Smart City Code

Luca is a Professor of Urban Innovation at Edinburgh Napier University's Business School, where he leads both the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Subject Group and the Urban Innovation Policy Lab. This research lab hosts over 25 academics whose expertise connects social sciences with engineering and technology disciplines. Additionally, Luca holds the position of Professor of Urban Innovation at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), where he supports the development of the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities, a EUR32 million investment through the European Commission's Horizon Europe program. With 15 years of experience in conducting multidisciplinary research that bridges urban studies, computer science, and innovation management, Luca has been introducing new theoretical and practical advancements in the field of smart city development. His scholarly work has been widely published in prestigious journals, including Organization Studies, Regional Studies, Public Administration Review, Information System Journal, Technovation, Government Information Quarterly, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and Cities. Luca has been serving as an academic consultant for several intergovernmental organizations such as the European Commission, the United Nations, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. In this capacity, he authored three major United Nations reports on digital transformation governance in urban areas. Luca's efforts have contributed to generating over EUR43 million through research and consultancy projects, predominantly supported by European funding schemes. In addition to his research and consulting work, Luca is an active member of the editorial board for the Journal of Urban Technology and serves as Executive Editor for Technological Forecasting and Social Change. He has also been a guest editor for seven Special Issues on smart city development in notable academic journals.Paolo Gerli is a Lecturer of Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Edinburgh Napier University. He holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy from Newcastle Business School, where he also worked as Lecturer of Digital Entrepreneurship between 2018 and 2021. Paolo's research interests lie at the intersection between digital transformation, technology adoption and regional development focusing on governance of smart places, bottom-up approaches to innovation, and diffusion of digital technologies in rural and peripheral regions. His work has been presented at international conferences and published in top journals such as Government Information Quarterly, World Development and Telecommunications Policy. In January 2019 he was among the recipients of the Young Scholar Programme of the Pacific Telecommunications Councils, an award for early-career researchers studying ICT markets and policies. Prior to joining academia, Paolo worked as a regulatory analysist and policy advisor for both public and private organisations in the Italian ICT sector.