Willem Koeman

Day and night, 114 sensors are collecting data about the use and occupation of the facilities at H20 Esports Campus in Purmerend. Such data can be of great interest to plan work more efficiently and cost effectively. Partners of AMdEX, an Amsterdam Economic Board initiative make sure data is exchanged between trusted parties only. And that any conditions for access and use are enforced.

How many people go in and out a building throughout the day? Do they prefer specific elevators? Which toilet areas are most used? Are bins and soap dispensers full? Facility managers and cleaning companies love that type of information. Unoccupied areas do not need to be serviced as frequently as busy ones. The Esports Campus, an event location for businesses and private parties, was keen to share the sensor data in a safe and trustworthy manner. The entrepreneur reached out to the team of our AMdEX initiative, via the Data Sharing Coalition.

Ready for it

For AMdEX, the request from Esports Campus came at exactly the right time. Previously, the field lab at the Marineterrein in Amsterdam proved how environmental and liveability data can be accessed and shared in a trusted environment – after the data owner and data user had agreed on simple terms. “We were ready for a more complicated case,” says Hayo Schreijer (Dexes), one of the founding partners of AMdEX. “The case at Esports Campus is a mix of private and public data, collected in a private space and to be shared over the Internet. Also, a lot more parties would be involved than in the previous Marineterrein case.”

Endorsing partner KPN

KPN is AMdEX’ endorsing partner for connectivity and network infrastructure. KPN’s infrastructure could enable this innovative entrepreneur to collect and share this data reliably with his business partners. Carolien Nijhuis is EVP Internet of Things and Dataservices at KPN. She says: “This smart building project is next level complexity. It combines all the issues we think are important. Safe and trusted exchange of data is necessary to solve the bigger issues in our society. In this project, KPN provides interoperability and connectivity according to European standards of privacy and security.” It is tempting to think that data exchange is all about technology. It is not. “Besides being innovative, using professional technology, data exchange is very much about legal and organisational issues”, says Schreijer.

New terms and conditions

The Esports Campus pilot ran in parallel with a next phase of the field lab at the Marineterrein. Tom van Arman (Tapp), says: “At Marineterrein we measure environmental factors and occupancy of the public space: water quality, temperature, numbers of people. Esports is a private space that collects more personal and commercially sensitive data. We had to consider new terms and conditions in the agreements with all parties involved. We also included the principles of the Tada Manifesto, that prescribe safe, inclusive sharing and usage of data.” Collecting data inside a building results in whole new datasets to play with.

Prototype for all-in-one app

This summer, a milestone was reached: a prototype of Facility Apps, the all-in-one app solution for cleaning and facility management. Data from the Esports Campus is made available to the cleaning partners through this app, allowing them to plan the work more efficiently. The data in the app is contained in a ‘Solid Pod’, a decentralised data store. When data is stored in someone’s Pod, they control which people and applications can access it. The AMdEX layer verifies the identity of parties that want to access the data and authorises them to do so – if they are certified parties. Schreijer clarifies that AMdEX does not ‘see’ the data. It tells systems whether access or usage of data is allowed and makes these decisions auditable. Nijhuis also emphasises that KPN enables the technical data exchange and has no access to the actual data. The next step is to evaluate the app with the users.

Great potential for smart cities

This pilot has shown that private data can be shared reliably between private partners. Combined with the results from the public space of Marineterrein, all three partners see great potential for smart city applications. City planning based on actual data, more efficient energy management of buildings or even industrial areas, innovation in sustainable logistics. “Especially when we all work together,” concludes Nijhuis. “If you run alone, you go faster, but together you go farther.”

Text: Karina Meerman

Er is €750.000 beschikbaar voor een community-gedreven datamarkt die eerlijke uitwisseling van data mogelijk maakt. Daarvoor wordt later dit jaar een prijsvraag uitgeschreven. We hebben een eerste opzet van de prijsvraag gemaakt, maar willen dit graag verbeteren met jouw input. Daarna kunnen we de prijsvraag definitief maken.

Wat is het idee van de prijsvraag?
We willen een virtuele datamarkt die uitwisseling van data mogelijk maakt. Een datamarkt waar data wordt uitgewisseld op voorwaarden van de data-eigenaren, waarbij de deelnemers gezamenlijk de regels bepalen en er door co-creatie synergieën kunnen ontstaan. Zodat we met data oplossingen kunnen bedenken voor de uitdagingen van de regio. Je krijgt tot €750.000 cofinanciering om binnen drie jaar je oplossing te realiseren. Wij helpen je hierbij met het inzetten van ons netwerk, zodat we samen de toepassing succesvol maken.

