More and more city governments are using advanced technologies to improve livability for their residents. Municipalities use data from smartphones and sensors for traffic enforcement, traffic control, and waste management. They also have implemented artificial intelligence and deep learning programs.
Dubai, Paris, and Coral Gables, Fla., are among the cities that have invested heavily in programs to become smarter.
But along with the conveniences that come with a smart city transition, there have been challenges including safety and privacy issues and eroding relationships between residents and city officials.
Although many initiatives have delivered real innovations, not all have been successful. Inefficient global coordination has hindered projects with unclear standards, socioeconomic differences, and a lack of worldwide governance, leading to a disconnect between the technologies and the ability to adapt to them.
Citizens’ trust in the technologies suffers because of privacy breaches, personal data leaks, and other issues.
Finding solutions
Smart city projects are complex and expensive endeavors that involve politicians, citizens, technocrats, and engineers. Successful projects require citizens to be fully engaged and to have strong collaborations with the participants, especially engineers, as engineering is the cornerstone.
Collaboration with universities, research institutions, and technology experts can bridge knowledge gaps on the behavior of complex socio-technical systems. What’s missing, though, is a global platform where those involved can discuss their experiences.
To help solve those and other challenges, the IEEE Smart Cities Technical Community (formerly the IEEE Smart Cities Initiative) was launched in 2013 by IEEE Future Directions, which incubates emerging technologies and new applications of current ones. The technical community provides city leaders and others with credible, unbiased information and educational content developed by IEEE experts.
Since then, IEEE Smart Cities has launched services including its flagship International Smart Cities Conference, a media center with educational and technical resources, and a contest to recognize the best smart project completed by city officials. The platforms bring together practicing engineers, academic researchers, policymakers, and city leaders to collaborate and exchange ideas and experiences about moving toward a smart-city model.
Better serving humanity
In 2021 the IEEE Power & Energy Society began managing the Smart Cities program, which is supported by the IEEE Communications, Industry Applications, and Intelligent Transportation Systems societies and other IEEE entities.
Thanks to volunteers’ dedication and determination, IEEE Smart Cities launched several services. But the initiative’s structure limited the development of long-term projects and the creation of new activities.
To address the situation, the IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB) created the second-generation technical community ad hoc committee, also in 2021. It was a pilot program whereby IEEE Smart Cities formed a board of governors to oversee the community’s operations and leadership, and created a policies and procedures manual.
In November 2025 IEEE Smart Cities became a TAB technical community.
Today more than 7,000 volunteers collaborate on various aspects of the community within at least one of the following technical tracks:
- Smart grid.
- Smart water management.
- Green electronics for smart cities.
- Smart governance and planning.
- Hydrogen for smart cities.
- Smart and sustainable campus.
- Security for smart cities.
- Smart lighting for cities.
- Smart mobility for cities.
- Artificial intelligence for cities.
New webinar series, workshops, conferences, educational resources, and other offerings are being created.
Two events were launched recently: the IEEE European Technology and Engineering Management Summit, held in May 2025 in Belgium, with the next one planned for 2027; and the IEEE Sustainable Smart Lighting World Conference, scheduled for 2 to 6 December in Athens.
The Smart Cities Ambassadors program aims to raise the technical community’s visibility outside IEEE by holding roundtables and other events at non-IEEE functions.
IEEE Smart Cities volunteers are working on launching journals. In addition, standards are being developed in collaboration with the IEEE Standards Association, societies, and councils.
The program is collaborating with the Open and Agile Smart Cities and Communities network, the Instituto de Competitividad e Innovación para el Desarrollo y Transferencia de Tecnología, and the International Project Management Association.
All of those actions have the ultimate objective of boosting IEEE Smart Cities’ growth and sustainability, as well as strengthening the leadership and educational offerings to technical community volunteers.
If you would like to volunteer, visit the Smart Cities website.
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