Global spending on smart city initiatives will total $124 billion (£95bn) in 2020 at an increase of 18.9% year over year, according to new research from IDC.
As per the research firm in its latest Worldwide Smart Cities Spending Guide, the top 100 cities that invested in smart initiatives in 2019 represented nearly 29% of global spending. While growth will be sustained among the top spenders in the short term, the market is quite dispersed across midsize and small cities investing in relatively small projects.
IDC has also predicted that Singapore will remain the top investor in smart cities initiatives followed by Tokyo, New York City and London. Latin America and Japan will see fastest growth in smart cities spending in 2020.
Additionally, the company has also released its 2019/2020 Global IoT Decision Maker Survey: Australia and New Zealand Insights report. According to the report, one of the key insights for IoT vendors is that firms say that their top vendor selection criteria is not technology related; it is relationship related. Firms select IoT vendors depending on their existing trusted commercial partnerships or relationships.
Liam Landon, associate market analyst at IDC said: “New Zealand organisations prefer to select vendors that they know. Enterprises are also looking for vendors with cost effective solutions. Vendors that have strong relationships with customers in adjacent fields may find benefit in offering IoT. Conversely, IoT vendors may gain from partnerships with adjacent vendors that already have strong customer relationships. Vendors that can establish themselves as market leaders and put themselves in the eye of customers will generate business with new customers. They will create the opportunity to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships.”
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