ASCIMER (Assessing Smart City Initiatives for the Mediterranean Region) is a 3-year research project supported by the European Investment Bank under the EIB University Research Sponsorship Programme (EIBURS). The overall goal of this research program is to develop a comprehensive framework to help public and private stakeholders to make informed decisions about Smart City investment strategies and to build skills to evaluate and prioritize these kinds of projects, including solving difficulties regarding deployment and transferability. The project will address the following objectives:

• To define the Smart City concept and to understand how it can contribute to meeting urban development priorities.
• To develop a methodology to assess and prioritize Smart City projects.
• To develop guidelines to implement and manage Smart City Projects.
• To Characterize Mediterranean City challenges and to develop a transferability strategy of Smart City projects. This objective will be part of the other three above.