Smart cities are a benefit to citizens and the cities themselves which makes them a great opportunity for investment. But, do you know what a smart city is? If not, don’t worry, we’ll explain.
Smart Cities: What Are They and Why Should You Care About Them?
You’ll hear a lot of talk in the coming months and years of “smart cities” as the infrastructure of our cities is overhauled, but what exactly is a smart city and why should you care about one?
What is a Smart City?
A smart city is a city that takes advantage of information and communication technologies to improve the operational efficiency of the city. This technology allows for more efficient dissemination of information between city officials and the public residing in the city. With this new technology in place, citizen welfare vastly improves as government services are much more organized and efficient.
When we talk about a smart city what we are referring to is a type of impact investment. Investing in the development of a smart city is making an investment that not only financially benefits the city by increasing efficiency, but it also benefits those living in the city by providing them with better services and thereby having a social impact too.
Why Should You Care About Smart Cities?
Smart cities are of importance to everyone. Why?
Firstly, as a business, you can improve your efficiency, decreasing costs and improving productivity. This means increased revenue for you as more customers are attracted to your business because of the improved service and goods that you offer.
As an individual living in a smart city, you benefit from more efficient communications and services. So by supporting smart city technology, you are improving your own life as well as supporting the local economy of your city. A more economically sound city means more stability in the job market, a better quality of life, and more advanced and reliable public services.
As someone not currently living in a smart city, you should be paying attention to the idea of the smart city because it’s one that every city around the world can benefit from. It reduces poverty, improves employment stability, improves and stabilizes public services, and reduces serious social concerns like homelessness.
What Can You Do to Impact the Development and Spread of Smart Cities?
The truth is that while everyone thinks that they have little influence over whether their city becomes a smart city, this couldn’t be further from the truth. A stable smart city depends on a collaboration between everyone residing in and supporting that city. So, what can you do to impact the development and spread of smart cities?
As an entrepreneur, you can develop products and services aimed at creating a smarter city. This means creating and refining the technology that already exists to make a more efficient technological infrastructure. Lacking the funding you need to get your products and services off the ground? We recommend speaking with one of our experienced impact technology investment advisors. Our founder and former first lady of Florida, Carole Crist, has a vast network of influential contacts around the world who are just waiting for the opportunity to invest in this type of project!
As a business, you can both develop these products and services mentioned above and you can hire creators of – and invest in – these more efficient technologies. Not sure where to start with this type of investment? This is where an investment advisor can come in very handy.
As someone living in a city that is not yet a smart city, there is still something that you can do to help your city to adapt. Firstly, you can raise awareness of the advantage of smart cities and campaign for local officials who are dedicated to the development of more efficient technology and communications systems. Secondly, you can help entrepreneurs and startup companies that develop these types of technologies to get the publicity that they need to find the investors by raising awareness of the companies, their products/services, and how they will impact your city for the better!
Interested in Investing in or Contributing to Smart Cities?
If you’re interested in investing in smart cities? Whether you’re an investor or a contributor to smart technologies, CLC Global Advisors’ professional team of smart city investing advisors can help. Give us a call today at 305-467-3432 to see how we can help you!
