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Managing cities has become an issue of growing complexity around the world. Urban agendas now cover issues such as local economic development, urban planning, crime prevention, environmental sustainability, public transportation, and generation of financial resources for the city government, among others. One of the main questions that arise is what role information and communication technologies (ICTs) play in facing and managing these new and emerging issues. The concepts of "smart city" and "smart government" might be potential answers to this question, since they refer to the actions numerous cities have taken to face modern urban problems in order to make cities more efficient, innovative, and sustainable. In this paper we analyze multiple factors that play a relevant role in the implementation of what can be called a smart city initiative. Based on semi-structured interviews, this paper argues that …