News

Cork, a university city in southwest Ireland, is on its way to positioning itself as a “World-Class Smart Region,” building on its existing assets to achieve a reputation as a great place to live, work, visit and invest. Part of a collaboration between local governments and research organisations, the Cork Smart Gateway is a smart agenda that is developing solutions for the region, with a focus on everything from energy conservation to open data.

Out of 20 cities evaluated in the UK Smart Cities Index, Leeds placed fifth in terms of smart health initiatives. Thanks to its long-term growth strategy “Getting Leeds Working,” Yorkshire’s largest city has created an Innovation Health Hub that acts as an open platform for healthcare data, which is being used in initiatives such as an innovation lab, health-related mobile applications, a digital teleconferencing centre, and a clinical training and simulation centre.

One of the main challenges Krakow faces is quality of life, but now the city is looking to fix that with goals put in place that will make the city a better—and smarter—place to live. From tackling environmental pollution to improving educational facilities, here are the ways Krakow is stepping up its game to become one of Poland’s Smart Cities.

Welcome to the world of digital identity, a way to ensure identification isn’t being forged. This spring, the tiny town of Zug in Switzerland may be the first to offer citizens a digital identity with a blockchain technology-based app. Let’s take a look at the benefits this “digital passport” could offer citizens while strengthening Zug’s security measures and saving money in the long run.

Congested city streets may be one less problem Paris faces as the city looks to something straight out of a science fiction movie: driverless taxi cabs. Dubbed “Autonom Cab,” these hyperconnected taxis cost between €230,000 and €250,000 and can hold up to six people. Let’s take a look at the impacts this new product will have when it hits the market next year.

Montpellier in the South of France is looking to the Internet of Things-connected systems to develop on-street smart parking spaces. Let’s take a closer look at the project underway and how it will help reduce traffic congestion and save drivers time all with the help of Montpellier’s LoRaWAN private network.

While Paris may be poised to be Europe’s new artificial intelligence hub, some of the continent’s largest software companies are looking at cities all across France, investing billions in research and development over the next five years as part of a plan to place France—and Europe—at the forefront of AI innovation.

When improving citizens’ quality of life, the challenge of providing suitable and sufficient parking ranks consistently at the top of issues to solve for today’s cities. This problem is also constantly expensive for citizens: drivers spend increasing periods trapped in cars, paying for petrol and polluting our environment. The most simple and speediest solution is usually the development of a smart-parking app. Today, a wide range of progressive cities have experimented with such tools.

San Sebastian is a growing city (circa 200,000 inhabitants) in the Basque Country, Spain. At the heart of one of the Iberian peninsula’s most entrepreneurial and industrialised regions, the resort city has embarked on an ambitious Smart City programme to safeguard its unique heritage and increase efficiency for its people.

Looking for a way to improve city infrastructure while reducing air pollution? Carsharing may be the solution. Smart Car sharing companies like Germany-based car2go are not only removing up to 11 vehicles for every car used, they're also saving up to 14 metric tonnes of greenhouse gases per vehicle. Germany alone has built up a smart car customer base of over 1 million people since car2go launched back in 2009.

Santander, the capital of Spain’s autonomous region on the northern coast of Spain, was once home to a royal summer residence and still seeks to showcase this “aristocratic atmosphere” while providing visitors and citizens with another view: waste-free streets. Below, we’ll take a look at how this summer tourist destination is getting savvy when it comes to strengthening its waste collection services, making it a more liveable city and inspiring leader for the rest of Spain to follow.

The historic city of Helmond in North Brabant in the southern Netherlands was one of the first cities to adopt intelligent lighting technology as a way to solve its challenges as a growing industrial hub, becoming more sustainable in the process by saving energy. Let’s dive deeper into why this Dutch city decided to become a pioneer in the intelligent street lighting movement and some of the immediate benefits they’ve seen in the process.

Ten medium-sized European cities—including Bruges, Delft and Mechelen—have partnered up with Cambridge Cleantech to develop solutions for urban environment challenges revolving around one main concept: open data. Here’s how these cities are looking at public service information in a new way, tapping into a market estimated to have a €300 billion value to tackle issues from parking to air quality.

