Cornelia Dinca

The Amsterdam Smart City (ASC) delegations program continues to grow with 45 groups hosted during the first half of 2019.

These visiting delegations come most often from South Korea (11) with others coming from Japan (5), Germany (4), Bangladesh (2), France (2), Sweden (2), Singapore (2), the United States (2).

Delegations representatives come for various reasons and are from different sectors — public (21), private (8), academic (8), public-private (6) media (2).

Keeping in line with the ASC philosophy of sharing experiences in order to facilitate learning and knowledge transfer, delegates were asked to reflect on and share their thoughts after their visits. They shared their most important take-aways, asked questions on topics that they would like to address further, and presented opportunities for follow-up.

Overall Key Take-Aways of Visiting Delegations

1. Amsterdam is an example of an inclusive smart city. Many delegations find the ASC approach innovative in the way it brings together representatives from governments, companies, knowledge institutions, civil society and interested citizens. Whereas many other smart city programs are defined almost exclusively by governments and a few large corporations, in Amsterdam many other parties get a seat at the table.

“What is most impressive about the ASC program is that no single party has control and that many, different parties are working together.” — Japanese Delegate

“It’s interesting to see the (NEMO) science museum is a core smart city program partner. It shows that we in South Korea need to think more broadly about who we involve in smart city projects, especially as local and national governments look for ways to engage citizens.” — South Korean Delegate

2. Technology is neither necessary nor sufficient. Some delegations were interested in high-tech projects such as Vehicle2Grid or the Roboat. Still, most delegates noted they were pleasantly surprised to learn that low-tech projects focused on social innovation are also included in the Amsterdam Smart City community platform.

3. Public-private partnerships and community platforms can help build innovation ecosystems. Many delegates appreciated the role of Amsterdam Smart City in bringing parties together to share knowledge, networks and lessons learned through a public-private partnership and a community platform.

“Helsinki and other Finish cities can benefit from the use of a community platform to support open innovation and strengthen our innovation ecosystem.” — Finish Delegate

4. Working closely but operating independently of (city) government is unorthodox but, effective. From a governance perspective, many delegates are inspired by the approach to running the Amsterdam Smart City program in collaboration with but independent from the City of Amsterdam. For some delegates this approach seemed unorthodox as they believed the government should lead smart city programs. Others noted the approach could help depoliticize smart city projects and help build trust between public and private stakeholders and citizens.

5. There is strong interest in showcasing and testing solutions in local living labs. Several delegates from South Korea, Japan and Finland expressed strong interest in showcasing and sharing their smart city solutions in open living labs. With the recent launch of the Marinneterrein Amsterdam Living Lab (MALL), that is now possible!

6. More work is needed to evaluate projects. Many visiting delegations wanted to know if Amsterdam Smart City uses a specific methodology to evaluate projects, capture lessons learned, and define success. While many delegations are inspired by the approach, which makes it possible for any party in the ecosystem to share their project on the platform, some delegates felt uncomfortable with the idea that there is no complete overview of smart city projects carried out by the city and that projects are often run without clear KPI’s.

A Sampling of Experiences

Honda, Japan

This delegation was interested in getting an understanding of e-mobility and renewable energy developments in Amsterdam, as well as the overall management of Amsterdam Smart City. An expert meeting was cohosted with Amsterdam Electric and Arcadis who shared developments related to smart and e-mobility in Amsterdam. Delegates were particularly impressed with Amsterdam's leadership on e-mobility and reflected that they would like to see the Japanese government take similar steps to facilitate the transition to clean mobility.

Embassy of Finland & TradeMill, Finland

This visit was part of a roadshow for Finish companies working on the energy transition. The meeting was cohosted with Alliander who shared smart energy projects such as the Vehicle2Grid and Virtual Power Plant pilots. The delegates were most impressed by how projects in Amsterdam have a social consideration and the way the ASC community platform helps built a smart city ecosystem. One participant suggested Finish cities could benefit from a similar approach. Other participants highlighted that they would be interested to showcasing their smart energy storage solutions in a living lab setting in Amsterdam or elsewhere in the Netherlands.

