Being ‘hyperconnected’ boosts cities’ ROI

Source: Smart Cities Dive Author: Sarah Wray Published: November 25, 2019

Hyperconnected leaders include Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, London, Melbourne, Copenhagen and Dublin.

Cities could collectively see a return on their smart city investments (ROI) of as much as $60 billion if they become fully “hyperconnected”, according to a new study.

The Building a hyperconnected city report by ESI ThoughtLab is based on a year-long global study of 100 cities which are using data and technology to improve, connect and secure all areas of their ecosystem. Each city was categorised as an implementer (making strides and investments to interconnect systems), an advancer (making progress on interconnecting the urban ecosystem and realising benefits) or a leader (ahead of most peers in interconnecting the urban ecosystem and seeing significant economic, business, and social benefits).

Leaders include Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, London, Melbourne, Copenhagen and Dublin.

Dr Daniel Miles, Chief Economist, ESI ThoughtLab, told SmartCitiesWorld: “When we did a study last year, we saw that cities really weren’t getting the benefits that we thought they should be. So we started to dig deeper into how cities are using data, and whether they are using it across different areas of their ecosystem.”

He added: “We found this year that cities that ‘hyperconnect’ engage citizens and use data and technology across the ecosystem to connect the different pieces. They get much more return on their investment than they would otherwise.”