The French city is joining forces with surrounding towns to embark on a €105 million information technology project that will improve city operations while helping save money on street lighting, traffic management and public safety. Working together with EDF's Citelum—as well as major French companies like Bouygues, Suez and Capgemini—the city plans to connect services like lighting through open data and smart city apps, thereby saving up to 65 percent in public lighting costs.

As a signatory of the Green Digital Charter, Malmö is already helping cities achieve EU climate goals through sustainable IT, setting an example right at home with an infrastructure that “reduces the environmental impact of technology and also city operations as a whole,” according to TCO Certified.

As one of the leading smart cities in Spain, Valencia has introduced a few firsts in the country, including the integration of a smart city management platform. Now with a budget of over 1 billion euros, Valencia is undergoing a transformation to become a centre of urban innovation on par with some of the continent’s most progressive smart cities.

As a way to tackle urban environmental challenges and share common practices, Finland’s six largest cities—Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Oulu and Turku—have partnered up to form a platform dubbed “The Six City Strategy.”

Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana, is considered one of the most liveable cities on the globe, with a series of ground-breaking projects that have helped earn it the title of European Green Capital back in 2016. After taking on this role, Ljubljana continues to thrive as an example of sustainability, spearheading movements like the digitalization of bus stops in the city center.

As the country’s largest city continues to grow, it’s looking to achieve the title of “green capital” and become a model of sustainable development. As part of the Sustainable Energy Action Plan 2012-2020, Sofia is laying down a series of steps to help with everything from energy management to transport and waste management—and looking to technologies from around the globe to aid the process.

In the UK, air pollution is the cause of nearly 40,000 deaths each year and contributes to serious, long-term health issues for hundreds of thousands of people. Declared a national crisis, London mayor Sadiq Khan is looking to improve quality of life for Londoners by preventing air pollution—starting with traffic in Central London. The mayor is extending the city’s low emission zone to cover a wider span of London, extending from the center to the North and South Circular roads.

In addition to developing a wastewater treatment policy generating energy from wastewater, the city has also designed a mobility policy that focuses on the increased use of a clean transportation system. Lille plans to replace 20 to 40 percent of the energy for road transport with biogas-powered vehicles, saving nearly 120,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxide per year.

The small city of Alba Iulia in central Romania is undergoing big changes, attracting the most European funds in the country for projects that are helping to seriously boost tourism. First on the list: the restoration of the 18th century Alba Carolina citadel. Twenty projects alone were devoted to rejuvenating the tourist attraction, and now the city is using the rest of its regional development funding to improve infrastructure, building roads, bike paths and additional tourist attractions.

Milano è una delle poche città cosmopolite a investire miliardi di euro nei suoi quartieri più trascurati, nell’ambito di un piano di modernizzazione che renderà la città più attraente e sostenibile che mai. Il nome è CityLife Park e l’ispirazione per questo nuovo concetto proviene dai paesaggi della Lombardia, con un design unico volto a divenire un “parco fra le montagne e la pianura”.

As part of the Smart Dublin strategy, the city is looking to provide better services, improve economic activity, and increase collaboration and engagement—and the citizens are the key to achieving these goals. Four local authorities are teaming up with the community to solve some of the city’s more puzzling challenges, transforming Dublin into an even more attractive place to live and work for generations to come.

Outre l'adoption d'une politique de traitement des eaux usées pour produire de l'énergie à partir de celles-ci, la ville a également développé une politique de mobilité qui met l'accent sur l'utilisation croissante d'un réseau de transports propres. Lille prévoit de remplacer 20 à 40 % de l'énergie dédiée au transport routier par des véhicules fonctionnant au biogaz, permettant ainsi d'éviter l'émission de près de 120 000 tonnes d'oxyde d'azote par an.

The Principality of Monaco measures just two square kilometres in size yet boasts a population of nearly 38,000—in addition to 30,000 workers who cross the border daily from France and Italy. Over the past 150 years, Monaco has expanded its size by 20%, tacking on an additional 40 hectares by extending the Port Hercules and developing the industrially driven Fontvieille district, built from reclaimed land along the coastline.

