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Are you looking for an internship in the field of communications and are you familiar with social media in the international tech community? Then we are looking for you! If desirable we can turn this co-working internship into a research internship as well.
(Article in Dutch)

Stage: Leading social manager TechAmsterdam bij de Amsterdam Economic Board

De Amsterdam Economic Board (www.amsterdameconomicboard.com) werkt aan een groene, slimme en gezonde Amsterdamse Metropoolregio. Om dit te bereiken verbinden we bedrijven, kennisinstellingen overheden om slimme oplossingen te vinden voor grootstedelijke uitdagingen. Een van deze uitdagingen is het aantrekken, behouden en opleiden van tech talent om de tekorten in de regio aan te pakken. Dit doen we binnen het programma TechConnect, een samenwerking tussen de Amsterdam Economic Board en StartupAmsterdam.

Stageplek

Vanaf februari 2018 hebben wij plek voor een initiatiefrijke stagiair. Heb je zin in een meewerkstage op het gebied van communicatie en ben je goed in het inzetten van social media in een internationale (tech) wereld? Dan zoeken we jou! Het aanpassen van de meewerkstage naar een onderzoeksstage is bespreekbaar.

Wat ga je doen?

Een indicatie van de taken:

1. Jij wordt onze leading social manager voor de facebookpagina TechAmsterdam. Dit houdt in: Het vinden van de juiste doelgroepen, het bedenken en plaatsen van content, het analyseren en beheren van de pagina.

TechAmsterdam heeft op dit moment meer dan 22.800 volgers uit meer dan 40 verschillende landen. Het is de plek waar de unieke tech scene van Amsterdam wordt gepromoot aan internationale tech talenten.

2. Je onderhoudt contacten met de social experts van onder andere Startup Amsterdam, Amsterdam Marketing, Amsterdam Inbusiness en InAmsterdam.

3. Het meedenken en ontwikkelen van de communicatie strategie van het programma TechConnect.

4. Het vormgeven en organiseren van events in samenwerking met het team en onze partners.

Wie ben je?

• Je bent een student met een relevante universitaire of hbo-opleiding
• Je bent initiatiefrijk, zelfstandig en flexibel
• Je hebt affiniteit met de tech wereld
• Je hebt marketing skills
• Je vind het leuk om een community te ondersteunen en te stimuleren tot meer interactie
• Je schrijft en spreekt goed Engels en Nederlands
• Je weet wat er speelt in de Metropoolregio Amsterdam

Dit bieden we je:

• Een uitdagende stage voor minimaal 4 dagen per week voor de duur van 4 tot 6 maanden.
• Een energiek team in Amsterdam (centrum) waar je eigen verantwoordelijkheid krijgt, waar jouw inbreng erg welkom is.
• Een unieke kans om een groot netwerk op te bouwen in Amsterdam.
• De stageopdracht en –periode bespreken we later. Je stagevergoeding is in lijn met de arbeidsvoorwaarden van de Amsterdam Economic Board.

Contact

Vind je dit allemaal goed klinken? Dan horen we graag van je! Stuur je CV en een korte motivatie naar Andrea Joosse, hoofd communicatie bij de Amsterdam Economic Board, a.joosse@amecboard.com. Bij haar kun je ook met je vragen terecht. Je hebt hiervoor tot en met 10 januari 2018 de tijd. Hopelijk spreken we elkaar snel!

The most known application of Blockchains is the controversial Bitcoin so far, but this new European prize will explore the unique potential of Blockchains for creating decentralised solutions to societal challenges which are more effective than traditional centralised approaches.

Goal is to stimulate the development of out-of-the-box multidisciplinary solutions to social challenges in areas such as support of fair trade, increasing transparency in production processes, decentralizing data governance and enhancing privacy, improving accountability and contributing to financial inclusion.

The European Commission has launched the new Prize: 'Blockchains for Social Good'. 5 prizes of EUR 1 million each will be awarded to innovators that use Blockchain technology to develop decentralized solutions bringing about positive social change.

Applications must be submitted before the 25 June 2019. The proposals will be subject to public scrutiny and will eventually be evaluated by an independent jury. The detailed rules of contest will be available in February 2018.

Read more at the website of the European Commission.

Het is zover! Het programma van de Week van de Circulaire Economie bij Rijkswaterstaat staat nu online. Doe je ook mee?

