About ASC

Amsterdam Smart City (ASC) is a unique partnership between businesses, authorities, research institutions and the people of Amsterdam. Together, our goal is to develop the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area into a smart city. A city is smart when investments in capital and communication infrastructure fuel sustainable economic growth and a high quality of life, in combination with an efficient use of natural resources. Over the past three years, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area has worked successfully to become a Smart City.

Amsterdam Smart City platform
Amsterdam Smart City was initiated by the Amsterdam Innovation Motor, the City of Amsterdam, Liander and KPN. It has grown into a broad platform, with more than 70 partners that are involved in a variety of projects focussing on energy transition and open connectivity. ASC is all about the total sum of testing innovative products and services, understanding the behaviour of the residents and users of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and sustainable economic investments. Using a collective approach by bringing partners together and setting up local projects, ASC makes it possible to test new initiatives. The most effective initiatives can then be implemented on a larger scale. All the acquired knowledge and experience is shared via the ASC platform. In this way, ASC helps to accelerate climate and energy programmes. The ultimate goal of all activities is to contribute positively towards achieving CO2 emission targets, as well as aiding the economic development of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. In doing so, the quality of life will improve for everyone.

Throughout the work procedures of ASC, the following points always remain central to activities:

1. Platform
ASC is an initiating and facilitating platform for its partners in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. ASC connects the needs and wishes of users, residents, government and business. ASC essentially stimulates all parties to take action.

2. Testing
ASC provides new possibilities for testing technologies, products, services and approaches in various urban living labs in the region. All knowledge gained is widely shared, as it is believed that open and scalable innovation is the key to sustainable success.

3. Open
Open infrastructures, open innovation, open knowledge and open data. This forms the basis for product and service innovations that can improve the quality of life.

Urban living labs
Amsterdam Smart City has established the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area as an urban living lab that allows businesses the potential to both test and demonstrate innovative products and services. Currently, ASC has a few recurring themes in the region, including sports parks, shopping areas, lighting, laws and regulations, connectivity and smart working. Within these, ASC looks at the development of replicable concepts that can be applied elsewhere in the region or nationally or even internationally. Next to this ASC has chosen a specific regional approach. By combining regional needs with the local investment agenda, there is the potential to create new products and services, and to test or scale them up in a practical environment – the urban living lab.

The activities of ASC in these urban living labs:

• Connecting parties; building consortiums.
  
• The creation of diverse urban living labs, in which activities are focused.
  
• Identifying and connecting to local investment portfolios.
  
• Gaining knowledge about residents and users of neighbourhoods.
  
• Identifying the needs and wishes of the residents and users of neighbourhoods.
  
• Energy potential analysis: technical, demographic and urban planning insights into the present and potential energy consumption of neighbourhoods.
  
• Knowledge exchange based on previous pilot projects.