For most of this decade, Germany’s capital city of Berlin has been seen as something of a Bitcoin hub, with a number of early adopters in the artsy Kreuzberg neighbourhood accepting the top cryptocurrency since it first sprung up. Now, crypto-associated startups and investors are hoping to make virtual currencies more mainstream and accessible to average consumers, honing in on the development of one type of technology in particular: Blockchain.

The city of Hincesti, which lies 33 kilometres west of Moldova’s capital Chisinau, has a population of just over 12,000, yet this small-sized city is poised for major change. Plans for digitalization are underway in Hincesti thanks to a series of smart initiatives transforming this emerging economy in Eastern European into a “connected city.” Let’s take a look at some of the solutions underway in Hincesti and how other small-sized cities can follow their lead.

As cities across Europe from Paris to London are starting to announce car bans in an effort to tackle urban pollution, electric vehicles are stepping into the spotlight as a smart solution. But this is only one solution in terms of sustainability. Towns such as Birmingham are investing in more progressive projects like sustainable railways, while Hamburg and Lisbon are working with the World Business Council For Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to develop sustainable transportation solutions.

Before 5G mobile data service debuts in the UK, residents in up to 5 million homes will already reap the benefits of high-speed Internet at a lower cost. Aberdeen, the third-most populated city in Scotland and the country’s “technological heart,” will be the second spot in the UK to make the transition to “full fibre” broadband Internet, switching out copper cables connected to roadside cabinets for fibre-optic ones running right to the buildings themselves.

Janvier 2018 a marqué l'anniversaire de la "Grande Inondation de Paris" de 1910, l'une des pires catastrophes naturelles de la ville. La Seine s'est élevée de près de 8 mètres, causant 1,2 milliard d'euros de dégâts, transformant la ville en Venise française et forçant des milliers de personnes à évacuer les rues transformées en canaux détruisant les infrastructures de base. La capitale française n'était pas préparée pour faire face à une telle catastrophe qui dura deux mois.

The principality of Monaco is the second smallest and most densely populated country in the world, with 36,000 residents living in the 2-square-kilometre city state. Despite its small size—or perhaps because of it—Monaco is faced with similar environmental challenges as many other cities across Europe

In Poland, 33 of its cities rank among the 50 most polluted in Europe. The town of Rybnik in southwestern Poland, for example, ranks fourth on WHO’s list of most polluted cities in Europe, with air pollution being an issue for one-third of the year causing schools to close and more hospital visits linked to respiratory issues. Thanks to a new pollution sensor unveiled last month, cities may be able to measure and improve air quality in a quicker and more efficient fashion.

The city is becoming known as an economically developed centre of knowledge, technologies and innovation. In 2010, Jelgava set forth a goal to become a modern and sustainable environment by increasing the use of renewable energy sources, improving the transportation sector and promoting energy efficiency.

Each year heralds in a new wave of predictions when it comes to the trends and technology that will be sweeping over smart cities—and developing new ones. In 2017, European cities saw the rise of smart city solutions like electric vehicles, smart parking and street lighting, and free (and fast) Internet. 5G, for example, was a hot topic at tech conferences as companies partnered up with cities to get the networks in place for this high-speed service.

By working with students and citizens to improve city services through the help of free Wi-Fi and mobile phone applications, Pilsen is proving to be a city that doesn’t rest on its laurels when it comes to developing modern solutions that will have major impact. Let’s take a look at three ways, in particular, Pilsen is striving to become the no.1 smart city in the Czech Republic.

In 2013 was slimme verlichting nog niet zo’n trendy onderwerp als nu. De historische stad Helmond in Noord-Brabant, in het zuiden van Nederland, was echter een van de eerste steden die intelligente verlichtingstechnologie inzette om uitdagingen van een groeiend industrieel knooppunt aan te pakken en duurzamer te worden door energie te besparen.

Set in Lebanon’s Northern Matn region, the countryside residential community of BeitMisk spans 13 plots and features stunning views of capital city Beirut and the Mediterranean. While it’s modelled after a traditional village, this town is offering up a more modern lifestyle than what residents are used to. Here's how the city is becoming a leader in Lebanon, relying not only on fibre optics but also on an advanced digital infrastructure.