Rijkswaterstaat werkt aan een schone, groene en prettige leefomgeving, óók voor volgende generaties. Daarom willen we in 2030 circulair werken en in 2050 circulair zijn. Circulair werken betekent dat we grondstoffen hoogwaardig hergebruiken en zo min mogelijk afval produceren.

Tijdens de nationale Week van de Circulaire Economie van 15 tot en met 19 januari 2018 laten we zien hoe we binnen verschillende projecten nu al circulair bezig zijn. Samen met onze partners organiseren we diverse sessies en netwerkmomenten om de transitie naar de circulaire economie te versnellen. Zo zijn er sessies over het materialenpaspoort, circulair en modulair ontwerpen en circulariteit in assetmanagement.

Ga naar onze website om het volledige programma te bekijken en meldt je aan!

The smart city challenges are not a challenge for AI…but for us’.

From the day one, human civilisation has always tried to seek out ways that could make our life better and better each day by overcoming the challenges that come by. We always look for new ideas, innovations, and strategies that could augment our existence as effectively as possible – as they say, the sky’s the limit.

And even with artificial intelligence, it’s the same – smart city challenges are easy for AI to be accomplished but how it does accomplish is also important. The path chosen to reach the destination is more important than the destination itself. How easily can AI solve smart city challenges and how AI poses a challenge for the smart cities in future is discussed ahead.

Are cities able to make use of modern technology? If they don’t, they risk losing out:

* People may find the urban environment incompatible and move to more modern areas

* Cities that don’t draw the benefits of modern technology, becoming obsolete and inefficient

Smart Cities know how to harness the power of intelligent technology and sustainable practices. What’s more, they are poised to create sustainable urban landscapes. Does this seem too complicated?

The term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ was coined by John McCarthy in 1956 while demonstrating the first operating AI program at Carnegie Mellon University. And due to the fact, he is acknowledged as the ‘father of AI’. According to him, artificial intelligence is, “The science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs”.

The dominant image of the smart city is that of a place where state-of-the-art technology helps to overcome wicked urban problems. In my newest blog post I paraphrase a publication of Ola Söderström, Smart City as Corporate Stort Telling. This article is disclosing how IBM and other tech companies crafted the image of smart cities in a for them profitable way.

This blog describes how the combination of smart technology and renewable energy improves street lighting infrastructures in terms of energy savings, energy management, efficiency and security.

In their lovely office, right next to the Prinsengracht, we met with Maarten de Schipper; partner at Xomnia. At the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Xomnia will be one of the companies you should definitely meet. Read here why!

What is Xomnia’s core business?

Maarten: we see ourselves as the big data partner. No matter what your organization is doing, it is likely that your business will make use of big data in the future. With our specific skill set, we consult, train, or assist in developing specific tools by which you can analyse big data. We strive to share knowledge wherever we can, have a real impact on your business and ever emphasize on innovation. In short: we make your company data-driven.

To give an example of one initiative: in 2015, we supported the municipality of Utrecht through co-developing a tool that predicts burglary in different neighbourhoods of the city.

Who do you partner with?

In our company, we believe that it is not the size that matters. We, therefore, work with big or small organizations; locally, regionally or globally active. Although we are a relatively young company (founded in 2013), we have a vast network. Within our network, we share the developments of big data and provide tips and tops, do’s and don’ts. It is our mission to realize data-driven innovation globally. To kickstart this, we hope to establish our first foreign office next year, perhaps in Barcelona.

What do you hope to achieve during the Smart City Expo?

We hope to meet both future partners and other international businesses that operate in the same field. With them we would like to exchange experiences, best cases and worst cases, to become inspired by each other. We also want to share our experience with BigDataGemeenten (BigDataMunicipalities): a platform that connects Dutch municipalities through a series of events.

How do you prepare for the Expo?

We believe that work should also be fun. That is why we are flying in on Saturday to have a little Spanish fiesta, and take Sunday to explore Barcelona with some good tapas or paella. For the Expo, we divided clear roles in our team. For international relations and business-to-government, Kaj Gruppelaar is our man. Lisanne Rijnveld will seek opportunities to present Xomnia by holding short and powerful pitches, and I [Maarten de Schipper] hope to meet with city government officials and see how our solutions can contribute to solving their problems.

Want to get to know Xomnia better? Visit their website and come to the Holland Pavilion at the World Expo Smart Cities in Barcelona, held from the 14th to the 16th of November.

