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The Challenges and Opportunities of Smart Cities Infrastructure

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Abstract

Information communications technology (ICT) refers to the technology used for communication and managing information must be utilized to enhance the environment, economics, mobility, and governance, among other facets of urban life, in order to create smart cities. However this progress is frequently accompanied by a number of challenges and unfavorable outcomes. This study aims to uncover ICT difficulties related to smart city infrastructure through an extensive literature review. In addition, a survey was carried out among Saudi nationals to find out what they thought about, anticipated, and worried about in terms of smart city concepts and features. The study also looked at a literature checklist of ICT problems, which included dangers to information security, incompatibilities across systems, privacy concerns, and deficiencies in digital capabilities. Based on the findings it appears that privacy breaches and information security concerns are the most important issues. This is explained by heightened susceptibility and potential, cyberattacks and a pervasive ignorance of the protection of personal data. Because of the anticipated high costs and difficulties with adaption and utilization, the public is concerned about incompatibility between systems and services. Furthermore, older individuals and those with lesser educational achievement have different digital skills.

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deputyship for Research & Innovation, Ministry of education in Saudi Arabia.

Funding

N/A.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computer Science and Engineering, Information System Department, Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia

    Amer Abuali, Wejdan Alharthi, Mariam Althbyani, Fahad Ghabban, Omair Ameerbakhsh, Ibrahim Alfadli, Ashwaq Hasen Al-Shehri & Najmah Adel Fallatah

Authors
  1. Amer Abuali
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  2. Wejdan Alharthi
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  3. Mariam Althbyani
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  4. Fahad Ghabban
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  5. Omair Ameerbakhsh
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  6. Ibrahim Alfadli
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  7. Ashwaq Hasen Al-Shehri
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  8. Najmah Adel Fallatah
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Contributions

A.A has designed and the study and lead the project. While, W.A has conducted the literature review, and helped in the result interpretation. In addition, MA, and F.G have supervised the work and validated the idea, and made the Acquisition of the financial support for the project leading to this publication. Moreover, O.A.B, and I.A have helped in analyzing the related works and providing the first paper draft. Furthermore, A.H.A, and N.A.F have helped in the study design, analyzing the related works. All the authors have reviewed and approved the final paper version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fahad Ghabban.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

All participants involved in this study provided informed consent prior to their participation. They were informed about the purpose of the research, the procedures involved, potential risks and benefits, and their rights as participants. Participants were assured of the confidentiality of their responses and were informed that their participation was voluntary, with the option to withdraw at any time without penalty. Written consent was obtained from participants before their inclusion in the study.

Research Involving Human and/or Animals

Only human.

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Appendix

Appendix

The smart city concept uses information and communication technologies to improve the quality of life by facilitating more efficient and sustainable management of cities. This questionnaire aims to understand residents' perceptions and concerns regarding the smart city concept and its services. The questionnaire includes three main parts as presented and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. The first part consists of four questions related to demographic characteristics, including gender, age group, educational level, and current city. The second part includes 10 questions covering participants’ perceptions and interests about the concept of the smart city, its services, and their use of these services. The third part addresses four challenges associated with smart city infrastructure, including information security risks, privacy violations, incompatibilities between different systems, and digital skills gaps identified through the literature review. There are three sub sections for each potential challenges : (1) the potential causes, (2) the severity of the impacts , (3) proposed solutions.


Section 1: Demographic information

  1. 1.

    What is your sex?

    1. (a)

      Male

    2. (b)

      Female

  2. 2.

    What is your age range?

    1. (a)

      18–24

    2. (b)

      25–34

    3. (c)

      35–44

    4. (d)

      45–54

    5. (e)

      Above 55

  3. 3.

    What is your education level?

    1. (a)

      Secondary

    2. (b)

      Diploma

    3. (c)

      Bachelor

    4. (d)

      Master or higher

  4. 4.

    What is your current city?

    1. (a)

      Jeddah

    2. (b)

      Riyadh

    3. (c)

      Dammam

    4. (d)

      Madinah

    5. (e)

      Other’s

Section 2: Smart City Concept and Services.

  1. 5.

    How well do you know the concept of smart cities?

    1. (a)

      I have no knowledge 

    2. (b)

      Very little 

    3. (c)

      Some knowledge 

    4. (d)

      Very good

  2. 6.

    Mention an example of any smart city project you know? Optional question

  3. 7.

    Smart cities aim to improve the quality of life using communications and information technologies. In your opinion, what are the positives? You can choose multiple answers.

    1. (a)

      Improved infrastructure: Smart cities use advanced technologies that improve transportation systems, energy networks, and waste management, which leads to reduced resource consumption and lower costs.