Afin d’aider les villes à converger vers l'écologie, l'Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux (IFSTTAR), dans la cité Descartes, va tester des solutions dans une mini ville équipée de capteurs. Examinons donc attentivement ce projet, et voyons ce qu'il pourrait apporter aux villes en termes d’évolution vers la transition énergétique.

Malta's capital aims to be a carbon-neutral city by 2030. Following in the footsteps of other successful areas that are part of the Smart Sustainable Districts programme (such as Moabit West in Berlin and Les Docks de Saint-Ouen in Paris), Valletta is working on a series of projects that could help similar cities who also have to take elements like tourism and historic features into account.

Involving citizens in public data collection and decision-making processes is helping cities across Europe narrow in on the projects and areas that really need shaping. Cities like Oradea in Romania have connected its public institutions to a single platform, making everything from tax paying to medical appointments easily accessible for citizens. Citizen science and sensors in Amsterdam, meanwhile, have helped monitor the city’s air quality.

One of seven European projects looking at nature-based solutions for smart cities, Connecting Nature is part of a €12 million investment to help cities make the switch to become more sustainable. The pan-European project, coordinated by the research team at Trinity College Dublin, is looking at 11 European cities in particular—including Glasgow and Genk in Belgium—to explore new technologies to help these cities become greener from the ground up.

At the moment, Graz—the capital of the state of Styria and Austria’s second-largest city after Vienna—boasts the country’s only Smart City flagship project. Targeting the former industrial area near the centre of Graz, the smart urban development strategy will transform this local land reserve in Graz West into a residential area where sustainability is placed at the forefront.

What does it take for a city to make the switch and become “smarter”? This is the question Oradea in northwest Romania is looking to answer with its plan to become the first Romanian smart city. With the Oradea Smart City strategy, the city is drafting a long-term plan based on a series of ICT-based solutions aimed to be put in place by 2025. Not only will these solutions help Oradea earn the title of Romania’s first smart city, it’ll also solve a number of public issues it currently faces.

La Sicilia non è considerata un polo tecnologico e deve affrontare problemi come infrastrutture fatiscenti e rifiuti urbani. Tuttavia, l'isola più grande del Mediterraneo sta lavorando ad un piccolo progetto di crowdfunding per risolvere questi problemi e promuovere la crescita della suo scenario tecnologico. Anche il governo locale darà il suo contributo, investendo una parte dei 13 milioni di euro necessari al finanziamento di questi progetti tecnologici.

Residents who prefer the suburbs over city living no longer need to head out of town to find the calm they’re craving. Plans are underway for Manchester's first vertical village, which will offer some of the best views over the city, as well as a suburban-style enclave for residents who would previously have moved out of the city. When the €1.4 billion project wraps up in 2022, it will feature 1,400 homes, community gardens and communal areas, a farmer’s market, and an educational facility.

In 2015, Mons, Belgium held the title of European Capital of Culture. With this role, Mons, the capital of the Hainaut province in Belgium’s Walloon region, strummed up a number of smart projects, but one of the most creative involved citizen participation. In an effort to bring the city’s government and its citizens together to collaborate on sustainable solutions, Mons looked to technology. The outcome: the birth of Creative Valley.

We’ve already seen the effects Smart Cities have with the introduction of new technologies in an urban environment, but can these advances actually save lives? The answer, quite simply, is yes.

For Scotland, the country plans on working from the ground up. With the creation of a new Digital Growth Fund, Scotland aims to boost the number of digital jobs to 150,000 by 2021.

Since 2009, Portugal has aimed to be a leader in terms of electric mobility, developing new energy models for sustainability. One city in particular, Évora, the capital of Portugal’s south-central Alentejo region, served as the first pilot project for smart city development. In 2010, InovCity Évora kicked off, showing both Portugal and the world real-life examples of energy efficiency, micro generation and electrical mobility. (article available in Portuguese)

Los proyectos inteligentes suelen inspirar visiones urbanas: edificios inteligentes y conectadoss, vehículos autónomos, transportes de alta tecnología. Y, si bien estos son elementos importantes a tener en cuenta cuando se trata de la planificación urbana de una ciudad, existe también un lado que puede beneficiarse de soluciones naturales inteligentes. Islas como Menorca, en el español archipiélago balear, buscan formas inteligentes de "reducir la presión humana y el impacto medioambiental".

