Following a wave of technological optimism between 2015 and 2019, the implementation of smart city projects in Slovenia stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thesis is based on a geographically dispersed and size-balanced sample of municipalities and cities and examines the current state of smart city projects in Slovenia. It analyzes local, national, and European strategic documents, assesses data collection from both a managerial and privacy perspective, and discusses opportunities and challenges for citizens, such as individual privacy, cybersecurity, and the unauthorised trade of personal data. The introduction narrows the definition of a smart city to social, rather than solely technological, innovation. The status review is then conducted through an analysis of secondary sources, a quantitative analysis of publicly available data, and a qualitative analysis using problem-focused expert interviews with the director of the Državljan D Institute and the author of the Ethical IT and Panopticon projects, Domen Savič, as well as the director-general of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, mag. Apolonija Oblak Flander. When discussing data handling, the concept of the surveillance theatre, a false sense of security due to surveillance technologies, is highlighted, and potential development directions with artificial intelligence are illuminated. In Slovenia, the implementation of smart city projects is primarily taking place in the areas of urban mobility, traffic, environment, and energy due to the availability of European funds. However, in projects that are limited in form and purpose by the market supply of technologies, there is a perceived lack of financial, personnel, and energy resources for the continued operation and maintenance of such infrastructure.
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