Wij denken dat de datamarkt hieraan moet voldoen:

- Data-soevereiniteit: deelnemers blijven eigenaar van hun data en bepalen de gebruiksvoorwaarden.
- Decentraal databeheer: deelnemers beheren en onderhouden hun data zelf.
- Gezamenlijke organisatie: deelnemers beslissen samen over de werking van de datamarkt, en bijhorende rechten en plichten.
- Digitale handhaving: afspraken (over gebruik van data) worden digitaal gehandhaafd.
- Waardecreatie: de datamarkt faciliteert co-creatie en daarmee synergie.

Om de prijsvraag aan het einde van dit jaar zo goed mogelijk uit te kunnen zetten, willen we graag met jou in gesprek. Dat doen we op dinsdag 16 oktober op het Science Park in Amsterdam.

Kan je niet komen, geef dan alsnog je feedback en ideeën door deze vragenlijst in te vullen:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Ww2PmMVA9ylcOB2DtF4ejebraYhd_LoBYbDKTDjRqG0/viewform?ts=5bb22a10&edit_requested=true

We staan aan de vooravond van een innovatiegolf die zijn weerga niet kent en zal doordringen in alle haarvaten van de samenleving. De impact van Artificial Intelligence (AI) is te vergelijken met de industriële revolutie. ICAI, het Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence, is een initiatief om AI in Nederland een gezicht te geven door onderzoek en bedrijfsleven rondom AI te verbinden met behulp van technologie- en talentontwikkeling.

Op 19 oktober van 9.00 – 12.00 willen we met u als MKB in gesprek. Deze ochtend gaat over vragen en antwoorden; over leren en samenwerken; over AI en MKB in Nederland en Amsterdam in het bijzonder.

Samen met u willen we de volgende onderwerpen beschouwen
- Wat is ICAI en wat kan het voor u betekenen?
- Welke kennis uitdagingen heeft u waar AI een rol bij zou kunnen spelen?
- Hoe kunnen we co-creatie tussen onderwijs, wetenschap en MKB het beste realiseren?

U bent van harte welkom!

Bas Beekman (StartupAmsterdam)
Ursula van Zantvliet Rozemeijer, (MeerBusiness Amsterdam)
Pascal Wiggers (Hogeschool van Amsterdam)
Marcel Worring (ICAI / Universiteit van Amsterdam)

ICAI (https://icai.ai) is een nationaal netwerk gericht op publiek-private technologie- en talentontwikkeling tussen kennisinstellingen, industrie en overheid op het gebied van Artificial Intelligence.

Tada! Data. They are a promise for life in the city. With data we can tackle major problems of contemporary cities making them cleaner, safer, healthier, more habitable. With the use of data, it can be achieved. But, only as long as people maintain control over data, and not the other way around.

Designing a digital city is a team effort: companies, government, urban communities and citizens. We take action together, we benefit together. That is why we have set the following shared principles and agreements. We want to be a leading example in this for all other digital cities spread across the globe. Tada!

Join us in showing that we can make them wiser too by signing the manifesto at www.tada.city

Amsterdam aims to become leading example for responsible data usage

Data management is often subject of debate and is starting to raise more and more questions, e.g. regarding its ethical use, transparency, responsibility, ownership and controllability. Amsterdam as an innovator is aiming to fulfill a leading role in the world of data and technology. The Amsterdam Economic Board is requesting all of their partners that contribute to the digital city to sign the ‘Data Disclosed’ manifesto, and to announce and take concrete steps in the responsible handling of data.

Amsterdam itself will take the first step. By doing so, the innovative metropolis is trying to convey the message and take a leading role in this global campaign. Under the slogan ‘Tada’ – Data Disclosed’, the city is campaigning and, along with this, developing operational tools.

Franc Weerwind, mayor of Almere: “The Amsterdam story has been welcomed with open arms and followed by all participating parties. What appears to be especially appealing is the positive angle. Data is increasingly being associated with monitoring, control and suspicion, but we’ve turned it around. Transparency, accountability and ethics could be promising design-principles. Clarity about data could also be a major driving force for business and reputation.”

