The Role of Universities in Training for Smart Cities: an Inside View

Abstract

In today's world, the emphasis in strategic urban planning shifts to the concept of "smart city", which implies the use of information and communication technologies in order to manage effectively the spheres of life of modern cities on purpose of their sustainable development. To transit  this concept effectively, cities need new "smart" professionals, who should go beyond narrowly professional thinking and be able to communicate across sectors. The main part in the training of such specialists should belong to universities and, above all, to regional ones. In this article, on the basis of the analysis of such researches as «Information society in the Russian Federation. 2018» and «Digital Literacy Index of the Russian Federation», the initial positions of the country in terms of the level of use of information technologies by the population and the level of digital literacy were determined. Further, relying on the method of included observation, the author identified the main factors that hinder the effective implementation of interdisciplinary educational programs in regional universities. The author concludes that regional universities are not ready to train interdisciplinary specialists required for the development of "smart" cities.