In terms of data access, while some big data are generated and channeled by city authorities - for example via traffic sensors or e-government applications, and are easier to access (provided that privacy restrictions of personal data are met), many big data, are channeled by the private sector - for example real-time details of people’s movements via mobile calling records, or details of economic transactions performed over mobile networks. Similarly, some other forms of data, such as public feedback projects, are channeled by civil society organizations, often in combination with academia.

With respect to analysis capacity, big databases require big resources. Although, not every big data problem requires a supercomputer, significant software and hardware resources are necessary to manage and analyse big data due to its richness and real-time aspects. Though municipalities can perform analysis themselves on their own data sets, the opportunity to derive insights from the large data is greatly improved if academic and industry researchers can be invited to participate in collaborative analytics across the data set.