Smart skills for smarter cities The evolution of smart cities and the need for new professional competencies

Taking into account the continuous emergence and innovation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the new and widespread smart cities of our modern era require competent staff able to keep pace with the growing digital transformation of the urban environment. But what are the new upgraded competencies needed by personnel and managers of the smart cities for their newly emerging roles? Interdisciplinary teams of experts from various relevant organizations and areas of expertise are typically required to work together to implement initiatives or projects. A project-oriented approach has to coexist with the maintenance of the functional authority organization, nonetheless, the presence of different stakeholders and goals might lead to a lack of understanding or miscommunication. Namely a serious leadership is required. However, changes in cities mean also the requirement for changes in the competencies needed by the authorities and experts involved. Skills4Cities is a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union that lasted 24 months, from 2020 to 2023. Its main objective was the creation of a “Toolkit for smart city competencies framework”. This latter includes the tools for a correct and successful development, implementation, and management of smart city projects. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what can be (if there can be) the necessary standard skills that are required by the experts involved in the management of a smart city but that are not adequately provided by the current educational system. This will be done through the analysis of the project activities, its intellectual outputs, and the results already achieved. Given the distinction between the concepts of knowledge and skills, it becomes clear the value of “learning by doing”, as well as the possibility that the scope could benefit from a guideline.