The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism launches the new National Smart Cities Plan, which is initially endowed with a budget of 153 million euros, an investment that will be co-financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and to which contributions from other administrations and the private sector will be added.

The plan will be coordinated through the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and the Information Society through the creation of the Smart Cities Advisory Council. It will be made up of the Secretary of State itself, Red.es, SEGITTUR, IDAE, EOI, local entities and representatives of the Industry.

Its objective is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of local entities in the provision of public services through the use of ICT and advance in the governance of the Smart City and Tourist Destination system. All of this will result in a better quality of life for citizens and will create attractive investment environments that will generate economic growth and employment.

The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism highlights the work of local entities as guarantors of the provision of public services and the diversity of services they offer with ICT instruments . These must identify quantifiable and periodic savings commitments, establish cooperation mechanisms with other municipalities and the industry to promote interoperability, replicability, sustainability and reuse of solutions and business models appropriate to the new type of services that citizens, companies and tourists demand. .

The National Plan is supported by the institutions and associations that are involved in the development of smart cities, as a great asset in this innovation process. In this sense, the role played by the Spanish Network of Smart Cities (RECI) stands out, which already has more than 60 municipalities and is considered a reference experience; as well as the role of the two employers' associations in the sector, AMETIC and CONETIC, and different private sector initiatives.

Five lines of action to develop Smart Cities

The National Smart Cities Plan is structured into five axes of action. -The first aims to facilitate municipalities in their transformation process into smart cities, through the provision of resources. -The second will execute projects that prove the efficiency of ICT in cost reduction, improvements in citizen satisfaction and the creation of new business models . -The third line of action is aimed at the development and growth of the ICT industry, with actions that promote new technological solutions that contribute to the advancement of smart cities. .-The fourth axis focuses on the communication and dissemination of the plan, to ensure its understanding through participatory processes, and the dissemination of standards, norms and open, interoperable and reusable solutions. -And finally, a fifth axis dedicated to monitoring the entire plan.

The first action of the National Smart Cities Plan is the call for Smart Cities, which has been promoted by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, through the public business entity Red.es. 13 projects that will be developed in more than twenty municipalities and that represent an investment of 13.1 million euros benefit from it. Red.es contributes up to 80% through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which contributes to reducing the differences between the development levels of European regions. The rest is borne by the municipalities.

For more information about this Plan, you can consult the following document National Smart Cities Plan [PDF] [830 KB]