In this article, we're going to look at why PSD2 is needed, how it works, what it will mean for consumers, businesses and banks, plus how it will affect the EU and the USA.

+ What is PSD2 and how will it help me? +

PSD2 is the second iteration of an EU banking directive, and its main aim is to protect consumers. Now we all know that banking legislation isn’t usually considered exciting, but PSD2 is arriving in 2018 to shake up the system and give bank customers control of their financial data, and businesses an opportunity to compete in the financial services. With PSD2, you will be able to allow licensed, third-party providers of financial services to access your banking information (with explicit consent), which they can use to analyse your spending and present you with budgeting advice, or guide you towards a cheaper mortgage or higher interest savings account. Third parties will also be able to provide payment services that extend across country borders into the whole of the EU and EEA territory, which means faster verification and fewer fees for consumers.

So if you imagine you want to become a merchant and sell products throughout the EU. Or want to move from one European country to another. You will be able to do both of these immediately. You won’t need a new, foreign bank account as you can permit your financial data to be shared across borders and make payments throughout the EU. And your identity and reputation can be easily verified.

Read more at https://www.eli5.io/blog/psd2-banking

+ A single tweet from a student in Seoul reduced annual car trips by 2.3m +

It’s easy to feel alienated from the smart city conversation when all you hear about are hi-tech concepts like self-driving cars and artificial intelligence. But so far, the lessons learned from actually building a smart city have taught us that we have to start with the people first. Mistakes were made when cities bought into expensive technologies before working out what they were going to be used for. In Amsterdam, the citizens are providing not just the ideas, but the funding, talent and expertise to create the smart city solutions that are really needed.

Read more...

The more we spend on inefficient lighting systems, the less we can allocate to other essential city wide public services. New lighting technologies can change this trend in the long run! If you want read on some useful tips for energy efficiency and public lighting, check out this article.

Amsterdam is one of the top smart city in the world and is a perfect place to install progressive and promising technology. eluminocity has developed a high-quality design streetlight, comprising efficient LED lights, a charging point for electric vehicles and connected sensors to provide intelligent Smart City solutions.
We are looking for partners to develop and execute interesting smart city projects in the greater Amsterdam area. Together we can work on problems arising from advanced urbanization and create the future city.
We are looking forward to hear from you at sales@eluminocity.com

The variety of smart city initiatives taking place in Amsterdam represents the multidimensional approach of developing the city into a high-tech arena. It is not just the government who is taking big leaps to mold the future of the city. An encouraging number of talented people from multidisciplinary fields of science and technology are volunteering in contributing towards the growth of the city in myriad ways.

Tired of browsing online job boards all day long? What if you could have all the top tech companies in Amsterdam in one place, at the same time? Amsterdam Tech Job Fair 2017 is a chance for job seekers to talk to companies that are hiring in person. If you’ve had enough of submitting your CV online without the opportunity to make a lasting first impression, here’s your chance to change your strategy and do a bit of networking.

For Job Seekers

Meet recruiters from tech companies that are hiring in Amsterdam in person.
Ask all your questions and learn about what it’s actually like to work for the companies that you’re interested in.
Practice how to talk to recruiters, how to get your personality across to them and make a great first impression.
Forge new connections and grow your network of contacts.
Discover some amazing startups that are contributing to building Amsterdam’s future as a tech hub.

For Companies

Meet young graduates, interns and experienced professionals who are eager to work for tech companies.
Get your job postings promoted, exhibit and present at Amsterdam Tech Job Fair 2017.

This article pinpoints the amazing improvements green building design projects can achieve for you. From energy efficiency, waste management, increase in productivity and decrease of negative environmental impact, green design projects have taken the construction industry to a different level at the same time combining architecture, urban planning and design with smart engineering, technology and energy management. Adding smart solar street lighting in your green building project will substantially improve the key energy management and efficiency aspects.

Last month, the World Economic Forum ranked Amsterdam 15th in a global benchmark regarding the innovativeness of cities. The research firm behind the publication, 2thinknow, assessed world cities on 10 factors related to technological advancement — including the number of patents filed per capita, startups, tech venture capitalists, ranking in other innovation datasets, and level of smartphone use — weighted them, and ranked a list of 85 cities accordingly.
The firm praised Amsterdam's combination of financial technology, energy efficiency, and startup culture, despite being much smaller than its neighbors. (Amsterdam has only a third of Berlin's population, for example.)

