In this article we identify the characteristics, factors and challenges that influence the consolidation of City Council Observatories (OCM in spanish) within the conceptual framework of Communities of Practice (CoP). The results show that there is a relation between OCMs and the CoP concept and a beneficial work of these type of organizations, but that they are facing organizational, economic, institutional and technological challenges, such as sustainability and consolidation. Finally, the reactivation of an observatory network could be a strategy for empowering OCM while facing public corporations and society in general.