TY - JOUR T1 - What are the Challenges of Building a Smart City? JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2020 A1 - Haven Allahar KW - building smart cities KW - ICT and smart cities KW - Smart cities concept KW - smart city case studies KW - smart city initiatives AB - The recent emergence of the concept of 'smart cities' presents challenges to city administrators for planning, managing, and governing modern cities in the digital age. Research on smart cities tends to focus on the attributes of cities at a more developed stage, instead this article departs from that trend by discussing an aspiring smart city in a small-island developing country. The purpose of the study is to examine the steps required for building a smart city against a background of the concept of smart cities, taken in the context of an empirical study of an aspiring small smart city. The main finding is that there is no single route to becoming a smart city, but rather there are critical steps that can be adopted as part of a building process for achieving that objective. This work adds value in presenting a way to synthesize the smart city concept with empirical work involving one small smart city's aspirations and achievements. The article fills a partial gap in the smart city literature and has implications for aspiring city administrators, smart city builders, persons concerned with the application of ICT to address city challenges, as well as for students of urban planning, development, and management. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 10 UR - timreview.ca/article/1388 IS - 9 U1 - University of the West Indies Haven Allahar has served for 25 years as an adjunct lecturer in entrepreneurship and innovation, and a coach of MBA teams’ capstone projects at the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. Haven has a wide academic and specialized training background in Economics (B.Sc. - Jamaica), Entrepreneurship and Management (M.A. and DBA - USA); Industrial Project Planning, Financing, and Management (UK and Poland). Haven served for over 40 years in senior management and CEO positions in companies involved in developing and managing an energy-based industrial park, SME development, urban development, and project planning and management. Haven, along with two partners, owned and operated a consulting firm for 15 years that provided project planning, design, and management services to a variety of clients in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. Haven’s research interests are in broad areas of business, management, and economic development issues. His publications are available at Academia.edu and ResearchGate. ER -