Panel discussion (23 Oct): Trust and tech AI’s future with local government

Join us to explore how local governments are leveraging AI to improve services, boost local economies, and build public trust – while navigating the challenges of ethics and inclusion.

OnDemand Panel Debate: Clearing the air: strategies for enhancing urban air quality

Join the latest SmartCitiesWorld Panel Debate to understand how to improve air quality in urban environments, and hear real-world case studies from leading cities. Watch Here

Understanding Microsoft’s approach to AI-powered local government

Discover how Microsoft is working to help cities ease pressure on resource and budget with AI, from helping to reshape government processes to helping transform resident experiences.

How Ukraine developed its AI assistant – and claimed a world record

The Diia.AI app represents a new way for governments to interact with communities and aims to bring fast, intuitive public services even closer to people.

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Atlanta

Find out more about Atlanta’s smart city strategy, focused around equitability and inclusion.

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Dortmund

In this edition, we focus on Dortmund in western Germany. With around 600,000 inhabitants, Dortmund is the eighth-largest city in Germany and the gateway to the Rhine-Ruhr region in the heart of Europe.

Podcasts

Podcast: The data tech unlocking new value in smart cities

In the latest SmartCitiesWorld podcast, Graeme Neill speaks to Alexander Zschaler, regional sales director at Cloudera Germany.

Opinions

Introducing AI CityXchange: focusing on the real work of AI in cities

SmartCitiesWorld’s senior editor Luke Antoniou on the launch of the new AI CityXchange, at a time where dialogue and knowledge sharing is critical between cities and their partners to use AI technology for public good.

Modernising public services and the $9.8 trillion case for govtech

Government technology is entering a new era of modernisation, fostering innovations that are enabling a digital and sustainable future, says Capgemini’s Marc Reinhardt.

Home | Special Reports

Special Reports

Here at SmartCitiesWorld, we produce Special Reports on a weekly basis. If you would like to contribute to any special report or opinion pieces please contact our editor Luke Antoniou on lukea@smartcitiesworld.net

Understanding Microsoft’s approach to AI-powered local government

Understanding Microsoft’s approach to AI-powered local government

AI and Machine Learning28 Jan 2026

Discover how Microsoft is working to help cities ease pressure on resource and budget with AI, from helping to reshape government processes to helping transform resident experiences.

22 - 26 June 2026: Find out more

Latest City Profile

SmartCitiesWorld City Profile – Sunderland

Smart Cities Reports

Find out how Sunderland is repositioning itself as a leading smart city – using digital infrastructure and low-carbon innovation to build a resilient, future-focused economy in the latest SmartCitiesWorld City Profile.

Latest Trend Report

Trend Report: The impact of AI and data on transportation operations and services

Trend Series

Delve into how cities are addressing the challenges of building intelligent transport systems and using AI and data to transform operations and user experience.

Latest Webinar

Panel Discussion (30 Jun): Unlocking value in cities from buildings, data and AI

Webinars

Explore how AI, building data and connected urban infrastructure can help cities improve sustainability, resilience and operational performance.

Latest Summit Speakers
(22-26 June)

Lord Marvin Rees OBE

Former Mayor

Bristol City Council

Find out more

Julie Foley OBE

Director of Flood Risk Strategy & Adaptation

Environment Agency

Find out more

Sherelle Fairweather

Digital Strategy Lead

Manchester’s Digital Strategy

Find out more

Jaromir Beranek

Deputy Mayor for Transport

City of Prague

Find out more

Liz St Louis

Smart City Director

Sunderland City Council

Find out more

Cllr Susan Aitken

Leader

Glasgow City Council

Find out more

Mark Wheeler

CIO

Montgomery County

Find out more

John Moran

Mayor

Limerick City and County Council

Find out more

Matjaž Rakovec

Mayor

City of Kranj

Find out more

Erin Mendenhall

Mayor

Salt Lake City

Find out more

Julia King

The Baroness Brown of Cambridge DBE FREng FRS

House of Lords

Find out more

Latest Podcast

Cities Thriving on Lighting, Episode 3 – What global cities are learning from smart lighting

Podcasts

Join the final episode of Cities Thriving on Lighting to discover how global cities are approaching smart lighting and the related cybersecurity risks today.

Latest Urban Exchange Podcast

Urban Exchange Podcast Episode 32 – Flood and energy resilience in Quezon City

Urban Exchange Podcast

Tune in for the latest Urban Exchange where we get a first-hand account of city resilience measures from Quezon City following unexpected extreme rainfall.

