This special Salon discussed the development of Smart Cities, and the role of the private sector in working in partnership with local authorities on this agenda.

The salon discussed:

• How cities developing, reorganising and reinventing themselves
• How the business services sector has contributed to these developments
• What more should service providers do to incorporate smart city principles into their work
• To what extent has it been possible to develop intelligent, integrated and personalised services which are genuinely led by the needs and wishes of local residents, and how can the private sector play its part in helping to achieve that goal?
• How can cities develop a modern digital infrastructure?
• How can data – including open data – be used to develop new and smarter ways of managing key infrastructure?
• How are smart cities helping to improve sustainability?
• How are different parts of the business services sector working together to help achieve that goal?
• What do all these changes mean for cities’ sense of place, and how communities are themselves changing the way they organise themselves and interact with each other?
• This special Salon was particularly relevant for those involved in providing ICT, construction and infrastructure services and local public services.