1. The document discusses improving private sector engagement to help advance smart cities initiatives. 2. It notes that while smart cities could drive transformative change, the process of building them is extremely difficult. Citizen engagement is improving but private sector participation remains mixed. 3. The private sector has a key role to play by bringing innovation, but cities and companies struggle to collaborate effectively due to issues like procurement processes and a lack of clear market opportunities for solutions. Improved partnerships are needed.

1. IT Innovation Day
29 September 2016 | Amersfoort
‘Everything is Different, but
Nothing has Changed: Is Better
Private Sector Engagement the
Path to the Smart City?
Bristol Balloon Fiesta, 2015

2. Smart Cities
A partnership for research
collaboration
A story of three
messages:
1. ‘Smart cities’ is part of a wider
change in perception of the
importance of cities.
2. Smart cities could bring
transformative change, but it’s
often neglected that this process
is extremely hard.
3. The private sector has a crucial
enabling role, but engagement
needs to improve.

5. Our
perception of
cities is
changing…
…and they’re
here to stay.
Endless
Smart City
Possibilities
Social
“Ironically, the greatest
weapon against the
challenges of the future.”
Edward Glaeser,
The Age of Cities, Havard Press
Efficiencies
of density
Intellectual
Diversity and
Assembly
54%
Live in
them
70%
Will live in
them by
2050

6. 2. But smart
cities is not a
simple answer.

7. Citizen
engagement is
improving.
What about
the private
sector?
Citizens as
Sensors
VR Public
Consultations
Digital Skills
Programs
Participatory
Budgeting

8. “To many firms like ours, keeping cities
running, ‘smart cities’ is very much:
‘everything is different but nothing
has changed.’ ”
CEO
Anonymised City Service Provider
…some way to go.

9. 3. The private
sector
engagement is
mixed. Why?
“…we really want to convince
cities to update procurement
contracts to be more open and
outcomes-focused, giving us space
to innovate, embrace
technology…so we can do our part
in improving urban areas.”
Mark Saunders
Head of Centre
for Excellence –
Cities, Ferrovial
Interview, Feb 2016
Stephen Hilton,
Head of Futures,
Bristol City Council
“…we struggle to motivate the
private sector to share in our vision
– we need to figure out how to
engage and drive the digital
participation of the private sector
towards delivering better city
outcomes”
Interview, Jan 2016
32%
“Cities see us as
suppliers, not
partners.” 63%
“Cities should be
doing more to use
tech as a means to
enable us to engage
in improving
cities.”
Dan Byles
Former Chair of UK
Smart Cities APPG
“…providing technology is just a
lever, developing business models
that the private sector want to
engage with is the bigger barrier.”
Barcelona Smart Cities Expo, Nov 2014

10. After
After
Data
enabling
outcomes.
Madrid
Birmingham
BeforeA)Waste
Collection
B)Prison
Management
Collect each
bin at set
frequency
Contractor thus
empties bin
regardless
Fee given on
completion +
some weight-
based top-up fee
If performed
efficiently,
modest profit
Keep each bin
below set fill
level
Contractor
evaluates with
data when to
pick up what
A smart
contractor can
make more profit
for same fee
Cities have
incentivised
clean streets
Fee given based on
reoffending rates of
prison (as proportion
of avoided societal
costs)
Contractor
harnesses inmate
data to create
bespoke
rehabilitation plans
Throughout their
inmate stay
contractor monitors
and adjusts
City carefully tracks
probationers progress
through society

11. Data
exchanges
creating
mutual value.
Shanghai

12. SMEs can play
an equally
powerful role
as incumbents.
New York
Visualisations: The Digit Group

13. The need is
clear.
So why is
this so hard?
“We do not particularly see offers of digital
innovation coming from CSPs. Our primary
function is to deliver public good, and as such
we see too much risk in trying to drive these
ourselves, but would happily collaborate
with CSPs if we saw their sincere interest.”
Head of Strategic Change
(anonymised EU city)
“For us we do not see cities writing
tenders for digitally-innovative
solutions so we do not believe there
is a market for them so we have not
invested in their development.”
Head of Strategy
(annoymised City Service Provider)

14. A story of three messages:
1. Smart cities is part of a wider
change in perception of the
importance of cities.
2. Smart cities will bring
transformative change, but it’s
often neglected that this process is
extremely hard.
3. The private sector has a crucial
enabling role, but engagement
needs to improve.
“People say to me, ‘Why haven’t we resolved
urban problems with all this tech yet?’And I say,
well, why haven’t you got a cure for cancer?
What’s taking so long? These are complex
problems and cities are no different.”
Donald Sadoway
Professor, MIT
Barcelona Smart Cities World Expo 2014
“Kutzplus – the ‘people’s Uber’ if you will – died
because we do not understand public and private
sector collaboration around tech well enough. We
risk losing many more innovations if this
doesn’t change.”
Evgeny Morozov
The Guardian
Article, Jan 2016

15. Smart cities should be seen less about
IT…
…and more about IT enabling new,
innovative collaborative relationships.

16. Thank you!
Any questions?
Please do reach out if you are interested in
collaboration, whether a city, corporation
or academic.
Peter Cooper
Research Engineer
Bristol University & Arup
peter.cooper@arup.com
“Our ultimate mission is - and
always will be - to shape a better
world.”
Ove Arup, 1970