Obstacles in Implementation of the Smart City Strategies in the Czech Republic

The aim of the paper is to identify obstacles that public administration representatives must face during and after implementing the Smart City strategies in the Czech Republic. The goal will be achieved through structured interviews with those who are responsible for the implementations. The interviews will take place in three Czech cities, namely Prague - the capital, Brno - the winner of the ITAPA 2018 AWARD in category V4 region, and Zlin - an example of the city "on the way" that has no Smart City Strategy implemented at the moment, but is running many smart projects within the city ecosystem. Obstacles will be classified and divided into two categories - external and internal. Based on examples of good practices from abroad, measures will be proposed that should prevent the emergence of these obstacles right at the very beginning or, at least, mitigate them at their origin. The main identified problems were shortage of experts in the Smart City area, political unrest, poor interconnection with existing legislation and excessive bureaucracy. The proposed measures then focus mainly on the exchange of the best practices among municipalities, the legislative changes and a greater public awareness.