IED, Spain

A group of 12 international design master students based in Barcelona visited Amsterdam during the rEVolution event. Because the students are working on a design project for an automotive company, the students booked a smart mobility expert session. Participants were impressed with Amsterdam's leadership on e-mobility but, some struggled to see how this approach could be transferred to their home cities which are dealing with serious congestion and air quality problems.

“Amsterdam’s approach to e-mobility is inspiring but in most Indian cities we don’t even have sidewalks. It’s a risk that so many cities are focusing on high-tech solutions which they often can’t afford.” — IED Student

EU Project RESOLE, Czech Republic

This delegation consisted of municipal experts from Czech cities of Ostrava and Opava who are working together on RESOLVE, an EU-funded project focused on clean mobility and logistics. The delegates were surprised that the ASC program is independent of the City of Amsterdam and involves various stakeholders. The group would have liked to dive deeper into parking management, cycling planning and Intelligent Transport Solutions (ITS) used by the City of Amsterdam.

Le Syndicat Intercommunal de Gestion informatique (SIGI or Intercommunal Syndicate of IT Management), Luxemburg

This delegation was interested in exchanging experiences on e-government and digital transformation topics. The meeting was cohosted with Amsterdam Economic Board and City of Haarlemmermeer. Delegates were most impressed by the privacy-friendly identity platform I Reveal My Attributes (IRMA) and the smart parking pilot presented by City of Haarlemmermeer. There was a fruitful discussion about the possibility for Dutch municipalities to learn from SIGI’s experience and a suggestion that a group of Dutch municipalities should visit SIGI. SIGI delegates were also impressed with Edge Olympic where the meeting took place and would like to work with Edge Technologies to make their new office more data-driven and healthy.

Electricité de France (EDF) & Enedis

This public-private delegation consisted of high level representatives from France’s largest utility company (EDF) and its subsidiary Enedis who wanted to learn from Amsterdam-based innovations related to smart energy and e-mobility. The delegation was cohosted with Alliander and the City of Amsterdam who provided an overview to smart energy and smart grid developments in Amsterdam and on a regional level. The delegates were most impressed by Amsterdam's leadership on e-mobility and the hands-on experience of visiting EV-Box’s showcase of electric vehicle changing infrastructure. One of the delegates shared EDF would like to play a leadership role in transitioning Paris and other French cities to e-mobility.

Chungbuk Research Institute, South Korea

The delegation was impressed with ASC's role as a convener and facilitator, and with ASC’s focus on smaller social initiatives instead of new cities and large projects, as is often the case in S Korea.

Skellefteå Science City, Sweden

Visit by two delegates who work to stimulate open innovation between larger corporates and SME’s. Delegates were impressed with ASC’s approach to facilitating innovation by building a community platform and thought this approach could help Swedish companies innovate more openly by sharing knowledge and lessons learned, and by connecting ecosystem members to one another.

l’IPAG Business School, France

This group of business students was interested in the role of smart cities in stimulating economic development and innovation. The students wanted to know what motivates corporations to participate in public-private partnerships such as Amsterdam Smart City and shared that the main reason companies join such initiatives in France is in exchange for lower taxes.

City of Leverkusen, Germany

Amsterdam Smart City hosted a full day Smart Mobility Experience for a municipal delegation from Leverkusen which included their Mayor. The delegation met with representatives from the City of Amsterdam, Royal Haskoning, BYCS and EV-Box and followed a bicycle tour. You can read the full visit report here.

Panasonic, Japan

This small delegation of Panasonic representatives was interested in entering the smart energy / smart home market in the Netherlands and Europe. The purpose of the visit was to connect to the right expertise and explore opportunities for collaboration. Delegates would like to follow-up about the possibility of showcasing and testing their smart energy devices in new districts and living labs.