Amsterdam Economic Board — Manifest tada, duidelijk over data

Smart Stories

Check the article about Tada featured in our online magazine 'Smart Stories':

Our daily and urban live is more and more driven by digital innovations. Technology will make are cities greener, healthier and smarter. But there are also some important questions left unanswered. Should we control data and the use of algorithms? How do we organize digital trust? Will everybody benefit from the digital society?

The Amsterdam Economic Board will launch the manifesto 'responsible digital cities' on october 31st to start this discussion. During this event we offer a few spots for startups, pilots or other initiatives to pitch ideas that contribute to a responsible digital city (a.o. transparant, inclusive, accountable). Are you working on a great idea and would like to showcase this? Then contact me at w.koeman@amecboard.com

You could say that digital connectivity was born at Amsterdam Science Park – it was the location of the first transatlantic internet connection, after all. And with connectivity continuing to surge to ever greater heights, the park has no intention of resting on its laurels.

You could say that digital connectivity was born at Amsterdam Science Park – it was the location of the first transatlantic internet connection, after all. And with connectivity continuing to surge to ever greater heights, the park has no intention of resting on its laurels.

At SURFsara, the institute that acts as a bridge between research and advanced ICT, Maurice Bouwhuis sees a promising future for Amsterdam Science Park in generating the future interactions necessary to further tomorrow’s levels of digital connectivity. “The park combines excellent knowledge institutes with a large and expanding capacity in data centres,” he explains. “We will see more and more collaborations between these institutes and the digital companies that can benefit from their research. This is exactly what we need to keep the Amsterdam area competitive as we move towards a global knowledge economy.”

He notes that the park has the experience of bringing together businesses, knowledge institutes and policy makers in order to collaborate on new solutions – a vital combination as society becomes increasingly technological. “Digital developments are extremely far-reaching,” he says. “That means we have to work together: scientists with companies and policy makers.” The Mayor of Almere, Franc Weerwind, is one of the latter group, whose members are increasingly looking to Amsterdam Science Park to see what opportunities the future holds for the whole Amsterdam region.
Digital Connectivity event
Mayor Weerwind and other policymakers attended the Digital Connectivity event which SURFsara hosted on Novemer 2nd. This initiative demonstrated the sort of interaction Maurice Bouwhuis is talking about in action, and the discussions did not stop there. “We are talking about setting up an expert centre for responsible data, new ways for data centres to be more energy-efficient, and Amsterdam’s possible role in a neutral, independent public cloud,” says Bouwhuis. He points out that the EU has just allocated 2 billion euros in funds for the European Open Science Cloud Initiative, which indicates the scale of the opportunities for research. “Amsterdam Science Park should certainly be able to take advantage of this,” he says.
The Amsterdam Economic Board
The Amsterdam Economic Board shares the park’s vision, says Willem Koeman, Business Connector Digital Connectivity. He points out that the Board sees the Amsterdam area as consolidating its position as one of Europe’s top digital centres in the future – with the help of Amsterdam Science Park. “Amsterdam is one of the world’s biggest internet hubs, and that has grown from Amsterdam Science Park,” he says. “The park has great research institutes that can give the whole Amsterdam region a leading edge when it comes to the digital future. There are lots of opportunities here.”

The park has a particular strength in its five advanced data centres, he adds. “With data centres, it’s all about expanding capacity – as is happening here at Amsterdam Science Park with Equinix and Digital Realty,” he says. “We increasingly need more space to store and transport data. Meanwhile, we also need to make our data centres as green as possible. That means finding ways for them to become more energy efficient.” The new SURFsara data centre, for example, which has the power of 10,000 modern PCs, stores the enormous heat produced by its servers and uses it for heating and cooling – so greatly reducing its environmental impact. Meanwhile Green IT, with a presence at Amsterdam Science Park, is playing a leading role in showcasing new, energy-saving solutions in IT, in line with the City of Amsterdam’s aim to reduce its carbon emissions by 40% by 2025.

Also essential to maximize digital connectivity is another Amsterdam Science Park strength: data innovation. The park’s research institutes and data-driven start-ups are key in initiating potential new applications for the ever-expanding amount of available digital information, for example to support healthcare, sustainability and mobility. In the park’s new Startup Village, for example, Metrica Sports works on improving team performance through data and video analysis, while its neighbour Aiir Innovations uses artificial intelligence to create tailored solutions for a range of industrial and business problems – just two of Amsterdam Science Park’s blueprints for the digital future.

Source: Amsterdam Science Park