Costa Rica
Usually smart city initiatives are associated with hardware: pedestrian boulevards, parks, gardens and trees, new mobility, green buildings etc. It can be software-based too as in Costa Rica. Last week (Aug 8th, 2021), it signed a law to offer digital nomads a base with the objectives of promoting tourism, local employment and foreign investments. The law grants digital nomads: - Residence of 1 year, extendable by 1 year
- Exemption from local taxes
- Able to open local bank accounts
- Can drive using foreign license
Requirements for a digital nomad are:
- Does remote work (ie not local employment)
- Continuing income of $3,000 or more from home country
- Buys medical insurance for duration of stay
- Makes one-off payment for visa
- Anguilla - Work from Anguilla
- Antigua - Nomad Digital Residence
- Aruba - One Happy Workation
- Barbados - Welcome Stamp
- Bermuda - Work from Bermuda Certificate
- Cabo Verde - Remote Working Program
- Cayman - Global Citizen Concierge
- Curaçao - @Home in Curaçao
- Dominica - Work in Nature
- Dubai - Virtual Working Programme
- Estonia - Digital Nomad Visa
- Georgia - Remotely from Georgia
- Iceland - Long Term Visa for Remote Workers
- Malta - Nomad Residence Permit
- Mauritius - Premium Travel Visa
- Montserrat - Remote Work Stamp
- Seychelles - Workation Retreat
SmartCity Updates
- Milan - Kids come out to play again after streets closed to traffic
- France - Rush for vaccinations after they are needed to visit cafes
- Sweden - More meetups after parking converted to meeting spaces
- Berlin - Rated Europe's top city for startups
- China - Sweeps global smart city AI competition
- WEF - Slowing down cities may make them faster