AffaldPlus, Denmark

AffaldPlus is a joint municipal waste company owned by six Danish municipalities. Company representatives and members of their Board participated in an expert session which focused on Amsterdam’s progress on circular economy. This session was cohosted with Metropole Region Amsterdam (MRA) and Metabolic. The delegates would like to bring back to their municipalities the Metabolic’s material flows analysis.

Smart Mobility Trade Mission, Singapore

This delegation visit was organized by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO in Dutch) during the ITS European Congress in Eindhoven. The Singaporean delegation visited Amsterdam to learn about smart and e-mobility developments and opportunities for collaboration. Participating startups and governmental representatives were enthusiastic to hear about MRA’s upcoming Startup in Residence program which will focus on mobility topics and is open to international startups. The delegates reflected that they would like to learn more about Mobility as a Service (MaaS) pilots and opportunities in the Netherlands.

Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)

This delegation visit by policy makers was part of a program entitled “Data-based Local Policy Making For Sustainable Cities” and was funded by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The goal of the visit was to learn from best practices related to data governance for data-driven policy making. The delegation was first introduced to the Amsterdam Smart City program and to key digital initiates such as the TaDa manifesto and Cities for Digital Rights. Then the delegation met with Open State Foundation for an in-depth discussion about the way governments are opening up their data and the importance of digital transparency.

NIKKEN SEKKEI Research Institute & NTT Urban Development Corporation, Japan

Delegation visit focused on learning from Amsterdam’s experience as a leading citizen-centric smart city. Delegates were most impressed by the ASC approach to building and facilitating an open community of innovators, and they thought the approach could be transferred to Japan.

Get Involved!

Are you a local or international delegation interested to exchange experiences with Amsterdam Smart City? The Visits page provides an overview of programs coordinated and hosted by Amsterdam Smart City, our program partners and other community members.

Are you a local ASC expert or stakeholder interested in sharing your experience with local and international delegations? Or do you have suggestions for how we to improve the ASC delegations program? Get in touch with cornelia@amsterdamsmartcity.com or share your ideas in the comments section below.

On May 9, Amsterdam Smart City hosted a municipal delegation from Leverkusen, Germany which was led by Mayor Uwe Richrath. The City of Leverkusen is currently developing its "Mobility Concept 2030+” — a strategic vision for how people and goods will move around their city in the future. To add to the municipal leaders knowledge, the delegation participated in Amsterdam Smart City’s Mobility Experience.

On May 9, Amsterdam Smart City hosted a municipal delegation from Leverkusen, Germany which was led by Mayor Uwe Richrath. The City of Leverkusen is currently developing its "Mobility Concept 2030+” — a strategic vision for how people and goods will move around their city in the future. To add to the municipal leaders knowledge, the delegation participated in Amsterdam Smart City’s Mobility Experience.

“We have taken a lot of interesting facts, especially that change cannot be ordered by the administration and politics. It has to come from the people, which only works with very intensive public participation. The visit reassured us that we are on the right path to developing a vision for the future of mobility in Leverkusen in close consultation with citizens and stakeholders.”
— Uwe Richrath, Mayor Leverkusen Germany

The delegates were particularly interested in the process by which Amsterdam Smart City brings together various public and private stakeholders, and how it engages with citizens.

Throughout the day, the group met with various experts, including Dirk de Jager, district alderman for Amsterdam South-east who explained how Amsterdam transitioned from being car-oriented to a more sustainable mobility system by reallocating space from cars to bicycles. Dirk also introduced Amsterdam’s planned mobility policies through 2025, for instance the elimination of 10,000 parking places within the ring road of Amsterdam.

Sjors van Duren, from Royal Haskoning, was particularly inspiring, sharing examples and best practices from smaller municipalities in the Netherlands and Germany which the delegates could relate to.

Joris Hupperets of EV-Box explained the role EV-Box is playing in transitioning Amsterdam to a zero-emission future, as the City of Amsterdam will ban diesel and gasoline vehicles by 2030. Joris explained some of the key mechanisms and policies the City is using to implement this vision and how this will be done in an incremental way and in consultation with various stakeholders.

