Smart City Perspectives in the Context of Qatar

Abstract

The smart city concept is being implemented in different countries. In order to make such a concept successful, countries need to invest heavily in information and communication technology and provide opportunity to utilize them for creating economic and social value. As the access to such technology, the funds required for investments, and the manpower needed to take such a concept forward, the right use of such technology becomes challenging. The challenge requires and understanding of dimensions and the risks associated with the investment and use of information and communication technology. The complexity of the technology and its integration also brings in to risks associate with it. When risks are not adequately understood and addressed, they may cause security and privacy issues, thereby affecting the very concept of smart city. This paper focuses on identifying smart city dimensions, and the technical and non-technical risks. Qatar’s smart city project and the risks related to the information and communication technology applications used at the project are presented.