Smart city procurement reforms needed: SCCANZ

Procurement processes need an overhaul for the smart cities era, according to a new report from the Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand (SCCANZ).

The council recently assembled a range of stakeholders across government, industry and non-profit sectors for a session on smart cities procurement.

Participants agreed that traditional procurement practices work best on single transactions, whereas smart cities projects are much more complex.

The session identified a range of challenges surrounding procurement for smart cities, including inconsistent and overly complicated legislation that is written for a mature market rather than new-to-market technologies.

In addition, budgets are universally tight and often split across multiple departments, and budget practices discourage commitments beyond election cycles.

Councils are also often risk-averse and are reluctant to adopt new technology solutions as there is not yet sufficient evidence of successful rollout or outcomes. Security and privacy concerns also contribute to the uncertainty around smart city technologies.

Other issues include a lack of desire or incentive to collaborate with neighbouring councils and other stakeholders, a lack of forums to share best practices between councils, and cultural norms that are not compatible with quickly adopting and iterating on new ideas.

Participants also discussed ways to address these and other challenges. Recommendations included establishing new partnerships with aligned organisations, advocating for and embracing standards, aligning state and local procurement practices, and developing consistent ways to vet start-ups supplying to local government.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/nadla

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