Vista come "l'evoluzione intelligente della città", Mantova si è autobattezzata la prima "Città Phygital" d'Italia, una città che collega le esperienze fisiche e digitali che i residenti possono vivere entro i suoi confini. Cosa significa esattamente? La capitale italiana della cultura 2016, con l'aiuto di fabbricadigitale, sta lavorando con tecnologie avanzate finalizzate all'apprendimento automatico dei dati, che permettono di analizzare in tempo reale le informazioni della città intelligente.

As the development of the Internet of Things is expected to roll out on a grander scale in the years to come, cities across France are looking at what they can do in the present to prepare for this network of the future. In southeastern France, the city of Grenoble served as a testing ground for smart city technologies running through a single network, thanks to an alliance of over 300 companies.

Cities across Europe are focusing on becoming “smarter,” creating districts and homes with the latest smart technology. But one city, in particular, is looking to extend this concept to housing benefitting students.

At the moment, 300 train stations across France are equipped with Wi-Fi, but the country plans to ramp up this program extending the service to all 3,000 of its stations. With free unlimited Wi-Fi, citizens will be able to track trains on their Smartphone and signal when there is a problem with the line, opening the possibility for direct dialogue.

Last month, the Baltic port city of Gdynia became the first in Poland to receive the ISO 37120 certificate for its sustainable development of communities—an indicator of its city services and quality of life. For this tier, two city in northern Poland, which features the largest Science and Technology Park in the country, the key to becoming a “smart city” is developing user-friendly services for its citizens.

Städte zu umweltfreundlichen und lebenswürdigen Orten für ihre Einwohner zu machen, ist eine Herausforderung, mit der Politiker und lokale Behörden sehr vertraut sind. Die gute Nachricht ist, dass es zahlreiche inspirierende und finanzierbare Beispiele gibt, denen man folgen kann. Nehmen Sie die Stadt Essen in Nordrhein-Westfalen als Beispiel.

With a city centre population expected to grow by 125,000 in the next few years alone, how do European cities like Manchester keep up technologically? For this UK city, the answer lies in smart city solutions. Out of 30 cities across the country, Manchester was chosen for a £10 million government grant for smart city technology investment with 21 organisations working together with Manchester council.

Global telecommunications company Huawei is turning its eyes to Dubai when it comes to digital transformation in the Middle East.Earlier this month, the company announced its plan for OpenLab Dubai, a collaboration with over 30 solutions and 20 partners from the fields of public safety, smart city, and digital oil and gas.

As the Dutch cities of Uithoorn, Diemen and Ouder-Amstel join forces as Duo+ to deal with political and administrative issues, they’re looking at one main solution: Microsoft Azure cloud services.

To test its latest projects—from the first driverless shuttle to lower LED street lights—Japanese electronics corporation Panasonic has set up a lab of the future in a metro station in Denver.

The more cities discovering the benefits of IoT (Internet of things) and connected solutions, the higher the growth for smart city projects.

Through the implication of an open data policy, smartphone-connected public transportation and telecommunicating co-working spaces, Ile-de-France plans on becoming the first smart region in Europe.

Just as a CEO is essential to managing a company, cities are creating a role just as crucial for smart city projects—a Chief Technology Officer. New York City kicked off this trend in 2014, but London quickly followed in its footsteps. Now with these CTO’s helping pave the way for smart solution strategies, cities across Europe (like Barcelona) are incorporating one major element into the mix: free Wi-Fi.

Aachen is looking to its past and present knowledge to drive the smart city development of its future. Learn how the city is redefining the concept of smart housing in a social housing development sense.

In Helsinki, a new district is being built along an old commercial harbour with one goal in mind: improving the quality of citizens’ lives. The smart district will use technology to benefit citizens.

In February it was awarded ‘Best Government Emerging Technologies’ at the World Government Summit Awards in Dubai in recognition of its Smart City programme.