UNE 178501 and UNE 178502 on Smart Tourist Destinations

Certification solutions for Smart cities: Driving innovation in our tourist destinations

The evaluation of conformity for Smart Tourist Destinations, in accordance with standards UNE 178501 and UNE 178502, focuses on innovation driving mechanisms in tourist destinations, so that they can create differential and highly competitive services, whilst guaranteeing the sustainable development of the tourist destination, whereby it is accessible to all.

The axes for assessing compliance for smart tourist destinations, according to standard UNE 178501, are innovation, technology, universal accessibility, sustainability and governance. The indicators and tools for smart tourist destinations are established in standard 178502. Both seek to increase competitiveness in the tourism sector, and increase the quality of the tourist experience. They form part of a group of key tools, developed by experts in Smart Territories and Cities, to contribute to promoting Smart Territories.

The concept of a Smart Territory is consolidated as one of the basic elements of innovation strategies in territories, and is one of the priorities of the European Union's Horizon 2020 strategies. Spain will be a pioneering country in terms of innovation regarding smart territories, thanks to frameworks of reference to develop the management of smart territories, structured around a set of standards created in the CTN 178 on Smart Cities. This is a key point to consider when attracting private investments to territories, generating jobs and increasing GDP, productivity and quality of life.

Becoming a smart territory impacts the management model of cities in various areas, such as those related to transparency, digital transformation, mobility, sustainability and economic development, etc. Therefore, in order to properly design public policies, it is important for problems to be anticipated. For this reason, innovation must work as a transverse axis in order to bring solutions to public ex-novo services and traditional services.

Through the specific conformity assessments for this sector, AENOR contributes to the strategy of smart cities and territories, helping to assess the grade of implementation of the measures and actions that identifies and characterises them. Some of the most relevant standards are:

• UNE 178301 on Open data.
  
• UNE 37120 Sustainable development of communities. 
  
• The evaluation of standards UNE 178201 and 178202, which establish the attributes and requirements for a city to be considered as a Smart City.
  
• The Standard UNE 178303 on Asset Management in the City. 
• UNE 178104 Comprehensive Smart City management systems
• The Standard UNE 178105 Universal access to smart cities.
• Also of major importance for smart territories and cities is the development and progress in other standards, such as the UNE 178402 on Smart Ports and UNE 178101 on Infrastructures, among others.