    2. (b)

      Effective transportation: Intelligent transportation systems integrate data and smart sensors to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion.

    3. (c)

      Improving safety and security: Smart cities use advanced monitoring systems, smart lighting, and emergency response mechanisms to enhance public safety.

    4. (d)

      Improving the quality of life: Smart cities focus on improving the quality of life of residents by providing smart health care systems, effective public services, and digital communication, which leads to improved access to basic services and increased comfort.

  4. 8.

    What are your concerns regarding the concept of smart cities? You can choose multiple answers?

    1. (a)

      Personal data privacy.

    2. (b)

      Lack of advanced technical skills.

    3. (c)

      Information security (such as cyber attacks, system collapse).

    4. (d)

      There are no fears.

  5. 9.

    how would you rate your participation and involvement in Saudi smart cities initiative?

    1. (a)

      i have no idea about it .

    2. (b)

      I heard but am not interested about it.

    3. (c)

      I am very interested but not involved

    4. (d)

      I participated in public forums about the initiative 

  6. 10.

    what is the type of smart city services that you think are more useful and fulfill population needs?

    1. a.

      services that bring more stable and safer life

    2. b.

      services that contribute to my relationship with other people

    3. c.

      services that are conducive to my personal development,self -esteem and self actualization?

  7. 11.

    how you usually feel when you use e-services such as online mapping, navigation systems? 1 always 5 never

    1. (a)

      1

    2. (b)

      2

    3. (c)

      3

    4. (d)

      4

    5. (e)

      5

  8. 12.

    Do you read the disclaimers/conditions when you use a new device or application?

    1. (a)

      Never

    2. (b)

      Yes, sometimes

    3. (c)

      Yes, always

  9. 13.

    will you stop using a device or installing an application Bea cause you do not accept the disclaimers/conditions?

    1. (a)

      Never

    2. (b)

      Yes, sometimes

    3. (c)

      Yes, always

  10. 14.

    what is the personal information that you will not give when you use a device or an application?

    1. (a)

      (a)Location tracking .

    2. (b)

      (b)Email address .

    3. (c)

      Phone number .

    4. (d)

      (d)Social media accounts .

Section 3: Potential challenges associated with smart cities:

1 (Likelihood of possible causes):

Please rate the likelihood of these causes from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high):

Challenge

Possible causes

Occurrence likelihood

1 2 3 4 5

Information Security

Weak security and encryption

 

Errors in systems design

Cyber attacks

Difficult to ensure end to end security due to large and interdependent systems with many stakeholders involved

Limited security sponsorship and management support

Human errors and negligent staff

Privacy

Data of user used without prior consent or notification

 

Lack of user knowledge and awareness about data Protect

 

There are no strict regulations to protect user data

 

Compatibility and integration

Incompatible formats and data standards

 

Independent development and non-integrated services and operations

 

Difficult to handle with a large number of stakeholders

 

Technology skills

Unavailability of digital services and Internet access

 

Lack of services quality

 

Care for people with special needs Not as required

 

Lack of training programs for citizens

 

2 The impact of these challenges

Please rate the severity of each impact from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high)

Challenge

Impact

Severity

1 2 3 4 5

Information Security

System failure and inability to respond

 

Failure to maintain users' confidential information

 

Privacy

Citizen tracking, Information exposure, or impersonation

 

Risking lose users' trust

 

Compatibility and integration

Wasting resources and not exploiting them properly

 

The efficiency of smart cities is not as required

 

Dissatisfaction of citizens

 

Technology skills

Social inequality among citizens

 

The effectiveness of smart cities is not as required

 

3 The effectiveness of some proposed solutions)

Please rate the effectiveness of these solutions from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high):

Challenge

Solution

Effectiveness

1 2 3 4 5

Information security

Take more preventive measures such as frequent backups, software updates, antivirus software

 

Developing very specific standards for managing ICT services.

 

Improving security awareness and availability safeguards

 

Implement the cybersecurity strategy in the best way

 

Privacy

Setting standards for how published data could be collected and used

 

Training and awareness programs to raise users' awareness about maintaining privacy

 

A regulation for data sharing, and giving the user full control over his own data

 

Compatibility and integration

Improving cooperation between different relevant stakeholders

 

Develop an integration plan for all systems and data in the design stage

 

Technology skills

Appropriate pricing for Internet services and smart devices

 

Providing technical education and training

 

Improving public services and promoting information literacy

 

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Abuali, A., Alharthi, W., Althbyani, M. et al. The Challenges and Opportunities of Smart Cities Infrastructure. SN COMPUT. SCI. 5, 713 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-024-03033-7

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