INVESTING IN INTELLIGENT SMART CITY TECHNOLOGIES

Abstract

Modern information and communication technologies are becoming the basis for a new quality of cities, the organisation of a comfortable living space in cities, improving the quality of life of the population, ensuring sustainable development and improving technology as a tool for implementing these tasks. The implementation of all these measures requires significant investments, which makes it necessary to find various ways of diversifying financial sources and mechanisms. The purpose of the article is to identify modern investment processes in the development of smart technologies of the world's smart cities in the conditions of large-scale digitalisation. Methodology. Graphic visualization methods are used to characterize trends in the penetration of the latest ICT technologies into the life of cities, the growth of the ICT market in smart cities, including 5G technologies. The methods of system analysis and generalisation allowed to determine the main directions of investment in smart city technologies and to identify the processes of formation of the newest forms of investment. Practical implications. The generalisation of the smart city practice made it possible to identify the following basic technologies necessary for the formation of a smart city ecosystem: Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, cloud computing, etc. These technologies are used to improve the quality of life, increase the efficiency of the economy and infrastructure, ensure community safety and promote the sustainable development of the smart city. These key areas require significant investment: communications infrastructure (5G network); traffic management systems; energy efficiency; security and surveillance systems; electronic service management. Global investment in smart city technology is predicted to increase many times over in the coming years. Value/originality. The need to attract significant investment in the development of the city's digital infrastructure has led to the emergence of the latest financial technologies that have widened the range of opportunities: direct investment, venture capital, corporate investment, corporate partnerships, state and local funds, crowdfunding, bonds, fintech, blockchain, etc.