Innovations in Public Services in Smart Cities

Dependence on creativity in cities is being strongly manifested during the twenty-first century in industrial production, generating new ideas, innovations, and knowledge (Landry and Bianchini, The creative city. Demos, London, 1995; Kozina, Exploring creativity, creative class and its living environment–the case of Slovenia. In: Regional studies association conference, Poznan, p. 201, 2011). The rapid progress in innovation implementation has been evident in the public sector; however, during the last decade (with regard to the impact of COVID-19), the public sector has moved dramatically forward. The digitalization opened new opportunities towards managing the territories and providing efficient public services. The digital transformation should streamline the performance of government, and it should make life easier for the population. Simultaneously, this requires interconnected IT systems, which might be used both within the areas of city competencies and with other levels of public administration. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate various types of innovations related to management and public services delivery through the examples of Slovak cities and regions, and their contribution to the concept of smart governance. Moreover, some specific issues will be identified, since successful and progressive implementation of this concept requires their solutions as well.