Morocco urged to achieve digital sovereignty in smart cities development

He emphasized that a smart city's definition extends beyond technological sophistication to encompass data control and security. Mrabet argued that digital sustainability, alongside environmental and economic dimensions, is a crucial pillar for future cities, requiring robust cybersecurity for urban infrastructure, sovereignty over urban data, and protection of personal data. The increasing reliance of public services on interconnected digital systems, from transport to healthcare, amplified by technologies like 5G, cloud computing, AI, and IoT, creates new vulnerabilities for cybercriminals.

Mrabet warned that an insecure smart city is a vulnerable one, citing examples such as attacks on urban cameras leading to espionage or privacy breaches, hacking of smart traffic lights causing accidents, and intrusions into water management systems disrupting supply or quality. He also noted risks to citizen services, like compromised municipal applications leading to identity theft, and the dangers of relying on foreign cloud services, which can result in loss of data control and service interruptions. Morocco has established a legal framework to address these risks, including Law No. 07-03, which criminalizes offenses related to automated data processing sys