Surprised to see Amsterdam ranked 15th? Share your comments below!

De beste 5 pitchers maken kans op 28 september op de ConTech PropTech Pitch Award 2017. Deze award wordt uitgereikt door ING en Holland ConTech & PropTech.

http://www.hollandproptech.nl/pitch-award-2017/

+ The Startup Capital of Europe is a Hub for Tech and Innovation +

There are 1281 bridges in Amsterdam. This might seem like a fairly throwaway fact to most of us, but to the Amsterdam Smart City Initiative, it’s a huge leap forward. Because until this year, we didn’t know how many bridges there were.

With 32 district departments covering over 12,000 data sets you can start to see why. With no centralised hub for all the information they gather, the sharing of statistics was something busy government offices did not have the time or the resources to do.

Now Amsterdam has City Data, the fuel for its Smart City engine.

+ What Makes Amsterdam Different? +

Something that's really special about Amsterdam is that it has made its City Data open source. Everyone can access the information, and anyone can add further data sets to the collection. City Data is available online, (Dutch) and it is easy to search, download or link to your own system.

+ Big cities need to adapt +

50% of the world’s population currently live in cities. This figure is predicted to increase to 70% by 2050 - which will include an overall global population expansion of around 2 billion people during this period. In a city like Amsterdam, where much of the infrastructure is from the Reformation Era, adaptations must take place to ensure the capital’s roads, housing, services and quality of life improve. At the same time, cities must become more sustainable to avoid increases in air pollution and further contributing to climate change.

In April 2016, Amsterdam won Europe’s Capital of Innovation award. This year, the Netherlands jumped five places to rank 3rd in The Global Innovation Index 2017. And it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

+ A Brief History +

- Between 15-20% of the Netherlands has been reclaimed from the surrounding sea, lakes, marshes and swamps since the 1200’s.

- Only 50% of the country is more than 1 meter above sea level.

- 27% is below sea level, and this area contains a fifth of the population.

The City of Amsterdam is located 2 meters below sea level. As with all early civilisations, water gives life to a city. The ability to produce and transport goods has always been vital to the Netherlands’ survival. It is still the 8th biggest exporter in the world, a trade that makes up 82.5% of the country’s GDP.

The citizens have always been aware of how fragile the relationship with the water can be, and the Netherlands is accustomed to using technology to survive an ever-present risk of flooding. In the past, if you did not tend to your crops properly and maintain the irrigation system, dykes, levees and barriers, your neighbour's crops would suffer too. In many ways, this convention is still relevant now. These principles of respect, collaboration and community have carried through over the centuries, which is why the Amsterdam of today is still a model of shrewd infrastructure and innovation.

+ My Neighbour App (MijnBuur) +

An example of this framework is the ‘owner association’ law (Vereniging van Eigenaren) that covers every apartment in the Netherlands. Although individuals own their separate apartments, everyone in the building has to cooperate to maintain, clean and insure the structure as a whole. This is usually done via a monthly service charge and means you can request finances from the pot if, for example, your neighbour's shower were to leak and damage your ceiling.

The MijnBuur app builds on this neighbourly relationship. You are connected directly to your neighbours who can alert you to any dangers, something they need or anything they want to get done. The aim is to make citizens more socially responsible and solve disputes without involving the municipality. The project should save money while also improving community relationships - and shape future policy by providing the government with useful data about common issues between residents in the capital.

https://youtu.be/lzcgZOHZLGc

+ Tapping Into The Tech Culture +

- The Netherlands is the most densely populated country in Europe and one of the most in the world - with 4.88 people per km².

- This rises to 4439 people per km² in Amsterdam - which currently has a population of over 820,000.

Add to that 14 million tourists per year…

…and you can see why the government are keen to create as many opportunities for innovation as possible. Both the business sector and the Amsterdam government actively do their best to attract the top technology and innovation talent and keep it here through schemes like the International Talent Event, Startupbootcamp and Coding for Amsterdam.

Quite often the data produced by users of digital platforms has greater value than the service offered. By making Amsterdam’s city data open source, the economic value that usually reserved for corporations is given back to the citizens to reinvest in new and innovative solutions to the city’s problems.

And it’s not only free data. There is already a robust digital infrastructure and ICT ecosystem in Amsterdam. The Netherlands has the fastest internet in the EU. Support for startups is everywhere. Whether that be access to experienced Startup Exchanges, modern coworking spaces, world-famous accelerators and incubators or introductions to the many venture capitalists, angels and investors in the capital.