The delegation also met with Maarten Woolthuis, co-founder of BYCS who explained the role of the Bicycle Mayor program in shifting public perspectives and giving cyclists a voice in Amsterdam as well as internationally.

At the end of the day the delegates reflected on the most important lessons they would be taking back to Leverkusen:

• A transition to a sustainable mobility system takes decades and the work is never finished.
• It’s important to show people the positive benefits of change. For instance by explaining to car drivers that more cycling benefits all road users, including drivers themselves as there is less congestion and pollution as more people shift from driving to cycling.
• Ambitious visions should be matched by clear strategies for how to achieve goals.
• The Amsterdam Smart City program provided many helpful ideas for how to engage and communicate with stakeholders, especially citizens, about the future of mobility in Leverkusen.

When asked about the highlight of the day, most delegates agreed the bicycle tour led by Marjolein de Lange, cycling planning consultant, was an eye-opening and inspiring way to experience best practices and innovations first hand.

Delegation report by Cornelia Dinca, Amsterdam Smart City Delegations Lead. Photos by Thomas Schlijper.

Are you . . .
* Passionate about the role that the bicycle plays in keeping Amsterdam and the metropolitan area accessible and livable?
* Playing an active role in sharing this knowledge internationally?
* Experienced with building digital platforms and innovation ecosystems?

If so, the City of Amsterdam and the Vervoerregio (Amsterdam Transport Region) could select your organization as the collaboration partner to support the following goals:
* Develop and share knowledge about cycling
* Stimulate innovation and experimentation in the field of cycling
* Profile Amsterdam nationally and internationally as a knowledge cycling city
* Stimulate bicycle use to achieve these goals

Why?
In its Multi-year Bicycle Plan (MJP), the municipality of Amsterdam profiles itself "nationally and internationally as The Knowledge City in the Field of Cycling.” According to the MJP, the City would like to create more room for experimentation in order to solve Amsterdam’s unique cycling challenges, and testing of innovative bicycle concepts plays an integral role in finding those solutions.

Amsterdam has been building on knowledge development in the field of cycling in a compact city, and the municipality is now taking a deliberate path toward a stronger profile of sharing knowledge and supporting innovation and experimentation. To achieve these goals, the municipality of Amsterdam and Vervoerregio seek support for the following activities:

1. Digital Knowledge & Innovation Platform
Knowledge sharing leads to concrete ideas, projects or initiatives. The winning proposal will need to detail plans for a digital platform which will be in both Dutch and English, through which knowledge and innovations concerning cycling in the Amsterdam region will be bundled and made accessible. It will provide a shared bicycle platform for companies, citizens, academic, municipality, and transport region and social organizations in the field of cycling for the Amsterdam region. The platform will also offer the opportunity to showcase Amsterdam as a cycling city internationally. The platform must be fully transferable, so that it can be managed and further developed by the municipality or third parties at the end of the term of the agreement.

2. Expanded Network in the Field of Cycling
The winning proposal will be charged with setting up, mobilizing, and stimulating a powerful network organization. Through this network, the makers, inventors, implementers and policymakers will share bicycle knowledge and will be empowered and supported to develop innovative ideas in close collaboration with the commissioning parties.

3. Receive Delegations
The Bicycle platform for knowledge sharing, innovation and experiment has a leading role in receiving international delegations, giving and organizing presentations, and arranging excursions for the many delegations that are expected in Amsterdam and throughout the region.

Interested?
Deadline for proposals is May 14 at 14:00 via TenderNed. All relevant documents and information can be found in Dutch via: https://www.tenderned.nl/tenderned-tap/aankondigingen/162544

Good Luck!
The wining proposal will play an important role in strengthening Amsterdam visibility as a cycling city nationally and internationally!

Those with an interest in urban innovation topics can now discover what makes Amsterdam an innovative, smart city without the timing and logistical constraints of a guided tour. The new self-guided Amsterdam Innovation Tour enables local and international stakeholders to immerse themselves in learning about the City’s innovative projects at any time — day or night.

