Effective digital cities governance: Driving shared value creation

Digital city governance drives progress and allows cities to unlock their full potential, adapt to challenges, and build a brighter future for their residents. But what does a governance framework look like and how will it help cities function for the good of society?

Our future lies in digital cities. By 2045, it is estimated that six billion people will be urban dwellers and the use of data to run cities and create economic opportunities will be paramount. But questions arise. Who owns the data, and who is responsible and liable? How are data and critical systems secured against known and unknown risks? What are the safeguards and how are management frameworks developed? And finally, how is privacy protected while empowering innovation?

The answers to many of these questions lies in governance. The digital city is a complex ecosystem, which requires governance architectures and mechanisms to drive it towards the highest shared value creation, without which initiatives and projects may not be driven towards well-defined and comprehensive goals.

Understanding governance in the digital city context

In our modern, data-driven society, events and outcomes are happening at a rapid and sometimes alarming pace. Managing this change is fraught and challenging, which is why putting in regulations, institutional structures and governance is imperative to ensure that — armed with all this city data —we can make robust and ethical decisions. In this context, governance is more critical than ever to prevent abuse of privilege, access and asymmetric advantage.

City governance is about finding a balanced approach to managing risks and opportunities in the decision-making processes, as well as providing guidelines on what interests should be prioritized for the greater good of the city and its stakeholders. For example, to reflect the risks concomitant with the reward of increased digital usage, AECOM has developed a series of online mandatory courses on digital governance. Factors such as policymaking, distribution of responsibilities, optimization of scarce resources, equality and social welfare should all play a part in determining the decision-making processes and require clear and agreed governance.

Governance is not just about controls and compliance, although these are clearly necessary to protect systems and avoid abuses and threats to society, unwitting or deliberate. Governance must also encourage innovation, particularly in the digital arena. Without innovation, progress is impossible, so while governance controls are essential, they must also be open and allow freedom of thought to prevail. In this context, governance can be seen as a competitive advantage for nation states to attract talents and businesses.

Defining digital city governance

Digital city governance requires strong communication to achieve an open and trusting dialogue with all stakeholders. Local municipalities need to orchestrate this communication on four levels: political, legal, operational and social. Privacy must be respected, social values must be upheld, and sustainable outcomes to protect society and the natural environment must be sought. An overarching strategy, defined governance and ownership are key ingredients in driving success. To fully optimize these tools, governments must lay out a governance framework to guide the deployment of digital cities for the good of society. This should include:

• Reinforcing security and resilience of the digital ecosystem with robust data governance to ensure that businesses can operate within the rules of the game.
• Building upon a city’s open data initiatives and addressing pockets of data in silos, particularly outside the local government’s management, such as those in academia.
• Opening data for public usage through the development of a governance framework, an accessibility structure and a maintenance methodology.
• Meeting citizens’ expectations and achieving consensus in a holistic manner.
• Delivering on collaboration. With so many players interwoven into a digital ecosystem, who has what power? Are all voices represented? And how will disagreements be resolved?

Ultimately, digital city governance protects society by inculcating the right ethical behaviour of organizations and individuals. Regulations alone will not guarantee compliance with ethical codes; rather it is the political and social will that allows governance to triumph and innovation to thrive.