leveraging Sunk Investment in Legacy Systems to the Fullest Effect
While the destination point for a smart city journey will probably be very simi-
lar for all cities, the departure point can vary substantially depending on the
perception of specific needs and prior investments in advanced technology. If
an effective business justification is to be created from early investments in a
smart city, it is important that prior investment in legacy systems are fully in-
corporated as a platform for moving forward. This requires an assessment and
understanding of the services being delivered by legacy systems and the incor-
poration of relevant aspects into the technology and organizational frameworks.

Keeping the Focus on Results
A strong emphasis should be placed on defining and agreeing on objectives for
the smart city initiative, the development of use cases and requirements, and the
definition of arrangements for monitoring and managing the success of the de-
ployment. It is likely that a smart city initiative, due to the variety of services to
be offered, will have a wide range of objectives. Accordingly, it will be necessary
to ensure that all planned actions and investments are related to these objectives
and that all objectives can be addressed fully.

Communicating the Value and Benefits to Partners and the Public
Explaining the value and benefits of the proposed smart city elements to part-
ners and to the public is one of the most important factors in the success of the