How to make your city smarter: Creating and assessing the path to prosperity
More than ever, the traditional "bricks-and-mortar" drivers of economic growth are giving way to an economy based on "brains and creativity." Competitive differentiation today is more likely to be based on the ability of the workforce to create and absorb skills and innovation than on traditional drivers such as available natural resources, physical labor or manufacturing prowess. As a result, the skills, aptitude, knowledge, creativity and innovation of a workforce – which collectively can be viewed as the talent pool in the economy – have become increasingly important drivers of economic growth and activity.
Cities, as hubs of the global economy, are the focal points for this transformation. In the immediate future, three interconnected factors will place even more emphasis on the role of cities in talent-based economic development:
To learn more
- Download the complete IBM Institute for Business Value executive report: "Smarter cities for smarter growth: How cities can optimize their systems for the talent-based economy." (2.42MB)
- Download the executive summary (749KB)
- Listen to an interview with the author MP3, 4.2MB
Two additional executive reports are available that detail the path to becoming a smarter city and provide assessment guidelines to measure progress against strategic objectives.
To see how cities can lead the way to a prosperous, sustainable future:
- Download "A vision of smarter cities: How cities can lead the way into a prosperous and sustainable future." (380KB)
- Download the executive summary (1.2MB)
- Listen to an interview with the author (MP3, 16.8MB)
To learn, assess and progress toward becoming a smarter city:
Contact us
Meet the authors
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Mary Keeling
Manager, IBM Institute for Business Value Center for Economic Analysis
Related links
- Economic development in a Rubik Cube's world
How to turn global trends into local prosperity
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