The impact of SMART technologies in the municipal budget: increased revenue and reduced expenses for better public services

This document analyzes trends and opportunities regarding existing technological solutions available to cities today. It also looks at risks, challenges and lessons learned. Each chapter comprises city case studies and interviews with key actors and concludes with recommendations about the elements that enable the success of SMART initiatives.

Topics addressed in each chapter include:

Chapter 1 – Digital government
SMART solutions to: a) optimize municipal management such as management platforms and online services to citizens; b) encourage smarter payment systems such as e-procurement and Mobile money; and c) increase revenue through better tax collection and administration as well as local economic development promotion.

Chapter 2 - Transparency and citizen participation
SMART solutions that may strengthen the trust of citizens in the local government, and on the long run, lead to an increase in tax revenues; as well as other tools that may help fight corruption and fraud and reduce financial losses due to the misuse of resources.

Chapter 3 – Energy efficiency of municipal assets
SMART technologies applied to energy management in cities, and to reduce the municipal energy bill. It covers topics such as street lighting, building efficiency and SMART grid technologies.

Chapter 4 – Efficiency of public services and infrastructure
SMART solutions to improve cost-efficiency in the management of three main municipal services: transportation, waste and water. Initiatives such as SMART parking, SMART cards, intelligent waste collection, and sensors network to detect water leakages are addressed and have proved to generate savings for local governments around the world.