• U4SSC (United for Smart Sustainable Cities) is a United Nations initiative aimed at helping cities achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, which aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
    This appointment recognizes Spain’s experience and leadership in standards for the sustainable development of Smart Cities. In fact, Spain is an international benchmark, and several UNE CTN 178 standards have been the basis for developing ITU International Recommendations.
    The United Nations initiative U4SSC (United for Smart Sustainable Cities) has appointed Tania Marcos, Spaniard, responsible for Smart Cities at the Spanish Standards Association (UNE), as its vice president, following a proposal from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

    This appointment recognizes Spain’s experience and leadership in standards for Smart Cities. In fact, several standards from the Technical Committee for Standardization (CTN) 178 on smart cities have been the basis for developing ITU International Recommendations, where UNE has represented the Spanish Government.

    For Javier García, Director General of UNE, “Spanish standardization is characterized by a growing international reach, which translates into benefits for the competitiveness of our economic sectors and companies. An illustrative example is that Spanish experts already manage nearly 130 international and European technical standardization bodies, where standards are developed that effectively respond to the major challenges facing organizations.”

    Standards capture consensus on market best practices, establishing a common language and building trust. Standards help organizations successfully overcome their major challenges, in areas such as digital transformation or the ecological transition.

    U4SSC (United for Smart Sustainable Cities) is a United Nations initiative aimed at helping cities achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, which aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. It is co-led by ITU, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and supported by 15 other UN agencies.

    UNE, a signatory of the Spanish Global Compact Network, will play various roles in this new role: as a Spanish standards body, it will promote Spanish standards in Europe and Latin America and act as a lever for optimizing R&D results. It will also play a key role as a partner for international cooperation and technical assistance projects. It will also contribute to the implementation of the Urban Agenda and the deployment of smart cities in Spain, and will serve to strengthen UNE’s position as a strategic ally for organizations in achieving the 17 UN SDGs: more than 4,000 UNE standards facilitate their achievement.

    CTN 178 Smart Cities

    UNE’s CTN 178 is responsible for the standardization of smart cities. Since 2012, it has published 30 standards that are driving the effective and orderly deployment of Smart Cities in numerous areas: open data, indicators, platform interoperability, smart buildings, smart ports and stations, among others. One example is the standards for smart tourism destinations, in which our country is a world pioneer, allowing us to export the Spanish model worldwide. The UNE standards will contribute to the fight against COVID-19 by strengthening safety and control measures in cities. This standardization committee is an example of public-private collaboration and enjoys high participation, consisting of more than 700 experts from all stakeholders.

    U4SSC

    U4SSC serves as a platform to defend public policies and promote the use of ICT and digital technologies with the aim of facilitating the transition to smart and sustainable cities. It has a comprehensive approach, studying every aspect of smart and sustainable cities, and develops its work in various thematic groups.

    Since its creation, U4SSC has published a series of materials, such as monographs and supplements with success stories. Among these, a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for smart and sustainable cities stands out. These indicators serve to establish criteria for assessing the contribution of ICTs to development in this area. They also help provide cities with the means to self-assess their goals for achieving the SDGs, which are being used by several Spanish cities.

    About Tania Marcos

    Tania Marcos is responsible for Smart Cities and the Technical Committee for Standardization CTN 178 of the Spanish Association for Standardization (UNE).

    Among other responsibilities, she has represented the Sectoral Forum of the European standards organizations CEN-CENELEC-ETSI on smart and sustainable cities and communities within the corresponding European Innovation Partnership of the European Commission (EIP-SCC). She has also served as Vice-Chair of ITU Study Group 20 “The Internet of Things and Smart Cities.”

    In his duties at UNE, he has served as head of the Spanish delegation to various European and international standardization bodies, where he has also served as secretary, coordinator, and president.

    Marcos holds a degree in Chemistry from the University of Alcalá and a Master’s degree in Sustainability.

    More information