In 2016, startups in Amsterdam raised €194m, which was 76% of the total funding for startups in the whole of the Netherlands. Lumos Global, a provider of clean and affordable solar power, raised almost half of that. A reminder that sustainability and social entrepreneurship are still at the forefront of the city’s aspirations.
The Amsterdam Smart City Initiative (ASC)

Since its conception in 2009, the ASC has facilitated over 80 pilot projects aimed at making the city smarter. In one early programme, the Department of Research and Statistics went directly into individual government departments in the capital and access data directly.

Using statistics from insurance companies alongside information about the cost of treatment, they found that some areas with high levels of people with depression were not receiving proportionate levels of care. The city put further funds into an education programme aimed at those who were resisting treatment or did not want to acknowledge their disease - and increased the number receiving medical care.

+ Plastic Free Rivers +

This pilot highlights the importance of not only collecting information but also organising and sharing it. In a recent Makathon for plastic-free rivers, designers Anne Marieke Eveleens, Saskia Studer and Francis Zoet used principles shared by the oil and dredging industries to create ‘The Great Bubble Barrier’. The simple idea places a tube with holes at the bottom of a river. By pumping air through this, you create a ‘bubble barrier’ that stops plastic floating in the river and guides waste to the banks for collection.

For a city like Amsterdam, with a complex and open canal system, this is an invaluable innovation. The method is cheap and can be easily applied to other waterways across the world, providing a solution to the 8 million tons of plastic that are dumped into the ocean every year.

https://youtu.be/Nh5o2waLjGQ

Van Plestik has taken this solution one step further by gathering the waste plastic collected and transforming it into a building material for 3D printers. These printers can create high-quality and affordable plastic objects for a range of applications. Van Plestik is part of a scheme run by StartupAmsterdam called Startup in Residence.

+ StartupAmsterdam +

A 2015 collaboration between the City of Amsterdam and 250 stakeholders in the tech sector. The aim was to unify and amplify the startup system in Amsterdam and build an ecosystem.

The objective was to be a one stop shop for startups, connecting them to key players, mentors, investors, tech talent and launching customers. On their website, you can search job boards, find a co-working space, see an event calendar, read relevant news articles, check out university courses, join a network of communities including 80+ corporates and get support from liaison staff.

At Eli5 we have used the system to connect with smart city planners, test out our latest digital products, network with similar companies and find talent. We give back to the system by organising meetups and internships to share our methods and experiences with those just starting out in industry. For example, this year we wanted to beta-test our online proposal tool and quickly found freelancer groups who were willing to give us feedback. Then in exchange, we provided the software to them for free.

In just two years, the project has solidified Amsterdam’s status as the centre of the EU tech scene. In a very short time they have:

- Established a corporate network
- Created Launchpad Meetups to connect corporates and startups
- Initiated Amsterdam Capital Week to connect startups to capital
- Launched startup academies including BSSA (B.Startup School Amsterdam) and the Growth Tribe Academy
- Co-organised international startup bootcamps
- Introduced coding classes into school curriculums

+ Startup in Residence +

One of the initiatives supported by StartupAmsterdam is Startup in Residence, a governmental incubator.

Each year, the municipality evaluate the concerns of the people and create a set of social challenges for startups to solve using city data. By doing this, they tap into the huge startup culture in Amsterdam and the talented application, platform and software developers they employ.

With anywhere between 1500-2000 startups in Amsterdam at any one time, collaborating with creatives and developers speeds up the innovation process considerably. It also means that citizens can be directly involved in the future of their city.

If the solutions prove successful, the City of Amsterdam will invest in the company or become their launching customers. Working with the municipality presents a unique opportunity for a startup to access the support of city experts and their network. The scheme has backed almost all of the apps mentioned in this article.

The pilot scheme in 2015 produced five viable projects including an app that encourages residents to separate their waste and an app that helps to get visitors out of their hotels and accommodations and also spread tourists more evenly by providing information about Amsterdam’s lesser known attractions, called Wyzer.

+ Wyzer App by Wander +

What is so smart about the app is that it helps to keep people off the beaten path, while improving their experience of the city. The app connects to a compass rather than a map, so you are still heading in the right direction, but can explore different routes to get there. They call this ‘fuzzy navigation’. The app highlights ‘hidden gems’ for you to discover along the way. So when you get home, you have a more unique story to tell than the majority of tourists - and the locals are happy with reduced congestion.

