Research and reports

Here you will find Osborne Clarke’s latest smart cities in Europe research reports.

Cybersecurity Asia – Facing the threats

Our new ‘Cybersecurity Asia – Facing the threats’ series will be released over successive quarters and will continue to focus on specific Asian territories. As part of our research we will interview leading individuals in the regions for whom cybersecurity and data protection issues are vital.

The first of four feature articles in our ‘Cybersecurity Asia – Facing the threats’ series, ‘Singapore boosts cybersecurity on the back of FinTech boom’ explores how Singapore is embracing legislative and collaborative initiatives to bolster its cybersecurity amid an ongoing expansion of the city’s digital economy.

How will IoT transform industry in Asia

As IIoT slowly penetrates Asia’s manufacturing and logistics sectors, factory owners will be presented with the choice of whether to invest now, later or not at all. Given the scope of change that greater device connectivity promises, those that opt not to enter the race at all are not just risking being left behind, but could vanish altogether in time.

This report explores the advances and opportunities emerging in the field of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), particularly how the manufacturing and logistics sectors in China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore are embracing IIoT technologies.

Next-generation connectivity

Next-generation connectivity is an Economist Intelligence Unit research programme, commissioned by Osborne Clarke. In this report The Economist Intelligence Unit looks at businesses’ anticipation of, readiness for and adoption of next-generation internet connectivity.

To do this, we surveyed 550 senior executives with familiarity of their business’ connectivity strategies in April-May 2018. The survey focused on executives from five sectors: digital business; energy and utilities; financial services; real estate and infrastructure; and transport and automotive. Half of the respondents are either members of their companies’ boards or hold C-level positions, and, furthermore, half are from organisations with global annual revenue exceeding US$500m. Respondents were drawn from Belgium, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US, in equal numbers.

Smart cities in Europe: Is the property sector ready for the 2020s?

“Future proofing real estate – is the property sector ready for the 2020s?” looks at the impact of disruptive technologies on the built environment based on the views of over 500 experts within the world of property, digital business, AR, VR and future tech. It also looks at the scale of challenges, disruption and opportunities that technology innovation will bring to real estate in the next few years. The report includes in-depth interviews and expert analysis from futurists, property developers, technology pioneers and many more. Download a copy of the report here.

How do you prepare your business for the future of work?

The world of work is changing with the impact of artificial intelligence, automation and new staffing models transforming the way businesses operate. Rarely a day goes by without a ‘future of work’ news headline – but what changes are technology-led businesses actually making and how are they preparing for the future of work?

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Smart cities in Europe: Can public procurement be used as leverage to drive smart city solutions?

Governments across Europe, both at the central and local level, want cities to operate in a smarter way, so why are they not leveraging their purchasing power to drive innovation? Osborne Clarke’s latest white paper on smart cities, written in collaboration with The Lawyer Research, sets out the shift in mindset and working practices needed for the public sector to truly champion smart solutions. We also share some of the success stories and which huge opportunities are under way for local authorities and government agencies to drive future innovations. Download a copy of the white paper here.

Smart cities in Europe: The future of the built environment

The third of a series of white papers on smart cities in collaboration The Lawyer Research. How can the built environment become smarter? What are the challenges and obstacles that might prevent this from happening? These are the two core questions this new report sets out to address. To obtain answers we spoke to some of the leading individuals in the smart built environment movement, from innovative technology start-ups and specialist consultancies to global multinational corporates, large real estate investors and government agencies.

The report explores how smart built environments leverage data, new technology and innovative and collaborative thinking to deliver services that benefit citizens. Our interviews highlighted a huge number of obstacles to the built environment becoming smarter. Yet, despite the challenges, our case studies demonstrate that built environments are becoming smarter and an essential shift in mind-set to a smart way of thinking is under way.  Download a copy of the white paper here.

Smart cities in Europe: The future of urban mobility

The second of a series of white papers on smart cities in collaboration The Lawyer Research. From the emergence of Uber taxis and ultra-fast railways to paperless tickets and smartphone travel apps, travelling around cities has changed dramatically in the past ten years. But with the population density of urban areas increasing across Europe – almost three-quarters of Europeans currently live in cities – more innovation is needed to ensure that people and goods can travel in a quick and effective yet safe manner.

This report explores what urban mobility might look like in future smart cities. It examines which new technologies and business models are not only capable of fundamentally changing transport in cities, but also have a realistic chance of being implemented at scale. We also analyse the challenges associated with introducing innovative solutions to the transport sector; how these obstacles can be overcome; and what the impact will be on incumbent market participants, be they existing transport operators or large automotive manufacturers.  Download a copy of the white paper here.

Smart cities in Europe: Financing the commercialisation of smart city technology

The first of a series of white papers on smart cities in collaboration with The Lawyer Research. Cities need innovative solutions to help meet the long-term challenges arising from urbanisation. But, for cities to justify investment in smart technology, it needs to have been proven at scale and delivered tangible benefits. Some of the most innovative technology is being developed by early-stage companies that simply don’t have the funding to finance a large scale demonstration of their technology. This is where the real funding gap emerges. This report looks at the participants in and the structure and funding models of existing smart city demonstration projects. It analyses why these were successful, discusses why more demonstration projects are not being launched and provides insights on what might be done to encourage more. Download a copy of the white paper here.

Smart cities in Europe: What’s holding back innovation?

In collaboration with The Lawyer Research, we commissioned a European research report to provide insight into the development of smart cities in Europe, specifically focusing on how the challenges cities face in becoming “smart” can be overcome.  The findings were based on the opinions of 300 senior executives from across Europe from technology companies, investment funds, banks, consultancies and government officials and were supplemented with in-depth interviews.  Download a copy of the report here.

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