Smart city projects are considered real challenges to the development of cities everywhere. The concept itself has many definitions, but a smart city should be defined less based on implemented IT solutions, and more based on optimization of its basic functions using new technologies. There are societal aspects of smart city implementations, similar to eGovernment early projects, and aspects of the use of digital technology that raise concerns. In most cities, the digital divide is still a problem. Smart city projects are the result of the fourth industrial revolution, but cities still lack a full implementation of solutions derived from previous industrial revolutions. Despite that, cities report a lot of smart city projects. Money still gets spent, as being a smart city is, in many cases, an artificial priority and a fashionable topic. Moreover, non-Internet technologies and their relations to a good smart city solution are also not considered. Digital divide bridging is one requirement for a full implementation of a smart city concept. A review of acceleration and deceleration factors shows the obstacles faced by smart city projects. Rankings of cities based on several smart city criteria are published frequently. Various approaches lead to contradictory rankings. A new set of comprehensive rankings developed by an international organization and based on reputable reports and statistics would be useful. The study is based on several smart city and eGovernment projects in Romania.In this paper, the concept of the smart city is reviewed and its relation to digital technologies is evaluated. The impact of the digital divide on smart cities' implementations, their acceleration and deceleration factors, and benchmarking are taken into consideration as societal problems.
Smart City ConceptSmart city definitions are mostly related to the use of digital technologies in all their functions. One such definition is as follows [2]:"A Smart city is an urban area that uses different types of electronic Internet of things (IoT) sensors to collect data and then use these data to manage assets and resources efficiently. This includes data collected from citizens, devices, and assets that is processed and analysed to monitor and manage traffic and transportation systems, power plants, water supply networks, waste management, crime detection, information systems, schools, libraries, hospitals, and other community services".The definition provided is in agreement with many others that mostly cover technical matters related to the last digital revolution. However, many authors think that a smart city goes further optimizing its functions for the benefit of the citizen. In agreement with such authors [3-5], we could consider that a smart city is a city that has smart governance, smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, smart people, and smart living (Figure 1).This implies that a smart city has a complete range of eGovernment services and a solid IT infrastructure, and practices open government (smart governance); moreover...