on certain areas ; making them more appealing to reside in . Other more obvious benefits include environmental and social advantages . However , some of the challenges of Smart City living in the UK must also be addressed . Professor Kamal Bechkoum , Head of the School of Computing and Engineering at the University of Gloucestershire , UK , focuses on the growing challenges presented by cybersecurity and Big Data , more specifically .

“ People across the UK are increasingly living in smart cities – urban spaces packed with technology that receives , processes and transmits data on a 24 / 7 basis ,” said Bechkoum . “ But despite the very real benefits on offer , the threat of cyberattacks to homes and businesses is increasing .”

Concerns have been raised about the use of Smart City technologies , particularly those that collect data about citizens ’ behaviour , public services or critical infrastructure .

Bechkoum continued : “ On average , we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data , or 1 billion billion bytes , every day . Smart cities gather vast quantities of this ‘ Big Data ’ from digitally-linked objects and our online

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