# Enhancing Smart Cities' Resilience Through Competency Assessment and Open Data Utilization
This need is further amplified by growing public expectations that city leaders take proactive measures to safeguard essential services and protect citizens in an era of mounting uncertainties. As a result, clearly defining the SCRO role and outlining its required competencies is essential to guiding policymakers and city managers in assembling capable teams equipped to address emerging urban challenges. This paper explores the role of competency assessment and open data utilization as strategic mechanisms to enhance smart city resilience. Competency assessment identifies skills and knowledge gaps within city governance and infrastructure management, while open data utilization fosters transparency, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making. Drawing on relevant frameworks and recent studies, we explicitly focus on assessing competencies in the context of Smart City Resilience Officers (SCROs), a role first proposed by the Rockefeller Foundation in 2013 [15]. Competency assessment frameworks, such as DigComp2.2, provide a structured approach to evaluating proficiency levels, ranging from Foundation to Specialized [15]. These frameworks have been adapted to meet the needs of SCROs and smart cities, conceptualizing competencies as a combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for effective decision-making and action. By understanding and evaluating their competencies, individuals can assess their proficiency and autonomy in performing tasks, propose new ideas, and develop solutions. This paper aims to examine the self-assessment of competencies in SCROs, highlighting the importance of competency assessment in facilitating effective crisis response and decision-making. A structured literature review revealed a shortage of tools dedicated to measuring SCRO readiness, which this paper seeks to address. Existing research underscores the urgent need to integrate resilience into the framework of smart cities. This necessity is exemplified by recent events in Valencia, where, despite significant technological infrastructure, major challenges have arisen due to limitations in available properly qualified human resources. However, a major research gap remains in the systematic evaluation of the competencies required for Smart City Resilience Officers (SCROs). Although SCROs play a crucial role in strengthening urban resilience, the literature lacks dedicated tools to assess their preparedness and effectiveness. The initial identification of this gap can be attributed to the work of [PERSON] et al. [16], who highlighted the critical absence of a structured competency assessment specifically designed for SCROs. Existing studies frequently treat resilience as a secondary function within smart city management rather than recognizing the need for specialized roles with distinct competencies in this field. This gap underscores the importance of developing a structured competency assessment framework like DigComp2.2 to systematically evaluate SCROs' proficiency. Further exploration of such frameworks is essential to advancing smart city resilience by ensuring that SCROs possess the necessary skills, knowledge, and decision-making capabilities to lead proactive urban resilience initiatives and respond effectively to crises.