The Role of STEM Education in the Growth and Sustainability of Smart Cities

One of the most important paradigms to improve civic life is considered today as building of smart cities based on innovative industries. This fact requires, naturally, creative, high level skilled and proactive people profile for solving sophisticated challenges. That’s why “smart people” pillar of the smart city concept reflects the most considerable aspect of the whole paradigm. It can be said, in this context, smarting a city can be accomplished by smart people not only smart technologies. It is not possible to say that a smart city technologically-capable for the future has also a sustainability capability for prosperity if the citizens are not smart. Smart people are the key triggers to unlock economic and social value in a smart city concept. The main determinants of the smart people are interconnected with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills of the people to success the science, mathematics, and engineering and those needed to use technology effectively. This study focuses on proving the close relationship between the smart people component, which is one of the most important components in making these cities smart, and people’s STEM skills in line with the findings of the EU (European Union) project titled “A Roadmap for Smart City”: carried out in 2019–2020 under the coordination of Çorum Municipality in partnership with Szarvas Municipality from Hungary, Telšiai Municipality from Lithuania, Hitit University from Turkey and Çorum Chamber of Commerce and Industry within the scope of Town Twinning Action Grant Scheme (TTGS) between Turkey and EU.