Digital payments can generate significant resilience benefits and co-benefits related to local commerce and data management.
In 2023, Montevideo and Panama City embarked on their own journey to advance urban resilience through digital solutions.
To better understand the root causes of their challenges and match them to solutions, cities engaged multiple stakeholders, explored solutions with strategic partners, and are now in the process of testing and scaling these solutions.
In Montevideo, the city is exploring how local economic dynamics and other variables can be used to generate insights that contribute to city resilience by improving the process of building license approvals and urban planning. By cross-referencing payment data with other data sources, Montevideo will be able to address some of the most critical questions for the city’s urban development, including the deficit of urban services in different city areas, the economic dynamics generated by social housing projects, mobility trends within the city, and emerging economic hubs and trends around these areas, among others.
Panama City is digitalizing the payment systems of local markets to strengthen businesses and increase the resilience of Panama City’s commercial systems. Through the deployment of these solutions, starting with two municipal markets, San Felipe Neri and the Seafood Market, Panama City will help strengthen the position of these markets as logistical hubs for the distribution of basic consumer goods. It will also increase market competitiveness and improve access and usage of financial services for merchants, while at the same time providing a safer, more reliable, and more seamless experience for customers, including tourists.
Both cities are tackling different challenges in unique contexts, but their digital transformation journeys offer valuable shared lessons on what is needed to build resilient and inclusive Future Ready Cities that we hope will inspire cities worldwide.