New Index Aims to Measure Cybersecurity Readiness in AI-Driven Cognitive Cities

Cognitive cities—urban environments that combine autonomous decision-making, machine learning, and Internet of Things networks to adapt in real time—face cybersecurity challenges that existing enterprise and smart city frameworks do not adequately address. A new study published in Frontiers in Big Data proposes a structured answer: the Cognitive City Cybersecurity Readiness Index (C3RI), an evidence-based model designed to help urban planners, security leaders, and policymakers assess how prepared a cognitive city’s infrastructure actually is, and to identify where improvements should be prioritized.

The model was developed through a three-phase methodology. In the first phase, the researchers elicited cybersecurity best practices through a focused review mapped to documented cognitive city security challenges. The second phase organized those practices into knowledge areas and readiness levels, and the third phase evaluated the result through a panel of ten cybersecurity experts and an initial application case study in a large-scale real-world cognitive city. The authors emphasize that the model is grounded in documented challenges rather than assembled from generic enterprise security guidance alone.

The resulting index comprises 117 best practices organized into eight Cybersecurity Knowledge Areas and distributed across five progressive readiness levels: Foundational, Structured, Intelligent, Autonomous, and Adaptive. Assessment follows a Motorola-based scoring approach, in which each practice is scored across three dimensions—Approach, Deployment, and Results. Progression between readiness levels is governed by a 7.0 advancement gate, meaning a city must clear that threshold before moving to the next level of the model.

In the case study application, the Motorola scores exceeded the 7.0 advancement gate at every readiness level, indicating that the assessed cognitive city cleared the threshold across the full model. The authors note that this constitutes an initial application in a single large-scale cognitive city, and the reported scores reflect that specific assessment rather than a broad evaluation across multiple cities.

The study, authored by Reem Alshareef, Mahmood Niazi, Mohammad Alshayeb, and Sajjad Mahmood, was received in July 2026 and accepted in September 2026. The authors position the C3RI as a tool for systematically assessing cybersecurity readiness and prioritizing improvements in cognitive city infrastructure deployments, offering a common scale on which different deployments can be evaluated as these AI-driven urban environments continue to develop.

Subject of Research: A cybersecurity readiness model for AI-driven cognitive cities

Article Title: The Cognitive City Cybersecurity Readiness Index (C3RI): an evidence-based model for AI-driven urban infrastructure

Article References: Alshareef, R., Niazi, M., Alshayeb, M., & Mahmood, S. (2026). The Cognitive City Cybersecurity Readiness Index (C3RI): an evidence-based model for AI-driven urban infrastructure. Frontiers in Big Data, 9, 1949829. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdata.2026.1949829

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fdata.2026.1949829

Keywords: cognitive cities, cybersecurity, readiness model, AI security, IoT security, smart cities, critical infrastructure, security assessment, C3RI, urban planning, Cognitive, City