While it is still unclear which paths lead to the success of Smart City implementations, IDC Government Insights explains that this forecast relates to an effective and innovative strategic leadership as well as strengths in close cross-industry ties across a multitude of technology and business partners alike to drive the necessary future developments of its city.

IDC Government Insights defines the term "Smart City" broadly. Smart Cities can be a district, town, city, county, metropolitan area, city state (e.g., Singapore), or even functionally clustered government operations such as public order and safety, transportation, healthcare, and education sectors. Such next-generation models of cities are anticipated to capture, analyze, and use information to achieve over-arching long-term sustainability goals around improving the lives of their residents, business, and government services.

In line with that, the Singapore government recently unveiled plans to enhance existing Smart City initiatives through the use of sensor technologies that monitor air and water quality, transport and public safety operations.

These Smart sensors will be deployed across various selected jurisdictions, such as Orchard Road, Little India, and Jurong Lake District; and functional proposes, including environmental air and water quality, traffic and public safety.

According to IDC Government Insights, a successful Smart City program needs to continually engage citizens and private entities to define the strategic direction and city priorities through a thoroughly planned technological enablement and assimilation.

As with Singapore's landscape, a key factor for this transformation, however, lies in the propensity and competence of city planners to embrace and continually test new ideas. This is to promote opportunities for superior stakeholder engagement services and a healthy enthusiasm toward embracing disruptive innovation changes.

With rapid urbanization, migration and population growth, coupled with constrained socio-economic resources and aging infrastructures, Singapore is seeking investments in Smart City solutions for its future generations.

Such solutions are expected to deliver higher-quality stakeholder engagement and closer collaboration and participation services as well as influence behavioral transformation in government employees, local businesses, and residents so cities can develop more sustainably.

Critical success factors that IDC Government Insights has observed in Singapore's public sector-led Smart City programs include: specialization: Building competencies on small yet targeted solutions;scalability: For effective replications, expertise transfers and expansions;strong government support and leadership by example; and driving demand for domestic manpower as well as sustained ICT capability building.