A lack of chief technology officers (CTOs) and sweeping local government budget cuts could undermine the UK’s plans to develop smart city services, according to a leading smart city expert.

While the Local Government Association unveiled its latest funding assessment this week, revealing that the overall funding gap for UK councils could reach £5.8bn by 2020, Jarmo Eskelinen, chief innovation and technology officer at Future Cities Catapult, is concerned by the lack of growth of local digital services.