Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are useful not only for evaluating the efficiency of city services, but also for analyzing how one or a set of changes will contribute to urban transformation into a smart sustainable city, providing a basis for standardization, KPIs can also enable comparisons between different cities to determine which is ‘smarter’ or ‘more sustainable’ in the context of solving a particular problem.
As with any form of planning, stakeholders need to analyze their current situation, evaluate their ICT maturity and sustainability levels, evaluate the current state of development, and the like before defining what is needed to achieve the vision. It is always a valid question to choose for the indicator and how to measure it. Ericsson’s City Index Network Index is a good example of how to construct a set of categories to monitor cities’ progress in ICT maturity and sustainability (at a high level).
Sustainable development is a continuous journey, but without a realistic and measurable goal – development can take too long and will not produce the desired results. Therefore, establishing a KPI monitoring system is one of the key prerequisites for success.
