ePractice published the invitation to the Customer Insight Conference to the audience of 65,000 eGovernment practitioners. The Smart Cities Customer Insight Conference will focus on the identity of business customers in general and what companies need in the context of redesigning and marketing services to effectively meet customer needs but also achieve efficiency through joint working and moving people to less costly access channels.

As well as getting the first copies of the new Smart Cities Customer Insight guide, delegates will be able to hear and talk to organisations that are using the techniques effectively in order to make a difference in their area. The emphasis will be on exchanging ideas and identifying new solutions that will constitute practical business tools, rather than on just absorbing information.

Public services need to adapt to the needs of citizens. Often new eServices are technology-initiated, but Smart Cities starts with the user. Sociology, marketing and economic science have a lot to offer to the developers of eServices. This means bringing a range of data sources together to develop accurate profiles of target customer groups.

The Smart Cities project partners are using a wide range of geographical, transactional, demographic and survey data to better understand citizen's needs and to reengineer services. This will allow partners to identify and use the most appropriate service channels for different target groups, and to proactively provide services that will meet their needs. This will ensure that services are designed and implemented in ways that recognise the specific needs of different groups of citizens.

The Smart Cities project is creating an innovation network between cities and academic partners to develop and deliver better eServices to citizens and businesses in the North Sea Region. Smart Cities is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

The event is free of charge but priority will be given to Smart Cities partners and their guests.

A preliminary agenda of the event may be found at http://www.smartcities.info/customer-insight-conference-cambridge .

ePractice: http://www.epractice.eu/en/events/2010-smart-cities-customer-insight-con...