Latest Special Report

How edge AI is rewriting the rules of urban technology

AI CityXchange

Chris Lucero of The Connective, Greater Phoenix’s regional smart city consortium, explores how a hybrid of edge and cloud computing is transforming smart cities.

BECOME A MEMBER

Build your own Industry Resource Library
Gain access to all SmartCitiesWorld content
Make the most of Industry Webinar Events

Register Login

Most Popular

Austin City Council adopts 10-year Rain to River plan

Zurich retains top spot in IMD Smart City Index

Putting AI at the centre of public sector decision-making

Nearly two-thirds of cities hit by extreme weather risk

Cornell urban tech hub updates proposals for ‘rebooting’ NYC

SmartCitiesWorld Newsletters (Daily/Weekly)

Our editorial newsletter pulls together our latest news items into one email, direct to your inbox. We also feature our latest city interviews, Special Reports and Guest Opinions.

How Ukraine developed its AI assistant – and claimed a world record

Special Reports18 Dec 2025

The Diia.AI app represents a new way for governments to interact with communities and aims to bring fast, intuitive public services even closer to people.

How data and digital can propel UK cities and industry to new heights

How data and digital can propel UK cities and industry to new heights

Special Reports15 Aug 2025

Justin Anderson, Managing Director for Data and Digital at Connected Places Catapult, explains how a new role for him coincides with national and local innovation priorities, and how to make good on the potential of devolution.

Dialogue, partnership, community: putting people first in urban innovation

Dialogue, partnership, community: putting people first in urban innovation

Special Reports31 Jul 2025

Raffaele Gareri, founder and partner Urban Innovators Global and former CDO of Rome, explains why innovation in cities must begin with people, and how to deliver the best outcomes to communities through innovation projects.

Celebrating inclusive innovation through the Seoul Smart City Prize

Celebrating inclusive innovation through the Seoul Smart City Prize

Special Reports07 May 2025

Discover how the Seoul Smart City Prize is supporting more community-centric, sustainable cities, and how to get involved in the 2025 edition.

Curitiba: how digital transformation and revitalisation go hand in hand

Curitiba: how digital transformation and revitalisation go hand in hand

Special Reports07 May 2025

Eduardo Pimentel, mayor of Curitiba, details the initiatives that are reinvigorating public services, business and economy in the city named the world’s smartest in 2023.

Kyiv.Digital: a digital umbrella for the city

Kyiv.Digital: a digital umbrella for the city

Citizen engagement05 Oct 2023

Anatolii Vovniuk, deputy CIO of Kyiv Council, explains how Kyiv.Digital evolved from a Covid-19 lifeline to an integrated services app used by 80 per cent of citizens.

A tool for transforming smart city governance: How The Hague utilised policy benchmarking to develop smart city next steps

A tool for transforming smart city governance: How The Hague utilised policy benchmarking to develop smart city next steps

Policymaking26 Jul 2023

SmartCitiesWorld takes a closer look at the G20 Global Smart City Alliance’s Benchmarking Tool, and finds out from The Hague’s deputy mayor, digital innovation and smart cities advisor and cybersecurity lead how it can support cities in plotting their route to better smart city technology governance.

How Porto is making climate action the responsibility of all

How Porto is making climate action the responsibility of all

Climate action06 Jan 2023

A deep dive into environmental sustainability with Filipe Araújo, Vice-Mayor and City Councillor for Environment, Climate, Innovation and Digital Transition for the City of Porto

Columbus, OH: collaborating on climate, equity and everything in between

Columbus, OH: collaborating on climate, equity and everything in between

News21 Jul 2022

How collaboration and engagement have held the key to creating a city that is citizen-centric and ambitious in its climate action objectives.

On the right side of the game: how open source is making digital laggards catch up

On the right side of the game: how open source is making digital laggards catch up

Special Reports25 Mar 2021

FIWARE CEO Ulrich Ahle speaks to Graeme Neill about how the Smart Cities for Germany programme is helping the country’s poor track record on digitising services and how the battle for public opinion on open-source has been won.

Japan’s start-up community is powering the future of smart cities

Japan’s start-up community is powering the future of smart cities

Special Reports12 Mar 2021

A unique start-up accelerator program is fuelling global smart city innovation in Kyoto. But how is it doing so?

Accelerating climate action: learning from sustainable city leaders

Accelerating climate action: learning from sustainable city leaders

Special Reports17 Feb 2021

Climate targets are essential but their ambition may be off-putting to some. Which cities are leading the way in their green strategies?

SmartCitiesWorld Newsletters (Daily/Weekly)

Our editorial newsletter pulls together our latest news items into one email, direct to your inbox. We also feature our latest city interviews, Special Reports and Guest Opinions.