Nicosia 2016 - SMART technologies and the municipal budget

Nicosia group

Date Published: May 26, 2017, 9:29 a.m.

Nicosia 2016 - SMART technologies and the municipal budget


T

he Uraía members gathered in Nicosia joining the CEMR Congress to debate how SMART tech can help reducing costs and increasing revenue in municipal finances.



Goals

The objective of the workshop was to exchange experiences on initiatives that used SMART technologies to improve tax recovery and increase energy efficiency and how these experiences produce an impact on municipal budget and are transformed into better services to all citizens. The workshop offered an opportunity for cities to discover available SMART solutions that can have a significant impact on the municipal budget and to get inspired by their peers’ experiences.

Activities

The sessions of the workshop discussed the impact on the municipal budget of the introduction of SMART technologies. More specifically, the exchanges focused on how SMART technologies can:

  • Increase municipal revenue by improving tax collection (mapping tools, electronic and mobile payment, transparency, tackling informality, creating trust in the public sector...)
  • Generate savings through energy efficiency policies in municipal assets and services (energy production, municipal buildings, public lighting, household energy provision and consumption, etc.)


Participation

The workshop combined plenary sessions and more in-depth debates in working groups, as well as a technical visit to SMART experiences of the Municipality of Nicosia. 

The first day of the event was exclusively participation of Uraía partners and invitees, targeting a number of 40 experts and decision makers, with a spread of 50% European and 50% from outside of Europe. Participants included representatives from local governments, network of cities, research centres, international organizations, and private sector companies. 


Documents