The tech uses map, GPS and tourism data, then relies on a bit of community collaboration to suggest the best places to recommend to users.

https://youtu.be/LQVUHOvh_Jc

+ The Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) +

AMS was conceived by Delft University, Wageningen University and MIT in response to a call for proposals from the city to develop metropolitan solutions to practical urban issues.

Launching an Institute means research and, more importantly, small-scale testing can be carried out. Relatively cheap applications and platforms can be made to validate ideas quickly and create viable real-time data and analytics.

AMS is part of a project to move on from the conventional forms of public data used by apps like Wyzer and research ways to produce large-scale, geosocial data. This is mined from sensors, GPS devices and mobile phones. However, this information is more human-oriented and also benefits from previously untapped forms of community information from social media, LoRa networks and open data portals.

In June 2016, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to have a nationwide LoRa network to facilitate the Internet of Things. Thus, it is the perfect Living Lab to test this new type of data.

+ Benefits of Big Urban Data +

One of the most ambitious projects at AMS is the Social Urban Data Lab. Researchers and developers are building state of the art technology for the “acquisition, enrichment, integration, analysis and visualisation of big urban data”.

If you can gather knowledge about the challenges and grievances in real-time and from a vast group of citizens, then urban planners and decision makers will be much better informed. Inevitably, this means the policy will serve the community more effectively and improve the quality of life.

+ Social Glass +

One of the outcomes from the Social Urban Data Lab is Social Glass. This web-based platform utilises real-time urban big data analytics and forecasting to create a “reflection of the human landscape”.

By analysing word meanings and the relationships between them with advanced lexical semantics and combining the results with machine learning, the team can determine the condition, mood, desires - almost any emotion - of the public.

When you begin to cross reference this with geolocation data and other open data from the municipality, you can start to establish patterns and map the mood of the city. So if a local event is disturbing residents, ambient social data can help to direct planners to the problem. Or if a long museum queue is annoying tourists the platform can send alerts telling others to avoid the attraction until it is less busy.

The science isn’t perfect. Social posts are diverse in character and content, lack structure and can be biased and ambiguous. It will take some time for the artificial intelligence to learn to recognise patterns and validate the data. But by further engaging citizens in the smart city initiative, Amsterdam has an advantage when it comes to the next step.

https://vimeo.com/120564204

+ The Future: Smart City 3.0 +

The first iteration of the Smart City was very technology focused. Large companies like IBM and Cisco were often criticised for having too much influence and pushing cities to adopt technology that they did not yet have the infrastructure in place to use properly.

Amsterdam’s Chief Technology Officer, Ger Baron, said in an interview with the MIT Sloan Management Review that “every company that comes here and tells us how it works, they’re wrong because they don’t have a clue how a city works...there is a big difference between how people think it works and how it works”. This became more apparent when he began the task of creating a city-wide data inventory and realised no one had a total, collated figure for the bridges in the capital. Those who had run the city for centuries didn’t understand it fully either. Part of Baron’s job is to ensure corporate interests do not overpower civic ones, which can quite often happen when a city rushes to get smarter.

Smart City 2.0 is characterised by being led by the city itself rather than the technology providers. This version focuses on improving the quality of life for residents and visitors and designs tools in consultation with citizens, to ensure solutions are specific to their needs. This is what Amsterdam has been doing with schemes like Startups in Residence, by setting challenges based entirely on the concerns of the people.

The next phase is citizen co-creation. Smart City 3.0 will still need to be enabled by both technology and by the city but will be led by the people and communities. Schemes like Repair Cafes or Tool Lending Libraries have already started in Amsterdam and are often run exclusively by the public, for the public. The app Verbeterdebuurt literally translates to ‘Improve The Neighbourhood’ and provides Amsterdammers with a convenient way to highlight problems and make suggestions for changes. It is GPS-enabled, and images can be uploaded to save time on lengthy descriptions.

Residents can detect the city’s requirements far quicker than administrators can. And by working collaboratively, they can often come up with the solutions faster too. If the government stops treating citizens as customers or only as recipients of a service and allow them to be co-creators of the city, Amsterdam will continue to get smarter. Just so long as it keeps building broadband, wireless and Internet of Things infrastructures. And, most importantly, City Data is maintained.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram @fetherico