Amsterdam Innovation Tour app preview

Strawberry Fields creative agency has brought addressing climate change to light in a new way with an animated short film, Morgenland (Morrowland). The film takes viewers on a 12-minute positive, inspiring journey about what measures the Dutch can take to have a positive impact on reaching the European Commission’s “Climate Neutral by 2050” goal.

Contrary to many alarmist messages, Morgenland is enjoyable, understandable, and relatable to everyone. It tells a hopeful story while asking every citizen what they can personally do to help. Viewers are asked to make their own unique contributions to combating climate change.

Morgenland creates awareness and lays out the urgency of acting on climate change, however, this is done in a positive manner by spelling out what specific impacts energy transition will have on aspect of our daily lives. The film was strategically produced in an animated folk story style — something that is deeply ingrained in the Dutch culture.

Key points about reaching the 2050 goal are:
- It is necessary to reduce our energy consumption by two-thirds.
- Remaining energy usage has to be produced from sustainable sources such as wind and solar.
- It is important to close down coal-fired power plants immediately.
- Energy transition will engender innovation, and increase employment and export opportunities.

Above all, the film makes it clear that every inhabitant of this country has a role to play in the energy transition. The film concludes with a call to action: "How else can we work on our country of tomorrow?"

Strawberry Fields specializes in sustainable communication. The film and accompanying lessons for every type of education, from primary school to university, are freely accessible in Dutch and English at www.morgenlandfilm.nl.

Amsterdam Smart City (ASC) receives many requests from international delegations who are interested in collaborating and exchanging experiences on smart city topics.

We are looking for experts, companies and start-ups in our community who would like to share their knowledge, expertise and services with visiting delegations. Are you interested?

**Amsterdam Smart City (ASC) receives many requests from international delegations who are interested in collaborating and exchanging experiences on smart city topics.

We are looking for experts, companies and start-ups in our community who would like to share their knowledge, expertise and services with visiting delegations.**

If you are interested, please email cornelia@amsterdamsmartcity.com with the following information:

1. Which delegation you would like to meet with;
2. A short description of your presentation, product, or service;
3. How this information will benefit the visiting delegation.

International delegations requests:

1. South-Korean Trade Mission - 19 February:
This delegation consists of seven SME’s and representatives from governmental agencies supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. They are interested in the Dutch approach to building an innovation ecosystem, how government facilitates collaboration between corporations and SME’s, and best practices related to digitalization, smart city, and other smart industry topics.

2. Honda, Japan — 26 or 27 February:
Four person delegation interested in e-mobility and smart energy; smart grid developments; utilization of data and the overall structure, organization and management of smart city projects.

3. Finland Trade — 5 March:
Roadshow for Finish companies working on the energy transition. Meeting scheduled with Alliander to discuss smart energy/smart-grid projects. There is a possibility for relevant experts and stakeholders to join he exchange.

4. Sofia Investment Agency — 7 & 8 March:
The CEO of Sofia Investment Agency will be visiting along with a delegation of 10 political and business leaders. Their areas of interest are: smart city, digital connectivity & IoT, innovation & startup ecosystem, circular city and creative industries.

5. National Defense College of Thailand — 19 March:
Interest in best practices on triple-helix cooperation and smart grid technologies which can be transferred to Bangkok.

6. Slovakia Delegation of Mobility Experts — 19 March:
This delegation consists of specialists in e-mobility, parking strategy and smart technologies in the Moravian-Silesian Region in Slovakia. They are involved with the EU project RESOLVE and are interested in best practices and innovations related to electric mobility and clean logistics projects from Amsterdam and the Metropolitan Region.

7. CFAI Thyez Applied School (France) — 4 April:
A group of 13 vocational electrical engineering students are interested in a site visit related to smart energy, power supply and/or electrical installations.

8. Leverkusen, Germany Government Officials — 9 or 22 May:
This municipal delegation is interested in best practices regarding electric, smart and sustainable mobility. All presentations and tours must be in German.